Category | Sports

KSU takes series, but falls to second in conference

Published on April 28, 2009 by John Morbitzer

The KSU men’s baseball team took two of three games from Belmont, with winning scores of 26-2 and 7-2 after dropping the first game to stay within a half game of Florida Gulf Coast for first place in the A-Sun.

“The performance lately has been good,” said head coach Mike Sansing. “We dropped the first game, but our defense has carried over. We hit, pitched and defended well.”

The Owls (23-16, 15-5) fell in the first of a double-header Friday, April 24 in Nashville, Tenn. KSU and Belmont traded runs in almost every inning, as Belmont had an answer for every time KSU scored.

The Owls were down 6-5 going into the ninth when Tyler Stubblefield hit a two-run home run, his second home run of the game, for KSU to take the lead. However, a throwing error by Stubblefield in the bottom of the inning with two outs allowed Belmont to tie the game and force extra innings.

In the 10th, Curtis Van Wyck and Jon White had back-to-back RBI doubles with two outs to take the lead, but a two-run home run by Belmont in the bottom of the inning prolonged the contest.

KSU could not put any runs on the board in the 11th, and a home run by Belmont provided the winning run, with a final score of 10-9.

After dropping the first game, KSU returned in game two with a vengeance. The Owls brought out the bats behind Chad Jenkins eight scoreless innings, and won by a dominating 26-2 margin.

KSU started early, scoring seven runs in the second inning with RBIs by five different Owls. Two innings later KSU put up six more runs, highlighted by home runs from Jace Whitmer and Curtis Van Wyck. After putting up one more run in the seventh, KSU added another twelve runs in the eighth. A home run by Josh Whitaker pushed the lead to eighteen, and a few batters later White reached five RBIs for the game with a three-run home run. Whitaker and Van Wyck also pushed in five RBIs each.

Jenkins had another dominant outing, allowing only five hits in eight innings with no walks and twelve strikeouts, while extending his scoreless innings streak to 34.2.

On Saturday the Owls were able to take the series to stay within a half game of first place in the conference, with a final score of 7-2.

KSU scored two runs in the top of the first, followed by three more in the third. Starter Justin Edwards threw no hit ball until two were out in the fifth inning. In the fourth, Andrew Martin hit a solo home run, as he went 4-4 on the day, and Jon White also hit a solo home run, bringing the last run for the Owls across the plate.

Belmont scored in the fifth and threatened in the sixth with bases loaded, but Edwards escaped the jam with no damage.

The Owls needed the win on Saturday to stay within striking distance of winning the conference.

“We have several to go, but we’re playing well and our goal is to win the conference, and we should be able to do that,” said Sansing.

KSU has pulled it together lately, having won twelve of their last sixteen games, including a series sweep at Mercer.

Six of the twelve wins this month have come from the Owls top two pitchers, Kyle Heckathorn, who is 4-1 on the season, and Chad Jenkins, who is 6-1 on the season. The duo is both projected for possible first-round picks, and Coach Sansing feels they have solidified those spots.

“In my mind they have. I see them work more often, and see how they progress so I think they have. I don’t have much of a say in the process, but with them pitching it feels like every time, they give you a great chance to win,” said Sansing.

Chad Jenkins extended his scoreless innings streak to 34.2 total innings, which stands out in Sansing’s mind as one of the most memorable moments of the season.

At this point in the season, with thirteen games left, the Owls are on target to finish with their pre-season conference winning expectations. Sansing feels they have lived up to those expectations but understands there is a lot of baseball left to play. He feels the team can win the conference and knows the team can stay confident through the last few games to finish strong. The goal was to win the conference, and currently, that goal is still in view.

KSU plays again at home against Alabama State Tuesday, followed by a double-header with Georgia State Wednesday to finish their April schedule.