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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Courtney Sutter and Jessie Mullen each hit home runs, but they proved to not be enough to overcome four errors as Kennesaw State fell 5-4 to USC Upstate in a semi-final game of the ASUN Softball Championship Thursday at Draper Diamond in Nashville, Tenn.
 
The Spartans (43-11) scored the winning run on a suicide squeeze play in the bottom of the seventh to break a 4-4 tie that propelled them into Saturday's championship game. The Owls (36-17) return to action on Friday when they will face either Lipscomb or Florida Gulf Coast in an elimination game at 4 p.m. (ET).
 
USC Upstate's seventh-inning rally started with a one-out double by Ansley Gilstrap and, after an infield error and stolen base put runners at second and third, Brittany Case laid down a bunt that scored Gilstrap, who beat Alley Cutting's throw to the plate.
 
The Owls struck first as they produced a two-out rally after Mullen walked, Taylor Denton followed with a single and Hannah Thomason drove a base hit into right-center field to score Mullen and give KSU a 1-0 lead.
 
Cutting had retired the first seven batters she faced before a one-out error in the third inning was followed by three consecutive hits that gave the Spartans a 3-1 lead.
 
In a match-up of the ASUN Conference's Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, Sutter got the better of Holly McKinnon in the fifth inning as she drove a pitch over the left-center field wall for a two-run home run that tied the score, 3-3.
 
USC Upstate answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth, scoring a two-out run during an intentional walk wild pitch.
 
Mullen, who it a walk-off home run earlier in the day that gave Kennesaw State a 2-1, nine-inning win over North Florida, struck again with a majestic blast over the left-center field fence that tied the game, 4-4, in the sixth inning.
 
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