HUNTSVILLE – Kennesaw State scored seven unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth innings en route to a 9-2 win over Sam Houston in the series opener on Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium. 

Brady Christensen homered for the third straight game and starting pitcher Noah Kendrick had career highs in innings and strikeouts, but once again the Bearkats' (8-26, 2-8 CUSA) opponent was able to take advantage in the late innings to come away with a win. 

It was the first-ever meeting between the Owls (14-19, 5-5 CUSA) and Kats and the teams found themselves deadlocked at 2-2 through 6.0 innings after Kendrick rebounded from allowing two runs in the second inning to throw up four straight zeros and punch out five hitters, ultimately taking a no-decision.  

Meanwhile, Christensen hit a solo homer in the first and Sam Lee picked up an RBI on an infield single in the fourth to tie it, accounting for half of the Bearkats' four hits in the game.  

But the Owls opened the game up by scoring six times in the top of the seventh inning and adding another in the top of the eighth. 

Owl starter Ty Bayer lasted into the fourth inning before handing the ball to reliever Daniel Powell who went the final 5.1 innings in relief, punching out nine, to move to 3-1 with the win. Connor Mondey dropped to 0-2 with the loss as the first of four Bearkat relievers to see the hill. 

UP NEXT  
The Kats will continue its 3-game Conference USA series with Kennesaw State on Saturday beginning at 2:00 p.m. The game is scheduled to be aired on ESPN+.