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KENNESAW, Ga. - The Kennesaw State baseball team (15-8, 4-2) cruised to a 16-4 drubbing of the Georgia State Panthers (5-20) on Sunday afternoon at Kennesaw State's Stillwell Stadium.

The Owls' offense got going early again in their third straight game against the Panthers, as Tyler Tolve hit his fourth home run of the year with a blast over the right-field fence in the first inning. 

Starting his first game at first base, Nick Colina had his best game of the season with a three-for-five day against the Panthers; it all started with his first big fly of the season in KSU's second frame, a ball that traveled nearly the same flight path as Tolve's. The home team was far from finished in the second, as Tolve delivered again with a base hit through the left side to score Tyler Simon. Right fielder Terence Norman capped the six-run inning with a single to center field to plate Jesse Sherrill and extend an early Owl lead to 7-0. 

Georgia State began to gain ground with four runs scored through the third and fourth innings, as they attempted to prevent the contest from getting away from them. Andrew Grogan came in as a reliever for the final out of the fourth inning and the transfer from UNC earned the win after shutting out the Panthers in 3.1 innings pitched. The six-foot rightie allowed no runs on two hits and struck out three Georgia State batters. 

The scoreboard read 7-4 as the game entered the bottom of the fourth inning, but that all changed as Colina drove in his career-high third RBI of the game with a hit to left field. Simon then scored the sophomore with a double down the left-field line. 

Already up 10-4 after five innings, the Owls showed no mercy as they came up to bat in the sixth. With the bases loaded, third baseman Jake Coro laced a two-run double through the right side to become the seventh different Owl to bat in a run on Sunday. Sherrill cleared the rest of the bases with a knock down the right-field line, making himself the second of three batters with three RBIs on the day. The third of those batters was Alex Carballo, who squeezed a two-run dinger between the scoreboard and center-field fence for a two-run home run. The center fielder's fourth trip around the bases in 2021 tied Norman, Tolve and Garrett Hodges for the team lead and was Carballo's third home run in four games. 

Six-foot-three sophomore Matt Thompson came on for the last two innings to safely see out a 16-4 win in his first appearance as an Owl. Kennesaw State's rout of its rival down Interstate-75 saw the Owls hit their most hits this year with 19 and the most home runs of any games this season with three. 

KSU hopes to secure its second sweep of the season with a fourth and final game due to be played at the Stillwell Stadium at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. 

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.