By: KSU Sports Information
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – It’s down to the final four series for Kennesaw State, and the stretch run begins this week as the Owls battle ETSU in three crucial Atlantic Sun Conference games at Cardinal Park.
The Owls (22-18, 9-8 A-Sun) will look to solidify a berth in the postseason conference tournament as the take on a struggling Buccaneers squad that is in third place, but is also trying to snap a four-game losing streak.
Currently, Kennesaw State is in sixth place in the A-Sun, with the six top teams advancing the conference tournament in Nashville at the end of May. The Owls, however, have lost five of their last six conference games, but still hold half-game lead over Belmont, and have a one and one-half game lead over Mercer for the for the final playoff spot.
Zac Griffith (6-2) gets the start in Thursday’s opener and will be followed by Bryan Blough on Friday night. ETSU will counter with right-hander John Long (3-4, 5.44), who will be making his 11th start of the season, in the series opener.
Griffith is coming off his shortest start of the season, a no-decision in which he went two and two-third innings in the Owls, 7-6, loss to Florida Gulf Coast last Sunday. The southpaw has gone six or more innings in four of his last six starts and is second in the conference in wins.
ETSU (22-13, 11-8 A-Sun) brings in a solid offense with four players hitting over .300 including preseason All-American, first baseman Paul Hoilman. Although is numbers are off from last year’s monster season, Hoilman is still batting .303 with a team-high 21 extra-base hits including nine home runs.
Senior Dylan Pratt, who is hitting .312, will look to extend his five-game hitting streak after going 3-for-5 against Virginia Tech. Derek Trent leads the Buccaneers with a .354 average while Bo Reeder, who also closes, is hitting .329 with a team-high 12 home runs and 39 runs batted in.
Ronnie Freeman continues to hit the ball well for the Owls as he is near the top of the conference in batting, and is tied with teammate Andy Chriscaden for the league-lead with 16 doubles. The junior first baseman is fresh off a three-hit, four-RBI game at Georgia State in which he hit his 10th home run.
Ray Anderson pushed his hitting streak to 12 games with a hit on Tuesday night against Georgia State, and is one game away from tying Freeman and Chriscaden for the Owls longest hitting streak this season.
Kennesaw State and ETSU have met 15 times over the last five years with the Owls holding an, 8-7, lead in the all-time series, including wins in seven of the last nine games between the teams.
The first game of the series is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and will conclude with games on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
