MARIETTA, Ga. – Sharp pitching and defense carried Kennesaw State (18-19, 8-5 CUSA) to a 3-1 victory over the dangerous FIU (22-15, 6-6 CUSA) bats to open the series at S. Walter Kelly Sr. Memorial Field Thursday night.
How It Happened
In the third inning,
Wesley Alig kicked off with a stinging single to left field.
Aaron Posey then followed with a single through the middle infield. A sacrifice bunt from
Shamaar McDuffie put two Owls in scoring position. Lead off hitter
Chris Cole squeaked the first run across with an infield bunt single, making it 1-0.
Donovan Cash then rolled over to the FIU shortstop, but a botched handle allowed him to reach while scoring Posey for a two-run lead for KSU.
Posey took a lead-off walk to begin the fifth inning and advanced to scoring position with another McDuffie bunt.
Nate Anderson singled with an infield bunt toward third base, bringing
Aaron Posey to third base. An errant throw from third base to first base skipped into foul territory, scoring Posey for a 3-0 advantage.
A bases-loaded sacrifice fly brought around the Panthers' first score of the game in the top of the sixth inning.
Daniell Powell inherited runners on the corners as FIU threatened at the top of the eighth inning. Powell forced a crucial fly out of left field to keep the two-run lead while giving the Owls the bats.
Powell was untouchable in his appearance, compiling two strikeouts and earning the save and securing a 3-1 Kennesaw State win.
Spotlight Performances
- Bayer was sharp in his start, setting a career high in innings pitched with 5.1 along with five strikeouts and one earned run. He also allowed one or fewer earned runs in four of his last six starts.
- The Owl pitching staff limited a top-tier Conference USA scoring offense to just one run while earning 10 strikeouts.
Next Up
The Owls will partake in game two versus FIU starting at 6 p.m. Friday night.
