JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JJ Gould belted a two-run homer and Jacksonville's bullpen pitched 3.2 shutout innings but a five-run sixth inning led to a 5-3 set against Kennesaw State Friday at Sessions Stadium.  

"It came down to a big inning that they had," said Head Coach Tim Montez. "We scored and died, and did not execute a few pitches in key situations in that big inning, and that was the ballgame in a nutshell."

Jacksonville (27-16) fell to 9-4 in Atlantic Sun play while Kennesaw State (21-23) bumped to 11-2 in the conference.

Parker Perez led off Jacksonville's first inning with a walk, and after an Austin Hays lineout, Gould lumbered his eighth home run of the season on a shot to right.

Dolphin starter Michael Baumann (4-3) was in control through his first five frames with just four hits allowed. KSU came alive though in its five-run sixth inning. The Owls churned out five hits in the inning, and Baumann left after 5.1 innings. In the loss, he gave up nine hits, five runs, three walks, and had three strikeouts.

Jacksonville tried to rally in the seventh. Dakota Julylia walked with one out, then Hays doubled to centerfield and Julylia reached third. Both runners advanced on a balk, but a strikeout ended the Dolphin threat.

Casey Kulina, Ryan Granda, and Chris Gau each pitched at least one scoreless inning, while Kulina tossing 1.2 frames after Baumann.

The Owls hit 11 times in the win and Chris Erwin (2-1) earned the win with just two runs on four hits with four walks and six strikeouts.

The teams meet up again for the second game of the series that starts Saturday at 2 p.m.

"We've been in this position before and we need to come back in 12 hours ready to play tomorrow," said Montez.