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Inside Owls Softball
This Week in Atlantic Sun Softball
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State Owls host their first Atlantic Sun Conference doubleheaders of 2012 this weekend, welcoming the North Florida Ospreys to Bailey Park on Friday at 4:00 p.m. before squaring off against the Jacksonville Dolphins on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
The Owls (19-18, 4-2 Atlantic Sun Conference) enter the weekend in a tie for second in the A-Sun standings with North Florida (22-15, 4-2 A-Sun), while Jacksonville (20-16, 2-2 A-Sun) currently sits a full game behind the two.
Bingo On Friday, Bingo and Free Admission on Saturday: Softball bingo will be played all weekend long at Bailey Park, with fans having the opportunity to win free food and prizes, while admission is free for everyone on Saturday. Tickets for Friday are six dollars for adults and four dollars for youth in eighth grade or younger. Kennesaw State students receive free admission to all Owls home athletic events when they present a valid student ID.
If You Can’t Make the Games, Tune In: Coverage of both games will be available the conference’s video-streaming service, ASun.tv., with Friday contest also being available on KSU All Access at www.KSUOwls.com/Showcase . Ben Poplin will be on the mic on Friday, while Kory Keys and Jenna Closner will bring fans all the action on Saturday.
The Owls in Home A-Sun Openers: The Black and Gold enter Friday with an impressive 10-2 mark in their season-opening Atlantic Sun Conference doubleheaders at Bailey Park. They have split their last two, most recently with Stetson on Apr. 2 of last season.
Owls vs. North Florida
All-Time vs. UNF: 34-11
Record at Bailey Park: 16-3
Record in the Division I era: 13-1
Streak: W6
Owls vs. UNF in the Division I era:
3/25/11- W, 5-3; W, 7-5 (Jacksonville, Fla.)
5/8/10- W, 3-0; W, 2-0 (Kennesaw, Ga.)
4/10/09- W, 3-2; L, 1-3 (Jacksonville, Fla.)
3/30/08- W, 2-1; W, 2-1 (Kennesaw, Ga.)
4/21/07- W, 4-0; W, 2-1 (Kennesaw, Ga.)
4/29/06- W, 1-0; W, 4-3 (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Last Time vs. the Ospreys: The Owls trailed, 3-1, before scoring four runs in the sixth inning on the strength of singles by Jessica Cross, Sharon Swanson, Bianca Durant and Jensen Hackett to go along with UNF miscues that included an error and a wild pitch. The Ospreys would be their own worst enemy in the second game, as well, taking the Owls to extra innings before a dropped fly ball would score the game winning runs for the Owls in the eighth inning. The Black and Gold, for their part, banged out 12 hits in the contest, albeit all singles, with three Owls notching multiple hits.
About North Florida: The Ospreys enter Friday tied for second in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings with a 4-2 mark, having gone 3-1 at home this weekend in A-Sun play with a split against Lipscomb before sweeping Belmont. While they rank in the middle to bottom of the A-Sun in many offensive categories, their pitching staff has kept them in a lot of games with a sterling 2.08 earned run average. Sophomore hurler Kaylie Wallace has been the gem of the staff, with the reigning A-Sun Pitcher of the Week entering Wednesday with a 12-3 record and an A-Sun best 1.19 ERA. Sophomore Mariah Reynolds is the biggest threat at the plate with a .318 batting average to go along with four home runs and 26 RBI.
Owls vs. Jacksonville
All-Time vs. Jacksonville: 6-6
Record at Bailey Park: 4-2
Owls vs. Jacksonville All-Time:
3/26/11- L, 3-13; L, 2-5 (Jacksonville, Fla.)
4/29/10- L, 0-2; L, 0-2 (Kennesaw, Ga.)
4/11/09- L, 0-1; W, 1-0 (Jacksonville, Fla.)
3/28/08- W, 4-0; W, 3-0 (Kennesaw, Ga.)
4/20/07- W, 7-0; W, 4-0 (Kennesaw, Ga.)
