ATLANTA – Kennesaw State baseball fell 14-8 at Georgia State Tuesday night at the GSU Baseball Complex. The Owls will look to bounce back Friday at 5 p.m. as the team hosts Michigan in the inaugural Mike Sansing Classic.
The Owls featured several strong offensive performances against the Panthers in the midweek matchup.
Brayden Eidson and
Donovan Cash both turned in two-hit showings. Cash finished the night 2-for-5 with a 2-RBI double.
Zac Corbin and
Nick Hassan hit a pair of solo shots in the top of the sixth and eighth innings. Corbin ended the game 1-for-4 from the plate with two RBI and two runs scored.
Spencer Hanson,
Jackson Chirello and
Nick Colina each added a hit to round out the Kennesaw State offense.
Eidson earned the start on the mound Tuesday, going three innings, giving up two runs, and tying a career-high with four strikeouts.
Kennesaw State threatened in the first two innings, putting five runners on base but couldn't plate any across.
Georgia State struck first, scoring the game's first run in the bottom of the second.
In the top of the third, Eidson collected his second hit of the game with a single to left field to kick off the inning.
Donovan Cash followed suit with an infield knock to put runners on first and second with no outs.
With runners on the corners,
Nick Hassan laid down a sac bunt to advance Eidson to third and a balk from the Georgia State pitcher made it a 1-1 ballgame.
Georgia State responded in the bottom of the third and reclaimed a 2-1 lead.
The Owls put runners on first and second once again with no outs. After a
Jay Knowles sac bunt, Corbin tied the game back up at 2-2 with a grounder to short, bringing home Mimbs. Cash then laced a two-out double to left-center to give the Owls a 4-2 lead.
Miller Riggins entered in relief for the Owls and sat the Panthers down in the fourth, but Georgia State scratched across a run in the bottom of the fifth.
Corbin belted his second homer of the season on a solo shot to right to extend the lead back to two, 5-3.
The Panthers answered with six runs in the bottom half of the fifth to retake the lead, 9-5.
Hanson started a two-out rally with a single to left in the top half of the next inning. Chirello walked and Mimbs loaded up the bases after getting hit by a pitch.
Nick Colina pinch-hit and delivered an RBI single.
Wade Richardson took over for Knowles and brought in another run with a five-pitch walk.
Georgia State pushed across five runs in the bottom of the seventh to push its lead to 14-7.
Hassan launched his first homer of the season on Kennesaw State's second solo shot of the game and the third of his career to cut into the Georgia State lead, 14-8 and that score would hold as the final Tuesday afternoon.
KSU is back in action Friday to kick off the Mike Sansing Classic with a matchup against Michigan at 5 p.m. at Stillwell Baseball Stadium.
To keep up with the latest on the Kennesaw State baseball team, follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsBaseball or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook and Instagram.
