KENNESAW, GA—Kennesaw State's Austin Upshaw hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning on Sunday, flipping a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead and the Owls went on to a 5-3 victory over NJIT and a sweep of the three-game Atlantic Sun Conference weekend series.
 
The Highlanders (12-18; 2-3 A-Sun) took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning behind the strong pitching of starter Bryan Haberstroh, who went into the seventh having allowed only a fifth-inning run. Haberstroh, who pitched in high school, but had not pitched for NJIT before this season, allowed a leadoff walk before exiting in favor of sophomore RHP Tommy Derer.
 
Derer allowed an infield single to the first batter he faced and the next batter, Upshaw, powered a home run to right center field. It was the seventh home run of the season and second of the series for Upshaw, who led off the sixth inning of the series opener on Friday night with a home run, triggering a 6-run outburst that keyed an 8-2 KSU win.
 
The loss was charged to Derer (2-2), who also allowed a home run in the sixth inning of Friday night's loss. The sophomore had surrendered just two home runs in his first 13 relief appearances of 2016 and allowed just one long ball in 16 appearances as a freshman in 2015.
 
Sophomore John Saviano took over for Derer after the Upshaw home run and Saviano allowed one run in 1.2 innings and freshman LHP Chris Gibbons got the final out for the Highlanders.
 
Kennesaw State used five pitchers to nail down its third comeback victory in three games vs. NJIT. Sophomore RHP AJ Moore started and left the game on the short side after allowing seven hits, three walks and three runs in 5.2 innings.
 
The Owls bullpen held NJIT scoreless on three hits over the last 3.1 innings, with the second reliever, sophomore RHP Logan Hutchinson (3-1) getting the win after allowing two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Junior LHP Richard Lovelady picked up his second save with 1.1 innings of work. Lovelady entered the game in the eighth inning with two out and the potential tying run on third place, but induced a ground out to stifle the NJIT threat.
 
The biggest difference between the teams in the series was the late-inning pitching, mostly by relievers, that Kennesaw State got compared to the late-inning pitching for the Highlanders.
 
In Friday's 8-2 win for KSU, NJIT's Sean Lubreski had a shutout through five innings, but the Owls scored eight runs in the last three innings, while three Kennesaw relievers, including winning pitcher Brock Turner, were blanking the visitors on two hits over the last 3.2 innings.
 
On Saturday, the Highlanders led 3-1 early and were tied 3-3 through five innings, before Kennesaw State struck twice in the sixth inning and won, 5-3. KSU starter Gabe Friese, who completed seven innings, and two relievers held NJIT scoreless for the last seven frames.
 
And then, Kennesaw State completed the sweep with four runs over its last two half-innings of at-bats to overcome the 3-1 lead the Highlanders had built through six innings.
 
Lovelady, who got the save on Sunday, pitched in all three games of the series, retiring all six batters he faced on Friday; allowing just a hit-by-pitch in one inning on Saturday; and going 1.1 innings on Sunday, with one hit. In all, he worked 4.1 innings and allowed one hit and no runs, with one hit batter.
 
NJIT got 10 hits in Sunday's game, paced by a 3-for-5, including a home run, from redshirt sophomore CF Jesse Uttendorfer batting in the leadoff spot. 3B Tom Brady and 2B Johnny Malatesta each got a pair of hits and C Cody Kramer (1-for-3) hit his fifth double of the season. 1B Edgar Badaraco (1-for-4) hit a two-out run-scoring single.
 
Kennesaw State, with 11 hits, including home runs for Upshaw and DH Griffin Helms, had three men—Upshaw, Helms, and RF Taylor Allum—with two hits each. Upshaw drove in three runs and Helms knocked in a pair.
 
NJIT got its first run in the fourth inning, as RF Michael Anastasia led off with a walk and later scored from second base on Badaraco's two-out single to right field.
 
Uttendorfer led off the fifth inning with his second homer of the season and NJIT took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth, where Helms hit  a solo home run with one out.
 
The Highlanders got the run back with another two-out run in the top of the sixth inning. Kramer walked with one out and Brady moved him on to second base with a single. After a strikeout, Badaraco singled up the middle to drive in Kramer. Badaraco now has one RBI in each of his last three games stretched over a period of nearly two weeks.
 
The 3-1 NJIT stood until the bottom of the seventh when Upshaw's three-run home run with no outs turned the game around for the Owls.
 
Behind 4-3, NJIT opened the eighth inning with a double down the left field line by Kramer, but he could not get beyond third base, as the next three Highlanders were out.
 
Helms delivered the final run for Kennesaw State in the bottom of the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly.
 
NJIT, which does not have any non-conference this week, will be off until Friday at 6:30 pm, when it begins another Atlantic Sun Conference weekend series at Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers.
 
FGCU is 15-17 overall and 2-1 in the A-Sun. Three of the losses came in a season-opening series at #1 Florida and two other losses came vs. #2 Miami. The Eagles split two games with Rutgers on March 15 and 16.