KENNESAW, Ga. - A pair of homers from
Isaac Bouton and a stellar outing from
Blake Aita helped Kennesaw State (19-14, 9-5 Atlantic Sun Conference) to a 11-2 rout of Central Arkansas (13-20, 4-10 ASUN) Saturday inside Stillwell Stadium.
Bouton had five RBI and tallied his second multi-homer game of 2024. He is the only Owl to have more than one home run in a game this season.
KSU led from the fourth inning on put it was a six-run eighth inning that put the game out of reach for the Bears.
Aita (4-0) pitched eight innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts. KSU has won six of his last seven starts.
Chris Cole exploded for a four-hit afternoon with two runs scored and one RBI.
Brayden Eidson and Bouton each had three hits.
Spencer Hanson also launched his fifth home run of the season.
The Black and Gold extended its ASUN-best scoring streak to 169 home games and they are now 17-0 when recording 15-or-more hits in a game under head coach
Ryan Coe.
KSU's 16 hits were the most in a game since Feb. 27 at Jacksonville State.
Right fielder
Cooper Williams made his first career start and reached via a UCA error in his first trip to the plate Saturday. UCA led 1-0 after the third.
After walking it off for the Owls in game one's 3-2 win, Corbin started 2-for-2 Saturday.
With bases loaded and none out in the fourth, Williams drew an 11-pitch walk to put KSU on the board and even the game at one. Two at-bats later, Eidson ripped a bases-clearing shot to left field, scoring Williams and Cole as KSU took a 3-1 lead. Central Arkansas added one in the fifth to cut into its deficit, 3-2.
Bouton launched an opposite-field homer to right in the bottom of the fifth to put the Owls back up by two, 4-2. It was his ninth home run of 2024.
Aita continued his impressive outing into the seventh where he struck out the side on three swinging punchouts.
In the bottom of the frame, Hanson smashed a opposite-field homer of his own, extending the Kennesaw State advantage to 5-2.
A
Shamaar McDuffie single in the eighth scored Cole to make it 6-2 in favor of the Owls. With McDuffie on followed by back-to-back singles from Eidson and
Nick Hassan, Bouton stepped up to the plate with the bases juiced.
Bouton then launched a grand slam to right center, putting KSU in double digits, 10-2.
Later on in the eighth, Cole, who batted around in the inning, slammed an infield single into the first-base bag scored Hanson and and increased UCA's deficit to nine, 11-2
Reliever
Bo Rhudy slammed the door on the Bears in the ninth for the 11-2 win.
UP NEXT
KSU and UCA wrap up their three-game series Sunday, April 14 at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+. Fans can purchase tickets
here.
