KENNESAW, Ga. - The Kennesaw State baseball team advanced to the next round of the ASUN Conference Championship with a series-sweeping, 10-1 win against quarterfinal opponent Lipscomb on Saturday afternoon in Stillwell Stadium.
The Owls (29-20, 13-8 ASUN) were defensively solid once again, with
Ryan Kennedy keeping the Bisons (18-29, 13-8) hitless in his eighth win of the season. The leftie was able to bring down his ERA to 3.74, with Kennedy allowing only five runs in his last five collective starts.
Jake Coro has been stellar in the team's two playoff games so far, and he got the team going with a double down the left-field line in the bottom of the third. The Owls would load the bases with a
Jesse Sherrill infield single and a
Tyler Tolve walk.
Alex Carballo would bring Coro and Sherrill around to score with a base hit over the head of Lipscomb first baseman Malik Williams. After Tolve scored off of a failed pickoff attempt, Carballo would score off of a
Terence Norman knock to left field; the powerhouse's second RBI of the weekend capped the Owls' four-run inning.
The Bisons would get a run back after Williams doubled in the top of the fourth inning, but that couldn't prevent a six-run sixth from Kennesaw State.
With two runners on and two outs, Coro would swat an 0-2 pitch back up the middle for his sixth RBI of the series. Following a Sherrill walk, Lipscomb pitching would walk in three-straight runs.
Garrett Hodges would swing in two runs with an opposite-field double to wrap up the frame.
The KSU pitching was first-class; after
Ryan Kennedy allowed a single run off of two hits in his six innings of work,
Jared Rine came in for a three-inning save with four strikeouts.
With Rine securing a 10-2 win for the hosts, the Owls punched their ticket to the next round of the ASUN Championship on the UNF campus in Jacksonville, Fla. Kennesaw State will face off against UNF at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 27.
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.