By: KSU Sports Information
Listen Watch (ASun.tv)
Live Stats: ETSU USC Upstate
Weekly Release Inside Owls Softball
KENNESAW, Ga.- The Kennesaw State Owls embark on a weekend-long road Atlantic Sun Conference road trip beginning on Friday, when they take on the East Tennessee State Bucs in a doubleheader at 4:00 p.m., before traveling to take on the USC Upstate Spartans for a pair of games on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
This weekend will mark the true beginning of the conference portion of the season for the Owls (16-16, 1-1 A-Sun), who take on conference opponents during each of the next five weekends. They began A-Sun play on Mar. 7, splitting a twin bill at Florida Gulf Coast, the first conference games to be played between any two A-Sun teams in 2012. The game was scheduled earlier in March out of convenience, as the Owls were spending the week in Florida as participants in the USF Under Armour Showcase.
The Owls will be trying to snap a four-game slide this weekend, most recently having fallen to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 9-1, on the road on Wednesday evening.
Listen to All of the Action Live: Free, live audio will be available for Friday and Saturday’s games via KSU All Access, at
www.KSUOwls.com/Showcase. Fans who want to watch the weekend’s action can do so on ASun.tv, the conference’s subscription video service.
About This Weekend’s Match-Ups:
ETSU (10-16, 0-0 A-Sun)- The Owls head into this weekend with a 9-3 lead in the all-time series against ETSU, which began in 2006 when the Owls joined the Atlantic Sun Conference. They have made just two trips to Johnson City, having swept the last trip in 2010 and splitting two in the tri-cities during their first visit in 2007.
It was last season’s doubleheader that may be the most memorable, with the Owls winning both games, 8-0 and 7-6, at Bailey Park on Apr. 16. Jessica Cross went out and threw her first career no-hitter in the opener, the first Owls had thrown since 2008, while Sharon Swanson and Brittany Moore hit two of the Owls three home runs in the contest, with Sara Sikes going 4-for-4 to help the cause.
The second game, while not as historic, was more suspenseful, with four lead changes and two ties, with Bianca Durant hitting an RBI single, one of three runs she drove in during the contest, to tie things up in the bottom of the seventh before Morgan Chapman hit a single of her own to knock in the winning run.
The Owls have won the last five meeting with the Bucs overall.
USC Upstate (26-4, 0-0 A-Sun)- Kennesaw State and USC Upstate have a long history as opponents, dating back to their days in the Peach Belt Conference in the NCAA Division II ranks, when the Spartans were known as the USC-Spartanburg Rifles. The Black and Gold hold a 33-6 all-time mark against the Spartans, and are 5-3 against them since the Spartans joined Division I and the A-Sun in 2008. They are 2-2 in Spartanburg as an A-Sun opponent of the Spartans.
The last time the two teams met was on Apr. 15, when the Owls split a doubleheader with Upstate that actually ended two days after it started. Both games went to extra innings, with the Owls taking a, 3-2, decision in the opener when Cross out-dueled Upstate ace Morgan Childers after she struck out seven batters over nine innings and then singled home Ashlee Burkett for the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
The two teams were tied, 4-4, after seven innings in the second game when lightning forced a suspension of action. The squads picked up where they left off two days later, with Upstate scoring two runs in the top of the eighth to win it.
About East Tennessee State:
The Bucs most swept Western Carolina at home on Wednesday following a nine-day layoff, getting by the Catamounts, 7-0 and 1-0. They have two common opponents with the Owls thus far this season, having topped UT-Martin on Feb. 25, 5-1, before falling to Long Island, 5-1, on Mar. 11. They feature the Preseason A-Sun Player of the Year as voted by the fans in junior infielder Sam Lower, and are led at the plate by sophomore infielder Casey Horner, who is currently tied for fifth in the A-Sun with a .403 batting average. Sophomore Katie Wolff leads the way in the pitcher’s circle, entering Friday with a team-best 2.91 ERA despite sporting just a, 4-8, record.
Owls vs. ETSU- All- Time:
4/16/11- W, 8-0; W, 7-6 (H)
4/17/10- W, 8-1; W, 5-4 (A)
4/25/09- L, 1-0; W, 4-2 (H)
4/26/08- L, 6-0; W, 1-0 (H)
3/21/07- L, 2-0; W, 6-2 (A)
3/18/06- W, 5-1; W, 4-3 (H)
About USC Upstate:
The Spartans are currently ranked 11th in the latest Softball Mid-Major poll, having won six games in a row, most recently having swept North Carolina A&T on the road on Tuesday. They sport the second-leading hitter in the A-Sun in freshman Shellie Robinson, who is batting .457 while leading the conference with 12 home runs. Senior Lacey Dinney leads their efforts in the pitcher’s circle, heading into Wednesday with a 9-2 record and 1.61 ERA.
Owls vs. USC Upstate- Since 2008:
4/15/11- W, 3-2; L, 6-4 (H)
4/16/10- L, 2-1; W, 10-2 (A)
4/24/09- W, 3-0; L, 1-0 (H)
3/21/08- L, 2-1; W, 2-1 (A)
Swanson, Henderson Among the Nation’s Best: In the latest NCAA statistical update, which was released on Tuesday, Owls sophomore Amanda Henderson found herself fourth in the country in strikeouts per seven innings with a sterling rate of 10.9, while her 123 total strikeouts was the 25th best in the land and is currently fourth in the A-Sun. Swanson has hit 10 home runs this season, which is good enough to put in a tie for 17th in the nation in that category, and is tied for second best in the A-Sun.
Vollmer Finds Her Stride: Owls senior catcher Lindsay Vollmer was in a little bit of a swoon at the plate recently, having gone just 3-for-24 with just one RBI over a nine-game stretch from Mar. 3-10 after starting out the season on a .441 clip, but seems to have found her swing again. The Scottsdale, Ariz., native went 6-for-12 in four games for the Owls last week, hitting her sixth home run of the season and extending her hitting streak to seven games.
Jessica Has Pitched A Lot: Cross made her 98th career appearance in the pitcher’s circle on Saturday against Georgia Southern, moving her into fifth place on the program’s all-time list. Her 100 career appearances as a pitcher puts her behind only Brittany Matthews (105) for the most games pitched for the Owls at the Division I level.
The Long Ball It Is: Kennesaw State enters Thursday tied for the lead with Lipscomb in the Atlantic Sun Conference with 25 home runs. They have homered in 17 of 32 games this season, and have more than one roundtripper in five contests during 2012.
Underclassmen Provide Stability: Three Owl newcomers, sophomore Carly Van Auken and freshmen Natalie Rhodes and Kaylee Williams, have started in at least 31 of the Owls first 32 games this season, with Van Auken having started in each of them at shortstop. Van Auken is the only Owl this season to have started every game at the same position.
