By: KSU Sports Information Department
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Kennesaw State travels north to visit the state of North Carolina for its final out-of-state, non-conference game of the season on Wednesday evening as they battle Western Carolina at Childress Field at Harmon Stadium.
The Owls (26-21) are fresh off a series win over Atlantic Sun Conference rival USC Upstate, but they enter the midweek clash after dropping the final game of the series to the Spartans on Sunday afternoon. The Catamounts (18-26-1) defeated Appalachian State on Monday, snapping a six-game losing streak.
Wednesday’s game is the second meeting of the season between Western Carolina and Kennesaw State. The Catamounts topped the Owls, 5-1, on Mar. 15 at Stillwell Stadium and lead the all-time series with wins in six of eight previous games.
Freshman Steve Janas (0-0, 10.22) will make his first start of the year for the Owls. The right-hander has appeared seven games, and is fresh off his longest outing of the season as he threw three and one-third innings against Georgia Southern.
After throwing just six total innings over his first five appearances, and nothing over two innings, Janas has pitched six and one-third frames in his last two outings and has showed signs of maturity over the past month. The lanky rookie has not walked a batter in his two plus games, and has nearly a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
Western Carolina, who is tied for the eighth and final playoff spot in their conference, will send right-hander Cameron Dullnig (0-0, 4.50) to the mound. The redshirt junior will make just his second appearance of the year and only his fifth pitching appearance all-time.
Dullnig, who is batting .301 on the year, is the Catamounts everyday right fielder. However, he will make the start as Western Carolina head coach Bobby Miranda will try to rest a pitching staff that worked hard over the weekend. The Catamounts threw 12 different pitchers in the three-game series with Appalachian State.
Ross Heffley leads the Western Carolina offense with a .426 mark and 24 extra-base hits. Heffley is leading the Southern Conference in batting, and ranks among the top five in seven different offensive categories.
While Ronnie Freeman continues his hot hitting and leads the Owls in batting, Sean McClurken carries a career-high 11-game hitting streak into the clash with Western Carolina. The senior second baseman is on a torrid pace as he raised his average .046 points since his hitting streak began three weeks ago.
McClurken is hitting .463 (19-for-41) over the past 11 games and has seven multi-hit games, including a three-hit game against Georgia Southern on Apr. 27 in which he drove in a career-high four runs. The streak is the Owls fourth, double-digit streak of the season. Freeman, Andy Chriscaden and Ray Anderson all hit in 13 straight games earlier this season.
First-pitch between the Owls and the Catamounts is scheduled for 5 p.m. and can be followed via live stats.
