RUSTON, La. – Finishing out Friday's halted game, Kennesaw State ran away with game one as they scored a 6-1 victory while dropping game two 7-3 to the hometown Bulldogs in Saturday's semi-doubleheader.
Tomorrow's game has been moved up to 1 p.m. ET
Game One Recap
Friday
Beginning at 6 p.m. ET Friday night,
Donovan Cash started the engine for Kennesaw State in the first inning with a swinging bunt single toward third base with two outs.
Freshman
Wesley Alig shattered a single through the middle of the infield, nearly clipping the third base umpire. The ball landed 10 feet in front of the center fielder, scoring Cash from second and giving KSU a 1-0 lead.
In the second inning, KSU wiped away a run after a double was relayed from
Jackson Chirello to Alig to
Evan Holstein at the plate, gunning down the La. Tech runner. A base hit from the Bulldogs scored their first run, creating a 1-1 game.
Due to a torrential downpour, the game was postponed and schedule to be picked up at 1 p.m. ET the following day with a 1-1 game in the fourth inning.
Saturday
Play was resumed with a 1-1 count to
Evan Holstein and
Cam Suto at first base. Holstein singled to center field but the Owl threat was negated by some strong Bulldog defense.
In his "relief" appearance,
Ryan Gold struck out two of three getting a clean fourth inning.
With the bases juiced in the sixth inning,
Shamaar McDuffie was hit in the lower left leg, bringing home Alig and giving them a 2-1 lead. Tagging onto the inning's momentum,
Chris Cole slashed a single to left field, scoring two Owl runners and sending KSU to a 4-1 advantage. Two-hole hitter
Nate Anderson returned the ball to its sender as he dribbled a single down the pip into center field, cementing a four-run lead for KSU in the sixth.
In the seventh inning, Suto regained the team lead in home runs with a 390+ foot solo jack to left center, jolting KSU to a 6-1 game.
Bo Rhudy came in and held the Bulldogs at bay as he tossed two scoreless innings to finalize 6-2 the win for the Owls. It's the third straight scoreless appearance from the sophomore reliever.
Game Two Recap
All was quiet on the offensive front for a majority of the early to mid-innings for both sides.
Harry Cain was brilliant in his start, recording 5.1 innings of work while surrendering just 3 earned runs.
La. Tech squeaked its first runs with aces in the bottom of the second and sixth innings. The fifth inning played into the Bulldogs hands as they stacked on five runs to catapult to a 7-0 lead over KSU going into the final inning.
The Owls didn't go out quietly as they garnered three runs on two hits and an RBI ground out.
Donovan Cash earned an RBI with a groundout to the shortstop, scoring
Shamaar McDuffie from third base. Chirello and Alig both posted back-to-back base hits, drawing the game to a four run deficit.
The comeback attempt was cut short as the Bulldogs gained the final out and took down KSU with a 7-3 final splitting the day.
Spotlight Performances
Game One
- Suto collected four hits, including a solo home run. It's Suto's first four-hit game of the season
- The Owls batted .500 when leading off an inning and pounded nine hits versus left-handed pitching
- In day two of game one, the Owls pitched a shutout thanks to Gold and Bo Rhudy out of the pen. Bayer surrendered just one run in his three innings while the staff compiled nine punchouts.
- It's the Owls' second largest margin of victory this year (five runs). It's the first time this year KSU has held an opponent to just one run.
- Gold was marvelous yet again out of the pen, going four scoreless innings while ringing up five Bulldogs hitters.
- In three of his last four games, Holstein has solidified a two-hit performance.
Game Two
- Cash's RBI tied him with Ronnie Freeman for most career Division-I RBI with 151. He is one RBI away from being the sole leader.
Next Up
Kennesaw State will finalize the series with La. Tech as they take on the Bulldogs in the Sunday rubber match at 1 p.m. ET.
