KENNESAW STATE BASEBALL
Wed., Feb 25	at Georgia	Foley Field, Athens, Ga.	5 p.m. ET	*POSTPONED
Fri, Feb. 27	vs UCONN	Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga.	4 p.m. ET	Live Stats	Radio
Sat., Feb. 28	vs UCONN	Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga.	2 p.m. ET	Live Stats
Sun., March 1	vs UCONN	Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga.	1 p.m. ET	Live Stats

 
Batting Practice
• The Kennesaw State University baseball program are in the midst of its 32^nd season of varsity play in 2015. The Owls have played seven games thus far, entering the weekend with a 5-2 record.
• 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 all-time record of 1,114-651-2 (.631) in 31 seasons.
• 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.
* 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.
 
Coach Sansing Eight Away From Career Milestone
* Head coach Mike Sansing entered the season with 897-career wins, sitting 13 victories shy of 1,000.
• Sansing's coaching career began at Shorter from 1989-91, accumulating 102 wins in three seasons. His career record at Shorter finished at 102-55 (.650).
• Coach Sansing's clubhouse leadership carried over to Kennesaw State in 1992 and entered his 24th season in 2015 with the Owls.
• With the Owls' five wins throughout the early parts of the 2015 season, the manager now sits only eight shy of the career milestone.
* 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 in 2014.
 
Leading Off
• The Owls will return home this weekend to continue the early parts of the 2015 season, welcoming UCONN at Stillwell Stadium.
* KSU's midweek game against the Georgia Bulldogs got postponed for the second time this season, and will now be rescheduled for March 25 at 5 p.m. The first game of the series between the two clubs will be rescheduled for April 15 at Stillwell Stadium.
• The midweek game against the Bulldogs would have been the second game against in-state rivals this season. KSU took on Mercer University on Wednesday, Feb. 18, defeating the Bears by an 8-2 score. The Owls went 8-4 in regular season games against teams from the state of Georgia in 2014.
• KSU will play in its fourth home game of the season on Friday, marking the second time the Owls are playing on their home field this season.
• The Owls are 3-1 away from Stillwell Stadium this season, batting .307 as a team and accumulating 18 extra base hits. Meanwhile, the Owls are hitting .293 as a team at home and outhitting their opponents in each game.
• KSU will enter the week second in the Atlantic Sun with 30 total extra base hits, including a league-high nine home runs. The Owls are third in the league with 48 RBI and third in the conference with a .301 batting average.  KSU has only played seven games this season compared to Florida Golf Coast's 10.
 • Kennesaw State has played 43 percent of its games away from Stillwell Stadium to begin the year, which is the first time since 2012 that has happened. The Owls totaled a 2-3 record on the road that season, while KSU sits at 3-1 this season.
 
Around The Bases
* The Owls continued to showcase their power at the plate last week against Mercer and Jacksonville State, totaling 18 extra base hits for the week.
• KSU had at least one home run in each game last week. In fact, the Owls have hit at least one home run in six of their first seven games of the season –which is atop of the Atlantic Sun conference with nine total long balls.
* Speaking of home runs, Kennesaw State is tied for ninth in the nation in home runs per game, averaging 1.29 per games through seven games.
• Kennesaw State has held its opponents to only one home run on the season through the first seven games of the 2015 season. The Owls are 0-1 when allowing a home run, but are 5-1 on the season when going yard at least once.
• Kennesaw State out-hit Jacksonville State in two of the three games last weekend, helping them secure the series and move to 5-2. The Owls' loss to the Gamecocks on Saturday's second game of the doubleheader marked the first time KSU has been out-hit in a game.
• The Owls beat left-handed pitcher Tony Urban Saturday afternoon against Jacksonville State. It marked the third time in as many tries the Owls have beat a lefty on the mound. In those games, KSU has batted .321 as a team, accumulating 22 runs and 13 extra base hits and a .541 slugging percentage.
•  The Owls have posted an average of 7.57 runs per game through seven games this season, plating 10+ runs three times this season. Kennesaw State has outscored its opponents by a 53-43 margin, and is second in the Atlantic Sun in total runs scored.
•  A large part of outscoring their opponents this season has been due to dominating innings in the 2^nd, sixth and seventh frames. The Owls have outscored their opponents by a dominating 12-3 margin in the second, while holding a 15-4 edge in the sixth and seventh innings combined.
• Kennesaw State is unbeaten with having a lead entering the seventh inning, accumulating a perfect 5-0 record with nine outs remaining.
 
