By: KSU Sports Information
Listen Live Stats
Weekly Release Inside Owls Softball
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State Owls continue their two-week long home stand on Thursday evening, when they host the Samford Bulldogs at Bailey Park on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
The Owls (15-12) will be playing their second straight home date after splitting a doubleheader with Georgia State on Saturday, dropping the opener, 3-1, before winning the second game by the same margin. Amanda Henderson was the star in the second game, striking out 16 batters to pick up her sixth win of the season. The total is currently the most in a game by any pitcher this season in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Thursday’s game will be followed by a weekend-long, three-game series at Bailey Park as the Owls play host to another Southern Conference opponent in the Georgia Southern Eagles, with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. and the final game on Sunday at 1 p.m. The three-game series will be the first ever- home or away- in the history of Owls softball.
Free Food For Students: There will be free Jimmy John's sandwiches for the first 200 students to arrive at Bailey Park as part of Student Appreciation Night. Tickets are six dollars for adults and four dollars for youth in eighth grade or younger. All KSU students receive free admission to Owls home athletic events with presentation of a valid student ID.
If You Can’t Make it, Listen Live: There will be free, live audio of Thursday night’s game, available via KSU All Access at
www.KSUOwls.com/Showcase. Kory Keys will have all the action.
About the Match-up:
-The Owls and Bulldogs (6-21) have played one another one seven occasions, with the Owls holding, 6-1, all-time advantage. They are 3-0 all-time against Samford at Bailey Park, most recently topping them, 1-0, on Mar. 18, 2010.
Owls vs. Bulldogs- All-Time Match-up:
Mar. 29, 2011- Birmingham, Ala.: W, 9-3
Mar. 29, 2011- Birmingham, Ala.: W, 13-1
Mar. 18, 2010- Kennesaw, Ga.: W, 1-0
Feb. 21, 2007- Kennesaw, Ga.: W, 1-0
Feb. 21, 2007- Kennesaw, Ga.: W, 8-7
Feb. 15, 2006- Birmingham, Ala.: L, 6-2
Feb. 15, 2006- Birmingham, Ala.: W, 3-2
The Last Time They Met: Five Owls had multi-hit performances in their, 13-1 victory over Samford in the opener last season, including current team members Sara Sikes, Bianca Durant, Sharon Swanson and Jessica Cross, who all had two. Swanson tied a program record in the second game that evening with a five-hit performance, while Cross hit two home runs and pitched four innings of one-hit ball in the opener.
The Owls vs. the Southern Conference: -The Owls head into this week 0-3 so far this season against Southern Conference opponents- the league that both Samford and Georgia Southern call home. They have fallen at College of Charleston (2/18, 4-2); Elon (3/2, 5-0); and UNC Greensboro (3/4, 6-5). Since joining NCAA Division I in 2006, the Black and Gold are 18-10 against current members of the SoCon.
About Samford: Samford is currently in a bit of a tailspin, having dropped 12 of their last 14 games, most recently splitting a home doubleheader with Memphis on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are 0-3 against A-Sun opponents this season, having dropped a contest at Lipscomb on Feb. 18 and a pair of home games to Mercer during the weekend of Feb. 25-26. They are led at the plate by freshman catcher Madison Dickey, who is batting .337 while sporting a .400 on-base pct. to go along with three home runs and a team-high 15 RBI. Despite having a 4-10 record, junior Misha Aldridge anchors the pitching rotation, sporting a respectable 2.95 earned run average and having earned 13 complete games, both team bests.
The Long Ball It Is: Kennesaw State enters Wednesday holding a commanding lead in the Atlantic Sun Conference with 23 home runs, USC Upstate being second with 21. The Black and Gold have homered in 15 of 27 games this season, and have had more than one roundtripper on five occasions.
...Not Against Cross Though: Jessica Cross enters Thursday having allowed just one home run in 55.2 innings pitched, tied for second in the league among pitchers who qualify statistically. She did not allow a round-tripper until the fourth inning of the opener against Georgia State on Saturday, going 55.2 innings this season without allowing one (she was pulled for Abbey Mixon without recording an out).
Swanson Hard To Contain: Owls sophomore Sharon Swanson has showed that her Atlantic Sun Conference-leading 14 home runs in 2011 was no fluke. The Canton, Ga., native is second in the league in long balls with nine so far this season, which currently puts her in a tie for 15th in that category nationally. She also enters Wednesday fourth in the A-Sun with an .808 slugging percentage and is 11th with a .372 batting average.
Cross Slows Down...But Not For Long: Jessica Cross went 0-for-4 in the Owls opener against Georgia State, snapping an eight-game hitting streak for the senior, as well as an 11-game streak of reaching base safely. She would bounce right back in the second game, however, going 2-for-3 and maintaining her team-leading .384 batting average.
She Has Also Pitched A Lot: Cross made her 97th career appearance in the pitcher’s circle on Saturday, moving her into a tie for fifth with Brenda Farrell (1995-98) on the program’s all-time list. Only Brittany Matthews (105) has pitched in more games for the Owls at the Division I level.
Sikes To Redshirt: Owls junior Sara Sikes will officially redshirt the 2012 season after enduring a preseason injury. The outfielder started 53 games for the Black and Gold in 2011, batting .324 and earning All-Atlantic Sun Conference Second Team honors. Natalie Rhodes has started the last 14 games in centerfield after being in the starting lineup at second base to start the season.
Whitlock Three Away: Owls head coach Scott Whitlock enters Thursday evening with 1,097 career wins at Kennesaw State, including 153 victories at the slow pitch level before the program moved to fastpitch in 1991. His 944 fastpitch wins are the 26
th most in history among all four-year college coaches.
