Batting Practice
• The Kennesaw State University baseball program began its 32nd season of varsity play in 2015 when the Owls welcomed Liberty and St. John's to Stillwell Stadium as part of the Atlanta Classic.
• The Owls are in the midst of its 10th season in the Atlantic Sun Conference, joining the Division I ranks in 2006. Kennesaw State entered the season with an an all-time record of 1,114-651-2 (.631).
• The Black and Gold entered the season with an all-time record of 265-231 (.534) in the A-Sun since joining the league in 2006.
• KSU won the school's first-ever Division I Championship in 2014, defeating Lipscomb in the title game by a score of 7-1 to capture its first-ever banner in the D-I ranks.
* The Owls went on to make history, becoming the second-ever Atlantic Sun team to reach the NCAA Super Regionals after defeating Alabama and Georgia Southern  in the Tallahassee Regional in 2014.
* Head coach Mike Sansing began his 24th season at the helm of the Black and Gold, entering the season with a career mark of 885-464 (.656) as the manager of the Owls.
* With KSU's two wins over the weekend, coach Sansing sits only 13 wins shy of 1,000. Sansing won 102 games at the head coach in three seasons at Shorter (1989-19991) before coming to the campus of Kennesaw State.
* Coach Sansing's strong leadership in the clubhouse has not gone unnoticed, leading multiple players to Atlantic Sun Conference honors and beyond. Most recently, coach Sansing led Max Pentecost to the Johnny Bench Award and a First Team All-American selection.
* Sansing's three assistant coaches return for another season with the Owls in 2015. Kevin Erminio enters his ninth season as the assistant head coach and pitching coach, while Derek Simmons and Trey Fowler each return for their third season under Sansing. Assistant athletic trainer Chris Archambeault also returns to the Black and Gold's bench for his eighth season.
* The Black and Gold feature two captains for the 2015 season. Redshirt-senior Chris McGowan and junior LHP Travis Bergen will lead the Owls selected by the team to serve as captains.
 
Around The Bases
* Kennesaw State played well in front of their home fans at Stillwell Stadium in 2014, accumulating a 19-11 record on their home grass. The Owls totaled 15,680 fans for the entire season.
* The Owls continued that mark in the opening weekend of 2015, posting a 2-1 mark against Liberty and St. John's (doubleheader) in front of the Owl faithful.
* In fact, the Owls –who entered the season with an 11-game winning streak at Stillwell Stadium--extended their win streak to 12 games after defeating then-No. 25 Liberty, 11-9, in the first-ever top 25 matchup at Stillwell Stadium.
*However, the visiting Red Storm from St. John's snapped the streak by defeating the Owls 6-2 in game one of the scheduled twinbill Saturday afternoon before KSU rebounded with a 10-5 victory in game two.
* In all, the Owls have won 13 of the past 14 games at Stillwell Stadium dating back to last season. During that time, the Black and Gold have averaged 7.3 runs per game while only allowing 3.5 runs to its opponents.
* The Black and Gold continued its trend of faring well in games when scoring at least nine runs in a single game. In 2014, the Owls went 18-1 when crossing home plate at least nine times. Over the weekend, KSU score at least 10 runs in two different games, resulting in wins in both affairs.
* The Owls picked up right where they left off last season, totaling 29 hits over the first three games of the 2015 season. Last year, in 2014, Kennesaw State finished third in the nation with 677 hits in 64 games.
* In fact, KSU out-hit its opponents in each game over the weekend. The Black and Gold averaged 9.6 hits per game over the first three contests of the season.
* Through the first three games of the 2015 season, the Owls are batting .293 as a team with an impressive 12 extra base hits, including four home runs.
* The Owls totaled 21 RBI over the first three games as 10 different players recorded at least one RBI over opening weekend.  