Last Time vs. the Dolphins: The Owls were unable to build off of a doubleheader sweep against the Ospreys the before, allowing four runs or more in each of the first three innings in the opener while committing four errors on their way to a five-inning, run-ruled defeat. They would give the Dolphins more of a fight in the second game, with Abbey Mixon tossing three scoreless innings of relief work, but stranded eight runners and fell, 5-2.
About Jacksonville: The Dolphins split home doubleheaders against Lipscomb and Belmont last weekend to begin A-Sun play. The preseason A-Sun favorites, Jacksonville is led in the circle by 2011 A-Sun Pitcher of the Year, senior Sarah Sigrest, who currently sports a 13-7 record and team-best 2.00 ERA. Junior catcher Sarah Simon provides the bulk of the power at the plate, having bashed six home runs season while already having collected 28 RBI.
Owls Raise Over 1500 Dollars on Lexi’s Night: The Black and Gold dropped a, 6-3, decision to Georgia Tech in a rain-shortened affair on Wednesday evening, but that was secondary to the efforts they put forth for the Lexi Kaiser Foundation that night. Named after Lexi Kaiser, a nine year-old with Cerebal Palsy, the Foundation presented a specially-made bike to a child living with similar circumstances, while all ticket profits and donations from the evening went to the Foundation, which raises money for children with exceptional needs. The game drew a season-high 528 fans to Bailey Park.
If Current Trends Hold, Bring an Umbrella, And Your Patience: Each of the last three dates the Owls have played, weather has delayed the completion of games. They withstood a three hour, 51 minute rain delay before eventually sweeping East Tennessee State last Friday evening, and had their opener at USC Upstate on Saturday delayed for 49 minutes due to lightning in the area. Wednesday evening’s home game vs. Georgia Tech was stopped due to lightning before eventually being called after five and a half innings.
Cross Earns First A-Sun Player of the Week Award Monday: Owls senior Jessica Cross was honored by the Atlantic Sun Conference for her terrific week at the plate on Monday, winning her first career A-Sun Player of the Week award. Cross was 7-for-15 in five games for the Owls last week, hitting three home runs while driving in four.
Cross had several big moments for the Black and Gold in the Owls 3-2 week on the road, most notably on Saturday, when she went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs to provide the Owls some insurance in their, 7-2, win over USC Upstate to secure a split in the doubleheader. Her bat was equally as effective on Friday evening in their sweep of East Tennessee State, as she hit a two-out double in the first inning of the opener that set-up a Sharon Swanson two-run home run. She would follow suit with the long-ball in the second game, hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning while the Owls cruised to a, 9-0, victory.
While this was the first time in Cross' career that she earned Player of the Week honors, she has been named the A-Sun Pitcher of the Week on two occasions.
Swanson, Henderson Among the Nation’s Best: In the latest NCAA statistical update, which was released on Monday, Owls sophomore Amanda Henderson found herself fourth in the country in strikeouts per seven innings with a sterling rate of 10.2, Junior Sharon Swanson has hit 11 home runs this season, which is good enough to put her in a tie for 19th in the nation in that category.
Cross Closing In on History: Jessica Cross made her 103
rd career appearance in the pitcher’s circle on Wednesday at Georgia Tech, putting her just two appearances away from tying Brittany Matthews for the most by an Owl during the program’s Division I era (2006-). She is in fifth place in program history overall.
OKay-Lee: Owls freshman Kaylee Williams broke out at the plate in a big way last week, notching two multi-hit games on her way to a 7-for-12 performance from Wednesday to Saturday. She was a combined 5-for-7 on Friday at ETSU, hitting what would prove to be the game-winning two-run home run in the fifth inning.
Long Balls in Bulk: The Owls hit four home runs in the second game at USC Upstate on Saturday, tying their season-high in a game and marking the eighth time this season in which they have hit at multiple home runs in a contest. They enter Friday leading the A-Sun with 33 home runs this season.
Vollmer Finds Her Stride: Owls senior catcher Lindsay Vollmer was in a little bit of a swoon at the plate at the beginning of last month, 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 she seems to have found her swing again. The Scottsdale, Ariz., has batted .400 in 12 games since Mar. 11, having recorded at least one hit in 10 of those contests.
