JACKSONVILLE – Jax State baseball dropped the first game of a three-game series against the Kennesaw State Owls on Friday night at Jim Case Stadium.
Jax State falls to 38-11 on the season and 20-5 in Conference USA play, while the Owls improved to 24-22 and 12-13 in league play.
Chase Horst was tagged with a loss for the first time this season, falling to 3-1 after giving up the go-ahead run. Daniel Powell was tagged with with his sixth win of the year in relief to improve to 6-2.
Kennesaw State took to the board first in the top of the fifth inning on a dropped fly ball in center field, taking a 1-0 lead with the unearned run.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Gamecocks responded with two runs to take the lead at 2-1, starting with a towering triple to right field by
Trey King, scoring
Caleb Johnson. The following batter,
Grayson Ashe, sacrificed himself with a bunt back at the pitcher to score King and take the lead.
The Owls tied the game up with an RBI-single in the top of the eighth inning by Chris Cole, tying the game heading into the ninth inning.
In the top of the ninth, the Owls took the lead on a wild pitch, taking the lead to 3-2. A second dropped fly ball by the Gamecocks scored another Kennesaw State run, then an RBI-single out the Owls up 5-2 after the top half of the frame, and the eventual final.
In the CUSA standings, the three top teams fell on Friday night. Aside from the Gamecocks, Liberty fell to LA Tech, 9-3, and Dallas Baptist fell to Western Kentucky, 7-4. The Gamecocks still hold a two-game lead in the standings and are still in first place in the league.
Game two is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday evening. The projected match up on the mound is
Beau Bryans for the Gamecocks and Harry Cain for the Owls.
