By: by Jason Hanes
KENNESAW, Ga. - Fresh off taking the finale of a three-game series at Florida Gulf Coast, the Kennesaw State baseball team will begin a stretch of four games in three days as it plays host to #2 Georgia Tech this Wednesday evening at Stillwell Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. with tickets for adults available for $10 and $5 for children in the eighth grade and under.
This will mark the fourth in-state foe the Owls have faced this season. The Owls have already recorded wins over Georgia (11-1) and Georgia State (3-2) in 2010, with losses coming at the hands of Georgia Southern (8-7) and Georgia State (19-9). The win over Georgia State gave the Owls wins over every Division I program in the state of Georgia at some point in KSU's history.
Entering Wednesday's contest, the Owls have won just twice in 12 opportunities against the Yellow Jackets. The first win for the Owls came during the 1989 season when the Owls, just an NAIA program at the time, topped the Yellow Jackets 12-2. The teams wouldn't meet again until the 2006 season, when KSU became a Division I program. In 2007, the Owls earned their second win all-time against the Yellow Jackets, 6-4, at Stillwell Stadium. Since then, Georgia Tech has won five straight meetings in the series, including both last year.
The Yellow Jackets (22-2) will come in after essentially walking past Georgia State, 14-3, on Tuesday night in Panthersville. Tech batters were the recipients of 13 walks from Panthers pitchers. A seven-run second inning also went a long way towards helping the cause of Georgia Tech in earning the win.
The Owls fought hard against Florida Gulf Coast last weekend, battling back to take the finale of the three-game set after losing the second game of the series in 10 innings. Kelly Holt earned the victory for the Owls in an, 8-7, win over the Eagles Saturday afternoon. For Holt, it was his first win with KSU. J.B. Johnson recorded his second save by pitching three innings to preserve the win.
Wednesday will also be a special day as members of the Women's Professional Soccer team the Atlanta Beat will be on hand to sign autographs pre-game and throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the evening.
Wednesday's game will be available via the
ASun.TV webstreaming service, with Dave Albert on the call. Tickets for Wednesday's game and all KSU home baseball games are available online at
http://ksuowls.first-sports.com.
Following Wednesday's contest, the Owls will jump right back into Atlantic Sun Conference action facing Belmont in a three-game set at Stillwell Stadium. With Easter Sunday this weekend, the two teams are playing a rare Thursday-Friday series, with Saturday being the day any games lost to rain would be made up. First pitch on Thursday evening is set for 6 p.m., with Friday's doubleheader slated for a 3 p.m. start
