By: by Scott Lipsky
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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – For the second straight year, the Kennesaw State Owls will follow the end of their regular season with a trip to the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, beginning their quest for the title on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. against the hosting USC Upstate Spartans at Cyrill Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C.
The Owls (28-25, 10-10 A-Sun) are one of six A-Sun teams who earned the right to play in the double-elimination tournament, with the winner earning an automatic bid to an NCAA regional. As the No. 6 seed in the tournament, they will kick things off against the No. 3 seed Spartans (41-11, 13-7 A-Sun), who also happen to be the hosts of the event. The two clubs split their doubleheader against one another this season, and Owls head coach Scott Whitlock is confident that his team will be able to come out and compete on Wednesday and throughout the tournament.
“Winning a tournament like this is a tall order, and it’s more challenging when you’re in our position having to start off by taking on a very good team on their home field, and we learned that last season in this tournament” said Whitlock, whose Owls dropped a tough, 4-3, decision to the hosting Stetson Hatters in last year’s A-Sun Championship. “We know we need to win either four games in a row, or five out of six in order to come out as the champions, and it’s a challenge to do that. All we can do as a team is focus on the opponent that’s right in front of us, and right now, that’s USC Upstate.”
The Black and Gold have had success against the Spartans in the postseason, both in the A-Sun Tournament and during their days as Division II rivals. They edged out Upstate, 1-0, in the opener of last year’s A-Sun Tournament, on the back of a two-hit shutout from Jessica Cross, before their heartbreaker against Stetson. They were also victorious in both of their games against the Spartans, then known as the USC-Spartanburg Rifles, in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament in 1998 and 2005.
Their past success doesn’t change what is right in front of them, however. While Cross was able to outduel the Spartans Morgan Childers, who is fourth in the nation with 28 wins, in a, 3-2, nine inning triumph on Apr. 15, it was the Spartans who came away winners in the second game, a 6-4 decision in eight innings that started on Friday and ended on Sunday after weather halted play. Overall, the Owls hold a, 33-5, advantage in the all-time series, with a 5-4 advantage over the Spartans in Division I play.
The Owls come into Wednesday with four All A-Sun selections on their squad, with Sharon Swanson earning All A-Sun First Team recognition and Cross, Ashlee Burkett and Sara Sikes being named to the Second Team.
A veteran squad, the Spartans boast Childers and fellow senior and fellow All A-Sun First Team honoree, infielder Lauren Quevedo, who is second in the A-Sun behind Swanson with 44 RBI, and third behind Swanson and Cross in home runs with 12. They also feature All A-Sun Second Team selection Km Brasil, also a senior. Childers also has a very capable teammate on the pitching staff in freshman Hannah Alexander, who is currently 13-4 with a 1.37 earned run average, second in the A-Sun and just in front of Childers’ sparkling 1.44 ERA. Junior infielder Janna Lewis has also been a big offensive threat, as she is second in the A-Sun with a .380 batting average.
Where the Owls go from Wednesday afternoon’s game depends on the outcome of the contest. A win gives them a meeting with Lipscomb on Thursday at 3 p.m., while a loss pits them against the loser of Wednesday afternoon’s Mercer-Campbell contest at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Live stats will be available throughout the tournament. A-Sun.tv, the conference’s internet video streaming service, will be streaming all games live throughout the tournament free of charge on their website, www.asun.tv.