Previewing The Mid-Week Action
* The Owls will welcome in-state rival Georgia to Stillwell Stadium for a mid-week nonconference affair on Tuesday. KSU swept the Bulldogs in two games last season by scores of 10-7 and 3-1.
* Although, even sweeping Georgia in 2014,the Bulldogs hold a 10-7 edge in the all-time series since the Owls joined the Division I ranks in 2006.
* Head coach Scott Stricklin enters his third season with the Bulldogs. The manager led Georgia back to the SEC Tournament for the first time in 2012 during his first season at the helm of the program.
* Prior to his time at Georgia, coach Stricklin spent nine seasons with the Kent State Golden Flashes, where he posted a 350-188 record, winning five Mid-American Conference regular season crowns and five MAC Tournament titles.
*  Stricklin guided the Golden Flashes to its finest season in school history in 2012 as the Golden Flashes posted a record 47 victories and their first trip to the College World Series.
* The Owls will then travel to Mercer in an unfamiliar non-conference midweek affair. The Bears, who previously competed in the Atlantic Sun Conference, moved to the SoCon in 2015. KSU will take on Mercer at 4 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon at Claude Smith Field for the Owls' first road game of the 2015 season.
* Mercer holds a 16-10 edge over Kennesaw State in the all-time series. KSU went 1-2 last season against the Bears away from Stillwell Stadium. The Bears outscored KSU by a 20-14 margin in three games a season ago.

 "The Kal Show" Simmons
* Kal Simmons, who hails from Nashville, Georgia, returned to the lineup for Kennesaw State following an impressive sophomore season in 2014.
* Simmons, who earned Second Team All-Conference honors last season, started 62 games for the Owls at shortstop. He batted .272 while collecting 73 hits and 26 RBI on the season.
* Simmons picked up right where he left off last season, going 5-for-12 (.417) and two extra base hits for a .750 slugging percentage over the opening weekend.
* The shortstop, who started at shortstop in every game last season, played in each of the first three games of 2015.
* Simmons' home run against Liberty on opening day already matched his total long balls in 2014. His three-run homer in the second inning helped extend the Owls' lead in which they never surrendered.
* So far in three games, Simmons has totaled a .417 batting average, a team-high five hits, two extra base hits and three RBI.  
 
Give Me Some MOORE
* Freshman AJ Moore made his collegiate debut on the mound in relief work against St. John's on Feb. 14, 2015.
* Moore retired his first eight batters he faced before allowing a single up the middle to break the streak.
* Moore struck out his first six batters he faced in his collegiate debut.
* For the day, Moore allowed two hits, one earned run on a game-high five strikeouts in 3.0 innings of work on the mound.

Welcome To The Show Mr. Helms
* Griffin "Gaines" Helms also made his collegiate debut over the weekend for the Owls, starting in left field in game two on the twinbill against St. John's.
* Helms finished the game 1-for3 (.333) with a two-run homer to deep  left field, marking his first collegiate hit.
 
Gabe "Freeze"
* Sophomore pitcher Gabe Friese made his season debut on the mound in game three over the weekend.
* The sophomore from Effingham, Illinois tossed 5.0 scoreless innings to earn his first victory of the season.
* Gabe "Freeze" struck out two batters and allowed only two hits in Saturday's performance, helping the Owls defeat the Red Storm by a 10-5 score to earn a doubleheader split.
 
Belt Winners
• Kendall Hawkins, who is a junior pitcher from Cartersville, Georgia, came in for relief work against No. 25 Liberty and posted a line of no hits allowed and two strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work to earn the victory on Friday.
• Corey Greeson went on to earn the belt after KSU took game two on the twinbill against St. John's after posting four RBI in a 10-5 victory over the Red Storm. It marked Greeson's first start with the Owls.  
 
