KENNESAW, Ga. – The Owls split the final day of the Atlanta Classic, beating UIC 9-2, but falling to Richmond 9-8.

Game One
Alex Carballo ignited the Owls' offense with a lead-off home run to right field to begin the game. After collecting runs in the second and third innings, Terence Norman hit his first home run of the season over the right field wall in the fourth inning to give Kennesaw State a 4-0 advantage.

With runners on first and third in the fourth frame, David Chabut laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to score Jaylen Smith to extend the lead to 5-0. The Flames scored their only runs in the fifth inning with a single up the middle.

Kennesaw State was not done, as the Owls plated a pair of runs in the sixth and eighth innings. Tyler Tolve logged his first RBI of his Owl career in the sixth inning after jabbing a single to right field to score Jake Franklin. Later in the inning, Chabut lined a double down the to score Smith.
In the eighth, Garrett Hodges singled to drive home Carballo while Norman pushed in a run after grounding a ball to the short stop.

The pitching staff did not see a lot of action in the first game, as the Owls threw just two pitchers. Ryan Kennedy pitched 5.0 innings, striking out six batters and only allowing two runs. Jared Rine was dazzling in his Kennesaw State debut as the freshman threw 4.0 scoreless innings.

At the plate, Norman and Hodges went 3-for-5 with Hodges recording two RBIs. Carballo and Smith also recorded multi-hit games while Chabut claimed a pair of RBIs.

Game Two

In one of the wildest games a baseball fan would see, the Owls fell to the Spiders 9-8 in the back-half of the double-header. The Owls recorded 12 hits to Richmond's three, but could not find a way to finish the game in the later innings.

The Owls struck first when Jake Franklin doubled to left center to plate Daniel Seres and Hodges in the bottom of the third inning.

Richmond scored five runs in the fifth inning to capture a 5-2 lead but did so with just one hit. Kennesaw State pitchers walked four batters and hit two while the defense recorded an error.
In the fifth inning, Hodges scored on a wild pitch and Franklin crossed home plate on a ground ball to tie the game at five runs.

The Spiders scored three more runs in the seventh inning to extend the lead to 8-5. Not done, the Owls tied the game in the bottom of the frame after Nick Colina scored on a throwing error committed by the Spiders.

Richmond took its final lead of the game in the eighth inning after singling to center field.

Seven arms on the Owls pitching staff were featured against Richmond, with starter Josh Coburn seeing the most action. He pitched 3.1 frames with seven strikeouts. Jake McLinskey recorded the final four outs for the Owls and struck out one.

Smith finished the weekend 6-for-13 (.462), while Carballo and Hodges hit at a .417 clip. After opening weekend, Hodges leads the club with four RBIs, while Carballo is slugging a team-high .667.

The Owls are back on the diamond on Tuesday (Feb. 19) against Georgia at 5 p.m. at Stillwell Stadium.