Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A late-inning home run and shut-down bullpen propelled Kennesaw State baseball to a 5-3 win and series sweep over Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon. The Owls (12-6) have won five straight over the Dolphins (11-8) and improve to 3-0 in ASUN Conference play.

With one out in the top of the seventh, Nick Colina ripped his first home run of the season to put the Owls up, 4-3. The solo shot proved to be enough and allowed Kennesaw State to secure its first ASUN sweep on the 2022 season. Colina finished the game 1-for-4 at the plate.

The Kennesaw State offense recorded seven hits in the series finale, with two leaving the ballpark. This marked the second time this year the Owls have hit multiple home runs in a single game. The gritty KSU offense also scored two of its five runs with two outs.

Tyler Simon launched his second long ball of the season in his first at-bat. The Kennesaw State shortstop posted a 1-for-4 day and is three shy of reaching the 200-hit mark for his career. Simon currently ranks eighth in the KSU record book for career hits.

It took until his final at-bat of the game, but a single in the ninth inning extended Josh Hatcher's hit streak to 13 games. The KSU centerfielder was on fire this weekend and complied seven hits in the three-game series.

Donovan Cash and Nick Hassan each added clutch at-bats in the series finale. Cash finished the weekend with a team-leading four RBI. Hassan started all three games behind the plate for KSU and added two hits and two RBI in the finale.

Brayden Eidson bridged the game for the KSU bullpen and tossed 3.0 innings in relief. The southpaw allowed one run on two hits and struck out two.

Luke Torbert relieved Eidson in the sixth and earned his second win on the year. The right-hander threw 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball and allowed only one hit.

The Owls took an early lead on a Simon home run but found themselves trailing in the fourth inning. Zac Corbin drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With a man in scoring position, Cash continued his hot streak and slashed a line drive up the middle to bring in Corbin and even the score at three.

KSU jumped ahead again in the sixth when Hassan registered a two-out base knock to bring in Corbin, but the Dolphins tied it up in the bottom half to continue the back-and-forth ballgame.

After the Colina home run to give KSU the lead, Hassan recorded his second two-out RBI of the game to push the score to 5-3. Jared Rine was called on to seal the game and pitched a perfect ninth en route to his second save of the year.

Kennesaw State is back in action this Tuesday, Mar. 22 at it begins a two-game midweek series with Georgia Tech. The teams will play at KSU on Tuesday and then at GT on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on both nights. Tuesday tickets are available for purchase by clicking here.
 
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