By: KSU Sports Information
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TROY, Ala. – The Kennesaw State Owls will test themselves against non-conference competition on Tuesday, when they travel west to visit the Troy Trojans for a doubleheader beginning at 4:00 p.m. EDT. The Black and Gold are coming off of a 3-1 weekend in Atlantic Sun Conference play at home against North Florida and Jacksonville.
The Owls (22-19) are coming off of consecutive 3-2 weeks, in both cases falling to Georgia Tech during the week before going 3-1 in A-Sun play. They swept North Florida at Bailey Park on Friday evening, 7-4 and 12-4, before returning to their home field on Saturday afternoon and splitting with Jacksonville, falling, 6-5, before bouncing back with a crisp, 2-1, victory.
Listen to All the Action Live: Fans can listen to free, live audio of Tuesday’s doubleheader on KSU All Access, at
www.KSUOwls.com/Showcase.
Owls vs. Troy
All-Time vs. Troy: 3-1
All-time at Troy: 1-1
All-Time meetings: 3/22/11- L, 1-2; W, 7-3 (Troy, Ala.)
2/23/10- W, 5-1; W, 17-9 (Kennesaw, Ga.)
Last Time They Met: The Owls couldn’t complement the performance of Jessica Cross in the opener, as the junior hit a solo home run to account for their only offense of the contest and allowed just one run in the pitcher’s circle in five innings of work. The bats would come in the next game, however, as five Owls had two hits, while Cross would hit another home run, this one of the two-run variety, to help the Owls to a, 7-3, victory, and secure a split with the Trojans. Abbey Mixon (then Meixel) and Amanda Henderson pitched three and four innings, respectively, to keep the home team at bay.
About Troy (23-14): The Trojans currently hold a 23-14 record this season, and are in sixth place in the Sun Belt with a 5-8 conference mark, while sporting a lofty RPI of 40. They most recently took two out of three games at home from conference for Western Kentucky this past weekend, a team the Owls fell to, 9-3, on Mar. 4. Seniors Sarah Shields and Hayden Gann have led the way offensively for Troy this season, with Shields sporting a team-leading .351 batting average entering Tuesday, while Gann is not far behind at .324, and is tied for the team lead with six home runs while posting an On-Base Percentage of .445 and a Slugging Percentage of .629, both the best on the roster. Freshman Ashley Rainer has immediately stepped and become the anchor of the pitching rotation, with a 12-7 record and team-leading 2.61 earned run average.
The Trojans and Owls have had several common opponents this season in Western Kentucky, UAB and East Tennessee State. The Trojans fell, 1-0, at UAB on Apr. 3, a team that swept the Owls in a doubleheader on Feb. 28, while the Trojans were victorious over ETSU, 12-9, on Feb. 24, a team the Owls swept on Mar. 30. Troy has also notched a pair of wins over A-Sun squad Belmont this season.
The Owls vs. the Sun Belt: The Owls are 5-4 against Sun Belt Conference competition since joining the NCAA Division I ranks back in 2006. They have faced one Sun Belt opponent in 2012, falling, 9-3, to Western Kentucky on Mar. 4 at the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic in Woodstock, Ga.
Owls Continue National Ascent: Kennesaw State is ranked No. 85 in the NCAA’s latest RPI rankings, which were released on Monday. They jumped 19 spots, as they were 104 in Apr. 3, and were 117 in the first rankings released on Mar. 26.
Swanson, Henderson Among the Nation’s Best: In the latest NCAA statistical update, which was released on Monday, Owls sophomore Amanda Henderson finds herself fifth in the country in strikeouts per seven innings with a sterling rate of 10.1. Junior Sharon Swanson has hit 12 home runs this season, which is good enough to put her in a tie for 18th in the nation in that category. Not to be overlooked is senior Jessica Cross, whose .392 batting average currently ranks No. 93 in NCAA Division I.
Better Than Okay-Lee: Owls freshman Kaylee Williams had all eight of her RBI this week during their sweep of North Florida, enough for her to lead the team in that category over the last five games. The performance followed up on her hot hitting from the previous week, in which she was 7-for-12 at the plate. Overall, the Kennesaw native has batted .394 (13-for-33) in 13 games since Mar. 24 and has notched a team-high 14 RBI during that span.
Weekend Puts Owls in Rare Territory: The Owls 3-1 weekend against North Florida and Jacksonville puts them at 7-3 start to A-Sun play, tying their best-ever start against A-Sun competition, as they also won seven of their first 10 A-Sun contests during their first two years in the conference, in 2006 and 2007.
A Hit Parade Unlike Many: The Owls had 13 hits in each of their wins over UNF on Friday and 10 in their, 6-5, loss to Jacksonville in the opener on Saturday, marking the first time since Apr. 16-17, 2010 that they had double-digit hits in three straight games. Their 26 combined hits was the second most they had in consecutive games this season, just one short of the 27 they had in their wins over Fordham and Miami Ohio on Mar. 9-10.
Bring on the A-Sun: Owls junior Sharon Swanson and senior Jessica Cross have ripped apart A-Sun pitching thus far this season, having batted .500 and .485, respectively, in conference contests. Swanson, for her part was including 10-for-14 (.714) in four A-Sun contests against North Florida and Jacksonville this past weekend.
Cross Approaches History: Jessica Cross’ appearance in the pitcher’s circle in the opener against Jacksonville on Saturday was the 104
th of her career, putting her one away from tying Brittany Matthews (2005-08) for the most appearances in the pitcher’s by an Owl during the program’s Division I era, which began in 2006. Cross is fifth all-time in that category overall.
Week Full of Milestones For Whitlock: Owls head coach Scott Whitlock earned career win number 1100 on Mar. 30 in his squad’s second victory over ETSU that night, and followed that up by reaching the 950-win plateau at the fastpitch level with the Owls sweep of North Florida this past Friday. He is one of just 26 four-year college softball coaches in history to reach that mark. The 1,100 win-milestone includes victories from his four seasons at the helm of the Owls when they played slow pitch (1987-90).
Saunders Adds Consistency to Lineup: Owls junior Jamie Saunders recorded a hit in each of her two starts on Saturday for the Owls, extending her current hitting streak to seven games.
