Category | Sports

Owls split with UGA

Published on April 1, 2008 by The Sentinel

    The KSU baseball team split a pair of games with the University of
Georgia Bulldogs on Mar. 25 and 26.  The first game was played at home
in front of a record 1,163 fans on Tuesday at Stillwell Stadium.  The
team then traveled to UGA’s home in Athens, Georgia to play once again
the next evening.

    The first game was hard fought from the beginning, but the Owls fell down seven runs after seven Bulldog hits in the top of the second inning.  Tyler Stubblefield helped the Owls respond in their half of the second by taking advantage of three walks from UGA’s pitcher Jason Leaver. The sophomore hit a three-run double to close the gap to 7-3.  That would be the closest the Owls came to the Bulldogs on that night.  KSU Owl’s pitcher Bubba Blalock held control of the game for a couple of innings before UGA struck for four runs on three hits in the fifth to extend their lead to 11-3. A hit-and-run single in the sixth extended the Georgia lead to 12-3.  The Owls continued to battle throughout the rest of the game, scoring two runs in the seventh. Another Stubblefield double led off the inning, and Senior Martin Baker connected with the ball, sending Stubblefield home for the run.  Baker advanced to third on an error in right field, and then scored on a ground out by Ric Bishop for the last run of the night.  KSU fell to UGA 12-5.

    The Owls were determined not to have a replay on the second night.  “I’m hungry for some Dawg meat!” declared sophomore Kyle Clayton.  Defense was the word of the day, as KSU kept solid and consistent throughout the game, capitalizing on five UGA errors and tallying timely hits.  Micah Sales pitched five innings to tally the win for KSU, while Michael Bohana recorded his third save of the season. Jacob Robbins scored three times for the Owls, starting in the first inning off a Bishop RBI ground out.  Georgia came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead for the first time.  In the third inning the Owls took advantage of an error which allowed Robbins to score from second, tying the score at 2 runs a piece.  In the same inning, Jace Whitmer had a hit, allowing Bishop to make his way home, putting the Owls ahead by one.  Georgia then answered in the fourth with a run to tie the game. The Owls broke open the 3-3 tie in the sixth, scoring four runs on one hit, a two-run singly by Martin Baker.  Adding to the runs were two Bulldog miscues, a fielding error, and a passed ball, giving KSU a 7-3 lead.

    “That was a big hit for Martin,” said Coach Mike Sansing. “It came at a time when we really needed a lift and he delivered.”  In the eighth, the Owls added one last tally to their score from a Bucky Smith double to left field, bringing Stubblefield home for the run.  The Bulldogs fought back in the bottom of the eighth, scoring three runs, but KSU held off the pressure and ended the game ahead of the Bulldogs, 8-6.