Records: Kennesaw State (7-7), Middle Tennessee (9-6)
Score: Kennesaw State 7, Middle Tennessee 0
Starting Pitching Matchup: LHP Tyler Troutt vs. RHP Gabe Friese
Key Players: Gabe Friese (7.0 IP, 4 hits, 10K); Austin Upshaw (3-for-4, RBI); Chris Erwin (2-for-4); David Chabut (1-for-4, 3 RBI)
 
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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State Owls baseball team backed a masterful pitching performance and used 11 hits to defeat Middle Tennessee, 7-0, on Saturday (March 12) afternoon at Stillwell Stadium to even the non-conference weekend series.
 
For the Owls (7-7), sophomore Austin Upshaw (3-for-4, RBI), Chris Erwin (2-for-4) and David Chabut (1-for-4, 3 RBI) paced the KSU offensive attack at the plate. The three combined for six of the 11 hits and four RBI.
 
For the second straight day, starting pitching was the theme as Kennesaw State's Gabe Friese and Middle Tennessee's Tyler Troutt showcased their arms in a pitchers' duel throughout the second game of the weekend series.
 
Friese, who made his fourth start of the season, was masterful in his outing. The righty tossed 7.0 innings, allowing just four hits and issued only one walk in the ballgame. In fact, Friese recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts on the day and totaled 112 pitches on the day, in which 66 percent were found the strike zone.
 
On the other side of the mound, Troutt countered with 6.1 solid innings worked and allowed just six hits and two runs, while striking out four Owls on the day.
 
The Owls, who entered the day outscoring opponents 18-7 in the second frame, continued its second-inning scoring success and plated the first run of the ballgame. Jeremy Howell, who went 3-for-5 in the series opener, led off the inning with a single and, after advancing to second thanks to a wild pitch, crossed home when Alex Liquori –who finished 1-for-2 and a walk— hit an RBI double to left center field for a 1-0 edge.
 
Meanwhile, Friese was solid on the bump throughout the entire day. The right-handed junior, who hails from Kennesaw, Georgia, backed the Owls' run in the bottom of the second by tossing lights out baseball, retiring the Blue Raider side in 3 different innings to hold a 1-0 lead intact into the seventh.  
 
Kennesaw State added an insurance run in the bottom half of the sixth frame, plating a run as Upshaw's RBI single scored Williams from second base to double its lead at 2-0.
 
After Friese worked his final inning in the seventh, the Owls exploded for five runs on five hits over the seventh and eighth innings to secure a 7-0 victory and to force a rubber game
 
Coach Sansing On The Day…
"Gabe (Friese) threw extremely well today. I thought, overall, today was one of the most complete games we have played. Pitching, defense and offense seemed to be clicking and it was great to see. We did a decent job on the bases and created opportunities. I like our team, we just have to get more consistent and today we played well."
 
Up Next
Non-conference action continues at Stillwell Stadium Sunday (March 13) afternoon, taking on the Blue Raiders in the series finale. The game will be broadcasted on A-SUN TV with Nathan McCreary on the call for the Owls. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. ET
 
Notes
- This series marks the third weekend series between the two clubs.
- This is the first meeting, and weekend series, since Feb. 15-16, when the Blue Raiders came to Kennesaw, Ga. and the Owls took 2-of-3.
- Gabe Friese struck out a career-high 10 batters throughout the game.
- Friese's outing also marked his longest of the 2016 season.
-  The Owls reached 10 or more hits in a single game for the 10th time in 14 games this season.
- With the win, Kennesaw State snapped its four-game losing skid and evened the series at 1-1.
- Austin Upshaw totaled his fifth multi-hit game of the season, and has recorded a hit in 11 of his 13 games he's played in.
- David Chabut tallied his sixth and seventh RBI of the season, and has at least an RBI over his last four games.
- Today marked the Owls' first shutout of the 2016 season
 
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