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KENNESAW, Ga. – After being honored as one of eight seniors in a pregame ceremony on Senior Day, Morgan Sikes came up with arguably the best performance of her career as she pitched her first career complete-game shutout to help Kennesaw State to a 1-0 victory and a split of a key Atlantic Sun Conference doubleheader with Lipscomb Friday at Bailey Park.
 
Sikes' (12-9) performance came on the heels of a 2-1 loss in the opener as Kennesaw State (26-26, 7-10) battles in the final weekend of play to earn a berth in the A-Sun Conference Tournament that begins next week.
 
A win over the Bisons (26-26, 8-9) on Saturday will secure a berth in the conference tournament for the Owls as both teams are battling North Florida (19-27, 5-10) to continue their seasons beyond this weekend's conclusion of regular-season play.
 
"Those were two hard-fought games and I'm proud of the kids for fighting back to get the split," head coach Tory Acheson said. "Morgan threw a great game when we really needed it and we made some nice defensive plays to support her."
 
Kennesaw State waited until the bottom of the sixth inning to score the game's only run. Courtney Sutter drove the first pitch of the frame into the right-centerfield gap for a double and one out later, seniors Megan Veringa and Rachel Dennis followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Freshman Katie Cannington followed and worked a walk that forced in the only run of the game and reward a solid outing by Sikes.
 
In seven innings of work, Sikes allowed five hits, walked one and struck out two while working out of trouble in the first, fourth and seventh innings as Lipscomb advanced runners into scoring position in each of those innings.
 
A bit of history was made in the bottom half of the first inning of game two, as junior Taylor Denton became Kennesaw State's all-time career stolen base leader with a swipe of second base. It was the 61st of her career and broke a tie with Jennifer Hunt (2003-06) who held the record since 2006.
 
Junior Logan Viers (11-9) suffered a tough loss in the opener as she came up on the short end of pitchers' duel with Kelly Young (13-10). Viers only mistakes came in the third inning when her errant throw on a comebacker resulted in an error and base runner, and ahead of a two-run home run by Abby Fenichel.
 
The Owls lone run came in the fourth inning on an RBI single by senior Hillary Kartman that scored pinch runner Lauren Bennett, who was running for Jenna Kniss after she tripled to open the frame.
 
"We need to come out tomorrow (Saturday) and work to win the series," Acheson said. "We can control our own destiny for qualifying for the A-Sun Tournament with a win.
 
"We are also honoring three new members of the Circle of Honor and are recognizing our alumni in a pre-game ceremony to cap off our celebration weekend. It's an Owl Proud weekend!"
 
The Owls and Bisons will close out the series and regular season with a 5 p.m. contest at Bailey Park. The game will be streamed live at A-Sun TV with Dave Garner providing the play-by-play.
 
NOTES
SENIORS HONORED: The eight seniors honored on Friday included Emily Bishop, Kara Chambers, Rachel Dennis, Hillary Kartman, Missy Perkowski, Morgan Sikes, Megan Veringa and Monica Vickery.
 
PERKOWSKI SINGS NATIONAL ANTHEM: Missy Perkowski capped off the pre-game ceremonies by performing a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

CIRCLE OF HONOR: Three new members will be added to the Circle of Honor during a pre-game ceremony on Sunday. The honorees include former players Kim O'Kelley (Wingate) (1996-97), and Jenna Closner (2007-10) and Bill Hudson, who served as pitching coach for three years (2003-05) and whose associated with KSU softball dates back to 1991.    
 
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