New Owls On Board
* Kennesaw State baseball will once again have a new look in 2015, as 11 of the 33 players (33%) on the roster are newcomers. The Owls lost key players at the top of their lineup and in the backend of the bullpen from 2014, and coach Sansing will look to his returning upperclassmen for leadership.
* Seven new arms will look to help the Owls return to postseason form that posted a 3.47 ERA as a staff in 2014, logging 587.0 innings on the bump and 469 strikeouts. Key losses from 2014 are Justin McCalvin (Tampa Bay Rays, 19th-577) and James Connell  (Los Angeles Angels, 26th-779), as each combined for 12 wins and 18 saves on the season.
* The Black and Gold will also showcase four new position players, as coach Sansing will look to replace Max Pentecost (Toronto Blue Jay, 1st-11) and Bo Way (Los Angeles Angels, 7th-209) at the top of the lineup.
 
Notable Owl Accolades in 2014
* The Kennesaw State baseball team entered the 2015 season having won 26 of their last 29 games of the season. That trend continued over opening weekend, winning two of their first three games of the season – now having won 28 of their past 32 games dating back to 2014.
* The Black and Gold won a school record 40 wins in 2014 coming off their unprecedented postseason run to the NCAA Super Regionals.
* The Owls also played a D-I school record 64 games in 2014. KSU also posted a program's record of 16 consecutive games won from April 6-May 1 of 2014.
* KSU won the first-ever D-I Championship in school's history last season, defeating Lipscomb 7-1 in the Atlantic Sun Championship to secure the title.
* Kennesaw State also made history last season becoming the second team in A-Sun history to reach the NCAA Super Regionals after capturing the A-Sun Championship followed by the Tallahassee Regional with wins vs. Alabama and Georgia Southern. Entering the Super Regional vs. Louisville, KSU won 26 of their previous 28 games.
 
Owls In The MLB
* KSU totaled four players – Max Pentecost, Bo Way, Justin McCalvin and James Connell— that were selected in the 2014 MLB Draft.
* It marked the seventh consecutive year at least one Owl was selected in the MLB Draft, with three years (2009, 2013 and 2014) four Owls were selected.
* Max Pentecost, who was honored as First Team All-American and Johnny Bench Award winner in 2014, was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round (11th overall), which marks the highest selection in Owl history.
 
Owls Picked First In Atlantic Sun
* Kennesaw State was picked to finish first in the A-Sun in the preseason coaches' poll, voted by the league's eight head coaches. The Owls received 61 points and six of eight first-place votes.
* The preseason A-Sun coaches' selection, which projected the Owls to finish first in the league, was the first time the Black and Gold were selected to finish at the top of the league since joining the conference in 2006.
 
Preseason Polls
* Kennesaw State enters the 2015 season ranked No. 19 in the Baseball America poll (Jan. 26, 2015). It marks the first time in program history the Owls are ranked in preseason polls since becoming D-I in 2006 .
* The Owls will open the 2015 season ranked No. 27 in the preseason Collegiate Baseball Division I poll following an unprecedented run to the NCAA Super Regional a year ago.
* KSU also appeared in the Perfect Game Top-25 Preseason Poll, entering the season ranked No. 24. The Owls joined UC Santa Barbara (18) and Cal State Fullerton (19) as the only mid-major programs in the preseason poll.
 
 Follow The Owls On Social Media
* To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State baseball news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsBaseball or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.
* Use KSU baseball's official hashtags GoKSUOwls and NoDoubt to follow all the action as the Owls look to defend their 2014 A-Sun Championship.
* Want to see more behind the scenes stuff with the baseball team? Tweet at use with your ideas for the upcoming season!
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Owl Baseball Ticket Information
* Season tickets are on sale for the full 29-home game schedule at $39, a savings of over
$100.
* Single game tickets are also available for $6 for adults and $4 for youth (ages 3-12). Group
tickets for groups of 10 or more are available for advanced purchase, excluding the Georgia
(2-17)
* Georgia Tech (3-17), and Georgia Southern (3-24) games  where individual tickets will be
 $10 for adults and $6 for youth. To order season tickets click here , or contact the KSU
 Athletic Ticket Office at 470-578-OWLS (6957).