By: by Jason Hanes
Bracket
KENNESAW, Ga. - Kennesaw State's baseball team will begin play in its first Atlantic Sun Conference Championship this Wednesday at
7:45 p.m. EDT when it takes on Mercer.
ASun.TV will provide free live coverage of the game, which will take place at Dugan Field on the campus of Lipscomb.
The Owls (32-23) enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed thanks to an 18-11 record in A-Sun play this season. Mercer (36-18) finished one game behind the Owls in fourth place in the A-Sun with a 17-12 conference mark. The two teams split the season series this year Mar. 25-26, with the Owls winning game one of a three-game set in Macon, 5-3. KSU lost the second game of the series, 7-4, in eight innings as storms washed out the conclusion of that game and the third game of the set. The two teams would try to make up the game as a non-conference contest in Kennesaw Apr. 25, but storms again cancelled the contest.
"Mercer is a very balanced team," said KSU head coach Mike Sansing. "They have a good balance of pitching and power. They're a tough team, but we feel confident that we can get the job done."
The Owls will be led by their three A-Sun All-Conference honorees. Aaron Dobbs was named a First Team All-A-Sun outfielder, while Ronnie Freeman was named Second Team All-A-Sun catcher and Andy Chriscaden earned Second Team All-A-Sun first baseman honors. The Owls will hope that the trio can keep their numbers going from the conclusion of the regular season. Dobbs finished A-Sun play with a team-high .393 conference batting average. Freeman had a team-high 79 hits in the regular season and finished with a .380 batting average. Chriscaden's 15 home runs and 73 RBIs are both KSU D-I records and rank in the Top 10 in the program's all-time history.
This is the first time the Owls have qualified for the A-Sun Championships since moving to Division I. This is KSU's sixth year as a Division I program, but the Owls transitioned for the first four years and were ineligible for post-season play.
The format for the A-Sun Championships is double elimination, so a loss tonight would not eliminate the Owls, but would put the pressure on for the remainder of the tournament. A win will place the Owls in the winner's bracket and would set KSU up for a 7 p.m. contest Thursday night against the winner of Wednesday's Jacksonville/East Tennessee State game. A loss would force the Owls to play against the winner of Wednesday morning's Stetson/Belmont contest with a first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday.
