By: KSU Sports Information
Watch (Free) Listen (Free)
A-Sun Championship Home
Owls A-Sun Tournament Guide
Pre-Championship Interview With Scott Whitlock
Live Stats
SPARTANBURG, S.C.- The Kennesaw State Owls begin their quest for their first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Championship on Thursday, when they begin play on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. vs. Stetson at Cyrill Stadium on the campus of USC Upstate. Stetson defeated Upstate, 1-0, on Wednesday evening in the first round to put them up against the Owls on Thursday morning.
The Owls (30-22, 14-4 A-Sun) come into the event at the No. 2 seed in the A-Sun Championship, after earning a share of the A-Sun regular season title. Kennesaw State finished tied with the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, who, due to a common opponent tie-breaker with the Owls, earned the No.1 seed in the tournament. Both squads split their doubleheader on Mar. 7, and both split their respective twin bills with No. 3 seed USC Upstate and No. 4 Lipscomb. FGCU swept No. 5 Jacksonville while the Owls split, giving the Eagles the tie-breaker and the top seed in the championship.
A Thursday win for the Owls would mean their next game is on Friday beginning at 12:30 p.m. while a defeat puts them back on the field on Thursday in an elimination game at 5:30 p.m.
Watch, Listen For Free All Weekend: All A-Sun Championship games with be aired live, free-of-charge, on ASun.tv, the conference’s video streaming service. In addition, free, live audio of all of the Owls games will be available on KSU All Access, at
www.KSUOwls.com/Showcase. Saturday’s championship games will be aired on ESPN3, ESPN’s multi-platform network, free-of-charge at www.ESPN3.com.
About the A-Sun Championship Opponents:
No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (34-22, 14-4 A-Sun)
Owls vs. FGCU all-time: 2-8
2012: Mar. 7, Fort Myers, Fla.: L, 2-0; W, 3-1
No. 3 USC Upstate Spartans (39-11, 12-6 A-Sun)
Owls vs. Spartans All-Time: 34-7; 6-5 at Division I level
2012: Mar. 31, Spartanburg, S.C.: L, 1-0; W, 7-2
No. 4 Lipscomb Bisons (34-18, 11-7 A-Sun)
Owls vs. Bisons All-Time: 7-8
2012: Apr. 20, Kennesaw: L, 1-0; W, 7-1
No. 5 Jacksonville Dolphins (30-23, 10-8 A-Sun)
Owls vs. Dolphins All-Time: 7-7
2012: Apr. 7, Kennesaw: L, 6-5; W, 2-1
No. 6 Stetson Hatters (24-20, 9-9 A-Sun)
Owls vs. Hatters All-Time: 9-6
2012: Apr. 14, DeLand, Fla.: W, 5-1; W, 8-1
Cross, Whitlock Headline Big All A-Sun Haul For Owls: A total of nine Atlantic Sun Conference honors were handed out to the Owls on Tuesday, with senior Jessica Cross earning A-Sun Player of the Year honors
and head coach Scott Whitlock earning his third A-Sun Coach of the Year accolade. Cross was one of five Owls to earn All A-Sun recognition on Tuesday:
Jessica Cross-1st Team*, Player of the Year (2011 2nd Team, 2008, 2010 1st Team, 2008 All-Freshman)
Sharon Swanson- 1st Team* (2011 1st Team, 2010 All-Freshman)
Amanda Henderson- 1st Team (First career recognition)
Kaylee Williams- 1st Team*, All Freshman (First career recognition)
Lindsay Vollmer- 2nd Team, A-Sun Softball All-Academic (First career recognition)
*Unanimous selection
Owls Lock Down Number Two Seed, Share of Regular Season Title With Sweep of Mercer: The Owls swept Mercer on Apr. 28 by scores of 9-1 and 7-3 on Apr. 28, moving them to 14-4 in A-Sun play and clinching at least a share of their second-ever regular season A-Sun title. Florida Gulf Coast would sweep North Florida the following Thursday to finish with the same mark and earned the No. 1 seed in the A-Sun Tournament due to a common opponent tie-breaker with the Owls. Both squads split their doubleheader on Mar. 7, and both split their respective twin bills with No. 3 seed USC Upstate and No. 4 Lipscomb. FGCU swept No. 5 Jacksonville while the Owls split, giving the Eagles the tie-breaker and the top seed in the championship.
Owls Trying to Join Exclusive Club This Week: An Atlantic Sun Conference Championship title for the Owls would earn them a spot in their first-ever NCAA Division I Regional, which would make them just the sixth-ever program to compete in the NCAA Championship at the Division I level after winning a national championship at the Division II level. Sam Houston State, Cal State-Northridge, Stephen F. Austin, North Dakota State and UC-Davis are the only other programs to accomplish that feat.
Swanson, Henderson Among the Nation’s Best: In the latest NCAA statistical update, which was released on Monday, Owls sophomore Amanda Henderson finds herself seventh in the country in strikeouts per seven
innings with a sterling rate of 9.6. Junior Sharon Swanson has hit 15 home runs this season, which is good enough to put her in a tie for 29th in the nation in that category, and first in the A-Sun. Henderson’s four saves on the season is also tied for 14th best in NCAA Division I. The Owls, for their part, currently rank tied for 36th in the nation in home runs per game, knocking balls out of the park at a rate of 0.92 per contest.
Kaylee Comes Up Big: Owls freshman Kaylee Williams has come through with big hits in some of the most pivotal moments of the season for the Owls. She had bases clearing triples in both games during the Owls sweep of North Florida on Apr. 6, and then hit a pair of solo home runs in the Owls A-Sun regular season title-clinching win over Mercer on Apr. 28, the first one giving the Owls a 1-0 lead and the second tying things up at two in what would be the start of the a six-run inning for the Black and Gold. The latter performance helped earn the Kennesaw native A-Sun Player of the Week honors.
One More Long Ball For the Owls Will Mean History: The Owls head into this week having hit 48 home runs on the season, which ties their program record, originally set by the 2004 squad. Bianca Durant’s three-run home run against Mercer on Apr. 28 in the regular season finale gave them round-tripper number 48 of the season, and in the process broke the program’s Division I record of 47 home runs, hit during the 2010 campaign.
