JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville churned 13 hits but a six-run first inning led to a 13-8 setback against Kennesaw State Sunday at Sessions Stadium.
"Bottom line was that it is awful hard to overcome a crooked number like how they (KSU) put up in the first inning," said Head Coach Tim Montez. "Uncharacteristically, we didn't compete the way I would expect us to compete with a series on the line. We've got to learn no matter what adversity we face early on that you have to stay the course."
Jacksonville (28-17) fell to 10-5 in the Atlantic Sun while Kennesaw State (22-24) advanced to 12-3. With other results around the conference, Jacksonville did clinch a berth Sunday in the A-Sun tournament held in Nashville, Tenn., at the end of the month.
Kennesaw State used six unearned runs in the first inning to build a comfortable lead and maintained an advantage for the remainder of the game. With two outs in the first, JJ Gould committed a throwing error and KSU would rattle off four-straight hits and have six in total to score its six runs in the opening frame.
Casey Kulina replaced Spencer Stockton (5-4), who took the loss, after one inning. Kulina went 3.2 innings and allowed four runs off five hits. He issued no walks and struck out four.
"I thought Kulina did a very nice job of settling things down and giving us a shot to get back in it. He's getting better every time out and that gives us a shot in the arm," said Montez.
The Owls scored a run in the fourth, and three runs in both the fifth and sixth while totaling 18 hits on the day.
Kyle Arjona allowed three runs in one inning of relief, and Chris Gau and Shane Wise combined for 3.1 scoreless innings.
Jacksonville scored twice in the second thanks to an RBI double by Connor Stephens and run-scoring single by Dakota Julylia.
The Dolphins added a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Nathan Koslowksi. He drove in his second run of the day an inning later on a single when the Dolphins scored two in the inning thanks to Sam Armstrong's solo home run to right.
In the sixth, Angel Camacho scored two on a double to left, and a throwing error allowed Camacho to cross home.
Stephens led the Dolphins with three hits out of the team's 13.
"We need to come back Tuesday against a nationally-ranked Florida State team and get back to the championship mindset no matter what happens in our midweek games. We are going to face a much-improved NJIT team on the weekend," said Montez. "If we're not clicking on all cylinders mentally, this could turn into a suck-you-to-the-middle type week. I have all the faith in the world that our guys in the locker room will get back to a championship mindset."
Jacksonville hosts No. 8 Florida State at Sessions Stadium Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. For tickets, visit www.JUDolphins.com.
