Category | Sports

Stetson sweeps KSU in baseball

Published on April 3, 2007 by The Sentinel

    The Stetson Hatters [23-9, 7-2] proved to be too much for the Owls [17-12, 2-4] as they sweep the weekend baseball series at Stillwell Stadium. The Hatters pitching staff proved to be the differencemaker, as they shutout the Owls in two of the three games. 

    Jake Hitchcock [2-1] threw a complete-game, six-hit shutout to complete the sweep in the second game of the double-header Saturday, 3-0.

    The Owls had their opportunity to get a few runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Jace Whitmer grounded into a double play ending the Owls’ threat.

    Owls’ freshman standout Kyle Heckathorn [3-1] did his best to prevent the sweep. Heckathorn threw seven and one third innings, while striking out 11.

    He was dominant until the top of the eighth inning, when he gave up back-to-back solo homeruns to Braedyn Pruitt and Brian Pruitt. 

    “It was a good game,” Heckathorn said. “I just left a few pitches over the middle of the plate and you can’t do that against a good hitting team.”

    “Kyle pitched extremely well,” said head coach Mike Sansing. “He really kept us in the game, but we could not score any runs.”

    The first game of the double-header saw 25 runs scored on 41 hits.

    The Hatters jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the top of the third inning.

    However, the Owls were determined to climb back in the game as they cut into the Hatters’ lead by scoring five runs in the bottom of the third inning.

Neither team was able to put together another big inning as each team scored five more runs in the final six innings of play.

    Even with their many chances, the Owls stranded 13 base runners as the Hatters won 15-0.

    Corey Kluber [6-0] pitched for the Hatters Friday night giving up three hits on his way to a complete-game shutout. 

    The Hatters were able to rough up Owls starter Chad Jenkins [1-2] for three runs in the top of the second inning. Three runs were all that was needed as the Hatters won 7-0.

    “It was a disappointing series for us,” Sansing said. “We played very well, but could not get anything across the plate.”

    The Owls will be back in action Wednesday at 6 p.m. with the Trojans of Troy come to town.

    “Hopefully, we can get back into the winning column against Troy,” Sansing said.

Photo By Andrey Zorin | The Sentinel
KSU baseball coach Mike Sansing, center, waits on the mound as he brings a reliever out of the bullpen during a game against Stetson Saturday.