By: KSU Sports Information
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MACON, Ga. – The first-place Kennesaw State Owls will head out on the road for a crucial three-game series against the defending Atlantic Sun Conference champion Mercer Bears this weekend at Claude Smith Field.
The Owls (14-10, 7-2 A-Sun) head into the series riding a four-game conference winning streak after taking the final game of a three-game series with Belmont before sweeping Lipscomb last weekend at Stillwell Stadium. Kennesaw State dropped two midweek games, falling at Georgia Southern on Tuesday and losing to Georgia State on Wednesday night.
Mercer (16-8, 4-5 A-Sun) enters the series in complete contrast to the Owls. The bears have lost four straight conference games, but take a two-game winning streak into this weekend after defeating Florida A&M and Savannah State in midweek games. The Bears lost the final game of a three-game series to Florida Gulf Coast before dropping three straight close games at Stetson last weekend.
The Owls will look to revive their offense this weekend, and they will have a major task ahead of themselves as they face a trio of pitchers who have a combined 6-1 record with a 1.88 earned run average. Brandon Love (3-0, 1.27) will start Friday night and will be followed by Matt McCall (1-1, 2.57) on Saturday and Justice French (2-0, 1.82) on Sunday afternoon.
Ronnie Freeman, Andy Chriscaden and reigning A-Sun Player of the Week Sean McClurken lead the Owls offense. Chriscaden is among the conference leaders in runs batted in and slugging percentage and leads the A-Sun in doubles.
Josh Carr (2-1, 2.40), Bryan Blough (1-1, 3.71) and Zac Griffith (4-1, 4.66) take the mound this weekend for the Owls as they will try to stop the conference’s most potent offense.
The Bears, who are ranked second in the A-Sun in bating with a .312 mark, lead the conference in runs, hits, home runs, runs batted in, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. They also have the conference’s top hitter in Joe Winker, who is hitting .458 and leads the nation with a .932 slugging percentage.
Kennesaw State and Mercer will be meeting for the 24th time with the Bears lead leading the all-time series, 14-9, and having won nine of 15 meetings since the Owls joined the A-Sun in the 2006 season. The last time the Owls visited Claude Smith Field was in 2009 when they swept the three-game series, outscoring the Bears by a 27-9 margin.
The Owls and the Bears will play Friday and Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. before concluding the series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All three games can be followed via live stats. Saturday night and Sunday afternoon’s games can be heard live on www.ksuowls.com.
