Monday,
May 6, 2002
BLUE
HOSE & OWLS SPLIT BASEBALL DOUBLEHEADER
KENNESAW,
GA. —
The 4th-ranked Kennesaw State Fighting Owls, rusty after a
week off, awakened to score five runs in two innings to defeat
Presbyterian College, 6-1, and split a regular season ending
doubleheader at Stillwell Stadium after losing the first game,
9-4.
Once
again, righthander Matt Pender led the way, gaining his
11th straight win without a loss this season in a seven-inning
complete game, striking out 10 Blue Hose and allowing only
three hits.
Facing
a parade of Presbyterian pitchers, the Owls (44-11) were only
able to muster one run on two hits through the first four
innings before busting out for three runs in the fifth. Clint
Watters (2-3) started the rally with a double and was
advanced to third on Josh Pellior's hit. After Pellior
stole second and Hayes Cook (1-2) walked, Travis
Evans (2-2), who knocked in a team-leading five runs on
the day, drove in Watters and Pellior with a single to center
field.
For
Pellior, the run was a personal milestone, as he broke the
all-time KSU record for runs scored with his 201st run,
eclipsing the old record set by Jason Jones.
Later
in the inning, Bo Counts drove home Cook with a
sacrifice fly.
In
the sixth inning, the Owls provided Pender (11-0) with some
insurance runs when Pellior walked with two out and Cook
singled. After a double steal, Evans got his third and fourth
RBI of the game with a single to right field.
Meanwhile, Pender was busy nailing the Blue Hose coffin, allowing one hit over the last three innings.
In
the first game, Owl starter Grant Reynolds (8-2, seven
strikeouts in five innings) started strongly but fell prey to
a poor fielding decision and several perfectly placed Blue
Hose hits and was down 3-1 after two-and-a-half innings. KSU
tied the game in the third when Donny Hood (1-3)
singled and Counts (1-3) nailed his sixth home run of the
season over the right field fence off of Travis
Hill (1-3).
However,
Presbyterian (26-30) scratched back in the fourth to score two
runs on two hits, a steal and a walk. The Owls got one back in
their half of the inning on a two-base throwing error and
Evans' (1-3) sacrifice fly.
But
Presbyterian sealed the deal in the sixth with four runs off
of reliever Adam Brandenburg. The key blows were
two-run singles by Matt Warren
(2-4) and Davis Rice (2-4).