Box Score (PDF)
 
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The 2022 season for the No. 6 Kennesaw State softball team (23-28) came to a close in the final four of the ASUN Softball Championship with a 5-1 defeat to the No. 2 Central Arkansas Bears (35-19) at the UNF Softball Complex Friday.
 
A season that saw the Owls fight through adversity at multiple stages closed out with a fourth-place finish in the  event. KSU won 11 of its last 14 games to earn a six seed after being last in the east division for the first half of the season.
 
Outfielder Kiera Cooper went 2-for-3 and recorded the only Owl run.
 
The Bears scored first to open the game and had a 5-0 lead after the first two innings.
 
Pitcher Lindsey Kyte (3-6) entered the game in the fourth and immediately had an impact, striking out the side in a scoreless frame.
 
Cooper and Pacy Villa had back-to-back singles to lead off the fifth inning. Cooper came home on an RBI single through the right side by Isabella Galloway to put KSU on the board, 5-1.
 
UCA pitched two more scoreless innings to close out the game.
 
Melanie Bennett (17-15) started the game and was credited with the loss allowing no earned runs. Kyte pitched 3.0 innings of relief also allowing just three hits and no earned runs with four strikeouts.
 
 
GAME NOTES
>> Kyte's three punchouts in the fifth marked the first time she has struck out the side this season.
>> Galloway (11) and Villa (7) ended the season with notable reached-base streaks. They also lead the team with seven (Villa) and six-game (Galloway) hit streaks to close 2022.
>> Cooper notched her ninth multi-hit game of the season.
>> Kennesaw State remains the only NCAA Division I softball program of 30 years or more in the state of Georgia that has won at least 20 games every season.
 
SEASON RECAP
The Owls ended the 2022 campaign winning nine of their last 11, including each of the last seven regular season games. Cates hit a program single-season record 19 home runs and also set yearly records for sacrifice hits (5), total bases (133) and slugging percentage (.847).
She was named to ASUN All-Academic and All-Conference First Team in addition to CoSIDA Academic All-District Softball First Team.
Bennett accounted for 192.1 innings pitched of the Owls' 329.2 season total and 181 of KSU's 256 punchouts.
 
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