Scouting the Huskies
* The Huskies will come travel to Kennesaw, Georgia to take on the Owls over the weekend in three games.   
• The weekend series will mark the first time in programs' history the two clubs will play each other.
• UCONN's starting pitching holds a 1.62 ERA in 39.0 innings with 34 strikeouts against eight walks on the season.
• Vinny Siena became the first Husky since Billy Ferriter in 2011 to triple twice in a game on Feb. 23.
• UCONN took on Siena in Port St. Lucia, Gerogia from Feb. 21-23, taking two of three to win the series. The two wins broke a 0-3 start for the Huskies and will enter the weekend against the Owls with a 2-4 record.
• The location of the Huskies' series win over Siena was the spring training home of the New York Mets.
• UCONN accumulated a season-best 16 hits defeated Siena 12-4 on Friday, Feb. 21. UCONN is currently 11-8 all-time against Atlantic Sun Conference opponents, but has never face the Owls of Kennesaw State.
• Kennesaw State will enter the week ranked No. 19 in the Baseball America poll while staying true to its 25th ranking in Baseball Writer's. The Owls, after going 3-1 last week, also moved up to No. 28 in the Collegiate Baseball poll –announced on Feb. 23, 2015.
• Head coach Jim Penders entered his 12^th season at the helm of the program in 2015. Penders holds a 149-129-1 record during his 12 seasons as head coach.
• Joe Deroche-Duffin leads the team with a .438 batting average and nine RBI. Deroche-Duffin also has three doubles and a home run for UCONN in the young season.
• Max McDowell also has contributed for the Huskies at the plate, batting .368 in six games. He also has one double and three RBI for coach Penders.
• The Huskies will showcase Carson Caross (RHP), Anthony Kay (LHP) and Jordan Tabakman (RHP) over the weekend against the Owls. Each Husky pitcher has started two games on the mound, with Tabakman leading the group with a 0.75 ERA.
 
Husky Connection
• Kennesaw State Director of Athletics Vaughn Williams welcomes a familiar foe to Kennesaw, Georgia over the weekend. Williams is the former University of Connecticut Associate Athletic Director for the Huskies.
• Williams spent seven years in the UCONN administration, overseeing $53 million of facility upgrades – including a new football practice facility and a new facility for the university's track and field, field hockey and lacrosse programs – and was in the process of developing plans for a new basketball practice facility, as well as new homes for softball and baseball and soccer.  
 
Captain Morgan At The Dish
* Junior Brennan Morgan has made a difference in the Owls' lineup throughout the first seven games of the 2015 season.
• Morgan leads the team with a .476 batting average in six starts for the Owls. The junior catcher has five extra base hits, including two home runs, and a team-high nine RBI.
• Morgan finished last week (Feb. 18-21) 7-for-15 (.466) with two home runs and six RBI to lead the Owls' offense to a 3-1 week.
• The junior, who hails from Peachtree City, Georgia, has a .952 slugging percentage and a .586 on-base percentage –which both leads Kennesaw State's lineup through seven games.
 
 Motley's Bases
• Redshirt-junior Justin Motley has started in center field in each game for the Owls in 2015. Motley has also played as the Owls' leadoff main in each of the seven games this season.
• Motley has totaled at least one hit in six of the first seven games, and is currently on a four-game hitting streak.
• In fact, Motley has reached base in each of the first seven games for the Owls for a .343 on-base percentage.
• In all, Motley has 13 total bases and a .303 batting average. The junior also has three doubles and two stolen bases.
 
Left In Control
• Left-handed pitcher Travis Bergen controlled game one of Saturday's twinbill against Jacksonville State, pitching 7.0 strong innings of work to earn his first victory of the season.
• The lefty from McDonough, Georgia, allowed one run (unearned) on three hits and struck out five Gamecocks on his way to earn the decision. Bergen now sits at 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA on the young season.
 
Howell-ing For More
• Sophomore Jeremy Howell started at third base for the Owls in all three games last weekend against Jacksonville State.
• Howell had his best showing this season against the Gamecocks, going 6-for-13 (.462) at the plate. The sophomore had four extra base hits and five RBI, including 10 total bases and two runs scored.
• Howell fell a home run shy of hitting for the cycle during the Owls' 14-8 win Friday against Jacksonville State. His three hits were part of an 18-hit outburst against the Gamecocks, posting season highs of 14 runs and 18 hits as a team.
 
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.

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Season tickets are currently on sale for the full 29-game home schedule at $39 per ticket. Single-game tickets are also available at $6 for adults and $4 for youth (ages 3-12). Group tickets for 10 or more people are available for advanced purchase, excluding the Georgia (Feb. 17), Georgia Tech (Mar. 17) and Georgia Southern (Mar. 24) games when 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).

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