By: KSU Sports Information Department
KENNESAW, Ga. – After a win over Georgia on Wednesday night, Kennesaw State continues its six-game homestand as they begin a key three-game, Atlantic Sun Conference weekend series against the Lipscomb Bisons on Friday evening at Stillwell Stadium.
The Owls (11-8, 4-2 A-Sun) is undefeated in conference games at Stillwell Stadium this year. The Black and Gold swept a three-game series from Campbell two weeks ago. Lipscomb (7-10, 0-0 A-Sun) will be playing its first A-Sun series of the year.
Kennesaw State has lost six of its last eight games, but is fresh off a 12-8 victory over Georgia while the Lipscomb has lost four games in a row, all to SEC opponents. The Bisons were swept by Ole Miss last weekend and lost to Mississippi State on Wednesday in Nashville.
Lipscomb and Kennesaw State have met 15 times prior to this weekend with the Owls winning 10 games. The Black and Gold are undefeated in six games against the Bisons at Stillwell Stadium, sweeping Lipscomb in 2007 and 2009 by a combined 33-9 score.
Right-hander Josh Carr (1-1, 1.82) will take the mound for the Owls in the opener and will be followed by Bryan Blough (0-1, 5.50) on Saturday before southpaw Zac Griffith (3-1, 5.57) closes out the series on Sunday afternoon.
Lipscomb will throw left-handed pitcher Richie Goodenow (0-3, 3.72), who is also their leading hitter, in the opener followed by right-handers Connor Sinclair (1-2, 1.85) and Dannie Strable (2-2, 3.86) to conclude the weekend set.
Averaging almost seven runs per game, the Owls offense has been hitting its stride with six or more runs scored in four its last five games. However, with a pitching staff that is allowing almost 6.5 runs per game, the Owls are in need of clutch hitting.
While Ronnie Freeman (10-for-25) and Peyton Hart (11-for-28) are hitting well over .300, the Owls are batting .285 with runners in scoring position, which is a good number, but it is 47 points lower than their opponents, who are batting .332 in the same category.
Freeman has continued his consistently solid hitting this year as he leads the Owls with a .406 average. His average has not dipped below .353 this season his average has been over .400 for more than half the year. After his 42-game hitting streak was snapped on Mar. 11, the sophomore is batting .474 (9-for-19) with a home run and seven runs batted in over five games.
The Owls have stolen 10 bases over their last three games, including four in each in their last two games against Harvard and Georgia. Seven different Kennesaw State players, led by Aaron Dobbs with three, have stolen bases in the last three games. The Owls stole 12 bases over their first 16 games.
In addition to starting on Friday, Goodenow enters the game with a .404 batting average and has hit safely in his last six games (10-for-24) as a designated hitter. He leads the Bisons in home runs (2) and runs batted in (12) and is the only Lipscomb players with slugging percentage of better than .500 and an on-base percentage of over the .400 mark.
The Bisons offense has struggled at time this season, scoring four runs or less in 11 of 17 games. Although they have scored just under five runs per game, their pitching has been keeping the Bisons competitive as they have allowed three or fewer runs in nine games.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Friday and the game can be followed via live stats at www.ksuowls.com. The game can also be seen live on ASUN.TV with Jason Hanes calling the action beginning at 5:55 p.m. Friday evening is “KSU Seat Cushion Night presented by the Shane Co.” The first 400 fans in attendance will receive an official Kennesaw State gold seat cushion.
