Kennesaw, Ga. ? The Stetson baseball team (2-4, 1-2 Atlantic Sun) suffered a 10-2 loss in the finale of an Atlantic Sun-opening series Thursday afternoon at Kennesaw State.  Senior center fielder Justin Bass (DeLand, Fla./DeLand HS) doubled twice and finished with three hits.

The Hatters scored first in the top of the third when sophomore second baseman Casey Frawley (New Haven, Conn.) drove in freshman shortstop Robert Crews (Port Charlotte, Fla.) with a single after Crews doubled to left field.  Kennesaw State got that run back in the bottom of the third on a two-out RBI single by shortstop Curtis Van Wyck.

Bass led off the top of the fourth with a long double to deep left center field; after moving to third on a balk, he scored on an RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of senior catcher Josh Clendenin (Atlanta, Ga.).  The Owls, however, had an answer, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good.  Catcher Drew Fowlkes stroked a two-run single with two outs that broke a tie and put KSU ahead 4-2.

The Owls added one insurance run in the seventh and four more in the ninth as Fowlkes made Stetson pay for botching what would have likely been an inning-ending double play.  He drove the first pitch he saw from Hatter closer Robbie Elsemiller (Okeechobee, Fla.) with the bases loaded over the right field fence to extend the lead to 10-2.

Justin Edwards earned the win for KSU by allowing just two runs on four hits and two walks in five and a third innings while striking out six.  Bubba Blalock went the rest of the way to pick up a save, striking out four, walking none and shutting Stetson out on four hits in three and two-thirds frames.

Junior starting pitcher Jake Hitchcock (Alachua, Fla.) took the loss, giving up four runs on seven hits in four and two-thirds innings.  He struck out one.  Bass doubled in the sixth and singled in the eighth for his first three-hit game of the season, raising his batting average to .364 in the process.  Crews and Frawley added two hits each for Stetson.

The Hatters are back in action this weekend at Melching Field when they host Holy Cross in a two-game series.  Saturday's game begins at 3 p.m. while Sunday's game starts at 1 p.m.  Bill Topping and Dave Marsh broadcast the action with live video and audio available through Hatter Vision on www.gohatters.com, the official website of Stetson Athletics.