Maddie Roth’s three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted the Kennesaw State softball team to a dramatic 4-2 walk-off victory over Florida Gulf Coast on Friday in a semifinal game of the ASUN Conference tournament in DeLand, Florida.
The Owls (38-15) advanced to the championship game and will face either USC Upstate or Florida Gulf Coast today at 1 p.m. It is the second time Kennesaw State will play for the ASUN championship, and first time since 2012.
Lexi Solorzano singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and Kira Czyrklis reached on a fielder’s choice and an error that put runners at the corners. Down 0-2 in the count, Roth sent the next pitch over the fence in right-center field.
It was the second straight come-from-behind win for the Owls, who rallied back from 2-0 deficits both times.
Trailing in the bottom of the fifth, Kennesaw State pushed across a run with two outs as Olivia Tamewitz walked, went to third on a single by Solorzano and scored on a single by Czyrklis.
Solorzano led Kennesaw State with three of the team’s nine hits. The Owls put runners on base in six of seven innings.
Florida Gulf Coast (39-16) scored two-out runs in the third and fifth innings against Kennesaw State starter Alley Cutting (16-8). The Owls’ sophomore right-hander tossed a complete game, allowing a pair of runs, seven hits and struck out six.
HOOPS ROAD TRIP: Kennesaw State men’s basketball team will play in the 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.
The 19th annual event will return to the UVI Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands after being relocated to Lynchburg, Virginia, last November due to hurricane damage.
The Owls will open the tournament Nov. 16 against Missouri. The winner will go on to face the winner of Oregon State and Old Dominion.
On the opposite side of the bracket, Northern Iowa and Penn will square off, followed by Eastern Kentucky and Kansas State.