KENNESAW,
Ga. Campbell (11-45, 5-23 A-Sun) dropped its final two games
of the season to Kennesaw State (32-23, 13-14 A-Sun), losing a 2-1
pitcher's dual in game one and falling 11-3 in the season finale,
Saturday afternoon at Stillwell Stadium.
Game one of Friday's
doubleheader showcased two seniors making their final start, and
the two did not disappoint. Campbell's Blake Herring and Kennesaw's
Casey Rogers both threw complete games as the two struck out nine
and 10 respectively as Kennesaw dropped CU 2-1 in the first half of
the twin bill at Stillwell Stadium.
Game one was characterized by
the stellar pitching performances, as CU's Herring (3-8) threw his
league leading fifth complete game, giving up just two hits after
the fourth inning. Herring, however, fell to 2-5 in seven career
complete games. For Rogers (5-2) it was his first career complete
game, as he struck out 10 Camel batters in the win in his final
career start.
Campbell capitalized on its first
threat of the afternoon with a run in the fourth. With runners on
the corners and one out, Brandon York struck out and
Jacob Allen was caught in a
run-down after an attempted steal. Brandon Scott scampered home
before Allen's out was recorded, giving CU the 1-0 lead.
Kennesaw bounced back to cap
off the scoring by taking 2-1 lead in their half of the fourth.
Kennesaw loaded the bases with two outs and used an Andrew Martin
infield single and a Jacob Robbins walk to plate their pair of
tallies.
While most of the highlights
were on the mound, Campbell's Scott scored the Camel's only run and
recorded two hits to pace CU in game one. Martin was the only KSU
player with multiple hits, going a perfect 3-3 for the
Owls.
KSU stormed out to a 10-0
lead in game two, scoring in each of the first four innings. The
first inning saw the Owls plate an unearned run, as a Matt Dallas
single staked Kennesaw to a 1-0 lead.
The Owl's bats woke up in the
second after scoring just three runs in the first two games. Four
unearned runs on four hits
in the inning, including an RBI single by Robbins, an RBI fielder's
choice by Jay Morrow and a two-out, two-RBI triple by Matt Dallas
gave KSU a 5-0 cushion. The third inning saw Kennesaw get two more
runs as Robbins singled in both tallies with a single for a 7-0
advantage.
The 10 unanswered runs ended
in the fourth, as three KSU runs scored on a Rob Lyerly error and
sacrifice flies by Zack Upton and Martin made it 10-0 before
Campbell scored their first run in the fifth. Daniel
Smith rapped his second RBI-double of the weekend to make it a
10-1 ballgame.
Campbell inched closer with two runs
in the eighth. After the first three Camels singled, Rob Lyerly
doubled to bring in the final two Camel runs of the year.
Two seniors made their last
starts and recorded their final decisions in game two, as Quinn
LeSage (1-10) suffered the loss in game two lasting just three
innings while allowing five unearned runs. Dan Dale (4-3) went 6.2
innings, striking out six in the final game of his
career.
Six Kennesaw players had at
least two hits in game two led by Dallas' three-hit, three RBI
effort. Blake Lowry matched a career
high two hits and Smith added his second three-hit game of the
series, the 16th time he's hit safely in the last 19
games.
Smith and Scott led the Camel
charge batting .500 (7-14) and .462 (6-13) on the weekend
respectively. Matt Hopkins also batted .500 (5-10) to lead
Kennesaw.