Kennesaw State softball drops Atlantic Sun opener to USC Upstate

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

The Kennesaw State softball team dropped its Atlantic Sun Conference opener at home to USC Upstate, 16-3, on Saturday evening at Bailey Park in five innings.

Missy Perkowski had two hits and Taylor Denton had two RBIs in the loss for the Owls (15-7, 0-1 Atlantic Sun).

“You have to tip your hat to Upstate,” interim KSU head coach Tory Acheson said after the loss. “They came in with a great plan and they executed it. They came right at us and unfortunately we did not respond as well today as we would like, but tomorrow is a new day.”

The Spartans (15-4, 1-0 Atlantic Sun), who had 17 hits in the victory, got on the board in the top of the first inning on a two-run home run by Cheyenne Griffin.

The Spartans increased their lead to 5-0 in the top of the second inning when Shellie Robinson hit a three-run homer over the left field wall, driving in Kaitlyn Jaeger and Aly Schneider.

Kennesaw State starting pitcher Morgan Sikes (4-4) had a difficult start to the contest, giving up five run and five hits over 1.1 innings to take the loss.

The Owls got on the board in the bottom of the second on an infield single down the middle by Denton, driving in Courtney Sutter.

USC Upstate pushed its lead to 6-1 on an infield single by Jaeger with the bases loaded, scoring Hayley Reinfeld. Another single to the right side by Dana Landers drove in Paris Prusak, increasing the Spartans lead to 8-1.

A double to right field by Schneider in the top of the fourth inning scored Reinfeld and made the score 9-1.

Kennesaw State scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, cutting the lead to 9-3. Denton and Rhodes drove in the runs for the Owls.

The Spartans’ offense continued its strong form, scoring seven runs in the top of the fifth inning. Karla Beasley’s double to left field scored Griffin and made the score 10-3. Later in the inning, a two-out single to centerfield by Prusak increased the Spartans lead to 13-3. A three-run homer to left field by Jaeger made the score 16-3.

Lexi Shubert (9-3) pitched a complete game for USC Upstate, giving up three runs on six hits with five strikeouts over five full innings.