By: by Jason Hanes
KENNESAW, Ga. - Kennesaw State's baseball team will play host to its last non-conference foe of the season Tuesday as Troy visits Stillwell Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Owls (21-30) faced off with the Trojans last week in Troy, Ala. In that contest, the Owls jumped out to an early four-run lead, but the homestanding Trojans came back to defeat the Owls, 10-8. Brandon Brown, Ronnie Freeman, and Bucky Smith each had a pair of RBIs for the Owls in the loss.
Troy has dominated the all-time series with the Owls, holding a 1-21 lead against Kennesaw State. The Owls won their only contest from the Trojans in the 2007 season at Stillwell Stadium, 1-0, in 12 innings.
With KSU's race to reach the A-Sun Championships on hold until Thursday, there are numerous individual goals to pursue for KSU entering this week. Freeman is in the precipice of setting numerous school Division I records. With 105 total bases, Freeman needs five more to set a new KSU D-I record, currently held by Jace Whitmer with 109 last season. Freeman also needs five more hits to match the 76 hits recorded by Matt Dallas (2006) and Jacob Robbins (2008). The freshman also has a chance to stretch his hitting streak to 29 games. His current mark of 25 is the longest single-season mark for a Kennesaw State player since moving to Division I, but is still behind Robbins' 35-game streak over the 2006-07 seasons.
Senior Tyler Stubblefield recorded his 200th career hit during Saturday's doubleheader with USC Upstate. The infielder has 48 doubles for his career and needs just two more to pass Jason Jones (1996-99) on KSU's all-time doubles list.
Heading into the final four regular season games for KSU in 2010, Drew Fowlkes has the opportunity to etch his name into KSU's Division I record books. The junior designated hitter has 11 home runs on the year, just two shy of Jace Whitmer's 13 last season. If Fowlkes were to homer in each of the remaining four regular season games, he would finish with 15, tying him for ninth on the KSU all-time single-season home run list.
Following Tuesday's match-up with Troy, the Owls will host East Tennessee State in the final A-Sun series of 2010 for both schools. First pitch Thursday is set for 6 p.m., with Friday's doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
