By: By Jake Dorow
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KENNESAW, Ga. – Five Kennesaw State Baseball players earned ASUN Conference postseason honors following a vote of the league's coaches after making the tournament for the seventh consecutive year, the league announced on Tuesday at the annual baseball banquet (May 23).
Juniors
Taylor Allum,
Grant Williams and
Austin Upshaw highlight the list of honorees, as all three earned ASUN first team all-conference selections. Williams, a second baseman from Atlanta, was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year, while Allum,a Grayson, Ga., native, garnered ASUN all-academic honors for a 3.46 GPA in the classroom.
The Black and Gold also had RHP
Tony Dibrell and outfielder
Garrett Hodges earn second team all-conference and all-freshman team, respectively.
"We're very proud of our guys that were able to make the all-conference teams and freshman team. I think it's a great individual award for a team sport and I think they all had great years," said Head Coach
Mike Sansing. "All of them were very well deserving of these honors. Grant (Williams) had a tremendous year in the middle infield and to turn as many double plays as we did and having him as a center piece of that is huge. I think he handled that position very well this season."
The follow are highlights on each Kennesaw State honoree.
#11 Grant Williams – Second Baseman (First Team All-Conference & Co-Defensive Player of the Year)
- Played a key role for the Owls making 49 starts in 50 games played.
- Posted career highs in batting average (.302), AB (205), hits (62), and RBI (27), primarily serving as a second baseman.
- Recorded the longest hitting streak of the season by any Owl of 17 straight games with at least a hit.
- Led the team with 21 multi-hit games and posted six multi-RBI games.
- Was a key piece defensively at second base for the Owls, committing just three errors the entire season with 83 putouts and 126 assists, compiling a .986 fielding percentage.
- In fact, Williams committed just two errors as 20 ASUN games, recording 32 putouts and 43 assists.
#20 Austin Upshaw – First Baseman (First Team All-Conference)
- Ranked second on the team with a .332 batting average, which finished eighth overall in the conference.
- Led the Owls with 68 hits in 52 starts – the most starts on the roster.
- Ranked second on the team with a career-high 38 RBI.
- Was second in the ASUN with a career-best 17 doubles.
- Totaled a slugging percentage of .532 and an on-base percentage of .382.
- Ranked second on the team with 20 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games.
- Recorded a 10-game hitting streak for the Owls and reached base 11 straight games.
- Batted an impressive .358 in 21 ASUN conference games, totaling 29 hits, a team-high seven doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI.
- Made 0 errors defensively for the Owls in ASUN play, recording 134 putouts and 19 assists for a 1.000 fielding percentage.
#26 Taylor Allum – Outfielder (First Team All-Conference & ASUN All-Academic)
- Taylor Allum is an Information Security and Assurance major at Kennesaw State University with a 3.46 GPA.
- Arguably had his best season with the Black and Gold, making 51 starts in 52 games played.
- Allum provided one of the most powerful bats in any lineup this season, dropping a career-high 14 home runs and 40 RBI.
- His 14 homers ranked second in the ASUN and his 40 runs batted in ranked eighth in the conference.
- For the season, the junior posted career high numbers in games played (52), starts (51), at-bats (175), runs scored (39), hits (56), HR (14), RBI (40), and slugging percentage of .594.
- He also posted a .314 batting average in 21 ASUN games, going 22-for-70 at the plate. He scored 16 runs, tallied four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI.
#1 Tony Dibrell– Pitcher (Second Team All-Conference)
- Tony Dibrell was the Owls' Friday night starter for the entire season, posting a career-best 2.12 ERA in 13 starts going 6-4 overall.
- It was the second-lowest ERA for an individual in a single season in KSU program history (min. 50 IP).
- The RHP struck out the fourth most in the ASUN (94) in 89.0 IP – which marked the fifth-most frames in the ASUN.
- The righty's three complete games (one shutout) also ranked third in program history for a single season, and ranked second in the ASUN in 2017.
- Dibrell also allowed opponents to hit just .216 against him, ranking second in KSU program history for the lowest in a single season. His batting average against ranked third in the ASUN.
- He posted a 4-2 mark in ASUN play, working 50.1 IP and punching out 47 batters.
- All three of his complete games game during ASUN action and held opponents to a .228 average.
#42 Garrett Hodges– Outfielder (All-Freshman Team)
- Made an immediate impact during his freshman season with the Black and Gold, ranking third on the team with a .321 batting average in 28 games (20 starts).
- Hodges totaled 25 hits, a freshman-high six doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI.
- He slugged .513 and recorded an on-base percentage of .384.
- Hodges was even better in ASUN play, totaling a .342 batting average in 13 games.
- He tallied 13 hits, four doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI in league play.
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