Records: Kennesaw State (7-8), Middle Tennessee (10-6)
Score: Kennesaw State 6, Middle Tennessee 8 (10 innings)
Starting Pitching Matchup: RHP Reid Clements vs. RHP AJ Moore
Key Players: Chris Erwin (1-for-4, RBI); Matt Mixon (1-for-4, 2 RBI); Jeremy Howell (3-for-4, RBI); Brennan Morgan (2-for-3); AJ Moore (6.0IP, 1 earned)
 
Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (XML)

KENNESAW, Ga. – Despite 10 hits and a solid pitching performance from AJ Moore, the Kennesaw State Owls baseball team dropped the series finale to Middle Tennessee, 8-6, in 10 innings on Sunday (March 13) afternoon.
 
AJ Moore, who made his fourth Sunday start of the season on the mound, pitched a solid 6.0 innings of work in his outing. The Dacula, Georgia native allowed one earned run (five runs total) on six hits while issuing just two walks on the day. Moore also struck out two batters and tossed 61 percent of his pitches for strikes, earning a no decision.
 
KSU (7-8) was paced offensively by Jeremy Howell, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI at the plate – marking the third time in five games the junior has three hits in a ballgame. Matt Mixon (1-for-4) chipped in with two RBI, and senior catcher Brennan Morgan finished his day 2-for-3 at the dish. In all, seven different Owls totaled a hit throughout the 10 innings of action in a tough-luck loss.
 
The Owls, who entered the day 7-1 when scoring first in a game this season, plated a crooked four runs on four hits in the bottom of the second, bringing nine batters to the plate to take a 4-0 lead after two frames.
 
KSU entered the day outscoring opponents 18-7 in the second inning, and continued the theme Sunday afternoon. Howell, who entered the day hitting .360 in 12 starts, led off the frame with his team-leading fifth double before the Owls loaded the bases with one out after two walks. David Chabut, a freshman from Loganville, Georgia, --who entered the day totaling five RBI over his last five games— continued his hot bat at with an RBI single to give Kennesaw State a 1-0 edge.
 
The inning continued when Mixon, who manned left field in his fourth start of the 2016 season, hit a two-run RBI double, bringing home Jake Franklin and Alex Liquori, before Erwin singled through the left side to give the Owls a 4-0 advantage.
 
After Middle Tennessee broke its scoreless bid in the top of the fourth with a run, Kennesaw State quickly responded with a two-run bottom half off three hits. An RBI double off the bat of Austin Upshaw and an RBI single off the bat of Howell gave the Owls a 6-1 advantage.
 
Trailing by five, the Blue Raiders stormed back with seven unanswered runs, plating four runs in the fifth, a single run in the eighth and the game-deciding runs in the top of the 10^th, totaling seven hits over the three frames to help secure the series.
 
Coach Sansing On The Day…
"We jumped out early and, offensively, did not do anything after jumping out to a quick five run lead. I felt like we were in all three games, and we have to be able to control the innings better and limit runs."
Head Coach, Mike Sansing
 
Up Next
Non-conference action continues at Stillwell Stadium with a pair of mid-week tilts, playing host to Georgia on Tuesday before taking on Tennessee Tech on Wednesday. Both games will be aired on ESPN3 as Nathan McCreary will have the call.
 
Notes
- This series marked the third weekend series between the two clubs, with MT taking two of the three series.
- 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.
-  The Owls reached 10 or more hits in a single game for the 11th time in 15 games this season, and the fifth straight game the Owls have totaled that in a game.
- The extra innings game marked the third time in six games the Owls have played extra frames in a game.
- David Chabut tallied an RBI for the sixth consecutive game on Sunday.
- Jeremy Howell totaled three hits for the third game over his last five games.
 
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State baseball news follow the team on Twitter@KSUOwlNation and@KSUOwlsBaseball or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.