KENNESAW STATE BASEBALL UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tues, March 17	vs. Georgia Tech	Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga.	L, 6-7 (11)
Wed, March 18	at WCU	Hennon St., Cullowhee, N.C	L, 4-5
Frid, March 20	vs. William & Mary	Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga.	6 p.m. ET	Live Stats	Audio
Sat, March 21	vs. William & Mary	Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga.	2 p.m. ET	Live Stats
Sun, March 22	vs. William & Mary	Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga.	1 p.m. ET	Live Stats

 
 
About The Owls
• Kennesaw State will enter the weekend with an overall record of 9-10 after dropping back-to-back one-run losses during midweek play.
• The Kennesaw State University baseball program are in the midst of its 32^nd season of varsity play in 2015.
• 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.
* 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 FOUR Away From Career Milestone
* Head coach Mike Sansing entered the season with 987-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 an impressive 102-55 (.650).
• Coach Sansing's clubhouse leadership carried over to Kennesaw State in 1992 and is now in his 24th season at the helm of the program in 2015. He has over 27 years of coaching experience through the NAIA ranks, Division II level and now Division I ranks at KSU.
• With the Owls' nine wins this season, Sansing now sits only four 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.
• Speaking of success, coach Sansing and the Owls recently added to their trophy showcase at the Atlanta Sports Awards on March 5. KSU was honored as the Team of the Year, presented by PrimeSport.
• It didn't end there, former KSU All-American Max Pentecost was voted Collegiate Athlete of the Year, presented by AT&T.
 
Play Ball
• Kennesaw State returned to action with a pair of midweek games against Georgia Tech (Tuesday, March 17) at Stillwell Stadium and Western Carolina (Wednesday, March 18) at Hennon Stadium. The Owls dropped back-to-back one-run games, faltering late in each game to fall to 9-10 on the season.
• KSU is outscoring its opponents 40-28 over the first three innings of play this season, including a dominating 21-6 run margin in the second inning. The Owls are 9-2 when scoring the first run of the game.
• Kennesaw State played in its first extra-inning game last Tuesday against in-state rival Georgia Tech. The Owls went 11 frames with the Yellow Jackets before falling by a final score of 7-6.
• It was the first lost of the season for the Owls when scoring at least six runs in a ballgame, and now sit at 4-1 on the season when they plate six or more.
• For just the second time this season, the Owls failed to record at least one home run in back-to-back games. Kennesaw State holds a league-leading 17 homers on the season led by preseason all-conference selection Kal Simmons with five. –-which is a career high for the junior shortstop.
• KSU will return to Stillwell Stadium where the team is batting .255 (84-for-329) this season. The Owls have compiled 23 extra base hits, including 12 doubles, two triples and nine home runs on the season. In fact, seven of those nine home runs have been hit over the right field wall.
• Kennesaw State, despite failing to hit a home run over its past two games, remains in the top 25 in the nation with 17 homers. William & Mary will enter the weekend with 16 home runs.
• Kennesaw State logged a season-best seven walks Tuesday against Georgia Tech. The Owls have 66 free passes on the season, which is an average of 3.5 per game.
• The Owls' 10 hits against the Yellow Jackets on Tuesday night was the eighth time this season KSU has compiled double-digit hits in a single game.
• The 39 at-bats marked the third most this season for the Owls, as only Jacksonville State's 44 and Mercer's 40 were more.
• Western Carolina's one-run game marked the fourth time the two teams ended in a one-run difference, with the last coming in 2006. It was their 16^th all-time meeting on Wednesday night, and the eighth in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
 
Scouting William & Mary
• William & Mary will come to Kennesaw State's campus for the first time in program's history this weekend. The Tibe and Owls have never played against each other and will play three this weekend at Stillwell Stadium.
• William & Mary will enter the weekend with a 10-6 overall record and 2-1 mark in the CAA. The Tribe are 4-1 at home, while compiling a 3-5 away record.
• William & Mary is batting .278 as a team with 16 home runs on the season. Similar to the Owls, the team leads their league in extra base hits. The Tribe has totaled 47 doubles, two triples and 16 home runs on the year.
• William & Mary ranks in the top 20 in total doubles (47) and home runs (16). The Tribe has 65 total extra base hits on the season.
• Coach Brian Murphy enters his third season at the helm of the William & Mary program. The Tribe competes in the CAA.
 • The Tribe is projected to throw right-handed pitcher Jason Inghram on Friday night. Inghram sits at 1-2 with an ERA of 3.18 in four starts. The righty comes into the weekend with 16 strikeouts and 14 walks, holding opponents to a .259 batting average.
• Nick Brown is projected to throw Saturday's game, coming into the weekend with a 3-0 record and an ERA of 2.05. Brown has 19 strikeouts against eight walks this season in a team-leading 26.1 innings of work on the bump.
• Mitchell Aker is projected to pitch the series finale, entering the game with a 0-1 record and an ERA of 10.80.
 
Left In Control
• Left-handed pitcher Travis Bergen has made five appearances (all starts) for the Owls this season.
• Bergen's first win of the season came against Jacksonville State in the second game –first of the doubleheader—of the series. He pitched 7.0 strong innings on the hill , allowing one run (unearned) and struck out five Gamecocks to help the Owls take a 4-2 win.
• The lefty from McDonough, Georgia followed his act with a strong showing against UCONN at Stillwell Stadium on Feb. 28. Despite being credited with the loss, Bergen threw 7.0 strong innings allowing four runs on just five hits while striking out eight Husky batters –which fell one shy of tying his career high in a single game.
• Bergen's last start against UAB on Saturday afternoon was arguably his best of the season. He tossed 6.2 innings of work, allowing one unearned run on seven hits. Bergen struck out five Blazers and secured the weekend series for the Owls.
• Bergen earned Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Week honors after throwing a complete four-hit shutout against Winthrop. He struck out a career-high 11 batters throughout the game to help him earn the honors.
• In all, the junior pitcher enters the weekend with a 3-2 record and a team-best 1.87 ERA (min. 6.0 IP) with 31 strikeouts and eight walks.
 
Howell-ing For More
• Sophomore Jeremy Howell has been steady for the entire season, batting .320 (16-for-50) with a team-high six doubles. He also has 10 RBI and 22total bases for a .440 slugging percentage.
• Howell ranks first on the team with 10 walks, the only player on the roster with double-digit walks on the season.
• 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.
 
1-2 Punch, Thank You Very Much
• In the middle of the seventh inning, tied at 3-3 with Western Carolina, head coach Mike Sansing went to his bullpen for a 1-2 punch that allowed the Owls to escape the inning.
• Benjamin Bancroft made his first appearance of the season for KSU in a key matchup in the inning with runners on second and third. The right-handed pitcher struck out the only batter he faced before handing the ball to Will Lowman.
* Lowman then retired the next two batters (strikeout and ground out) to keep the game at 3-3 in the seventh.
• The two did not allow a hit or runs in the inning, giving way to the Owls' offense that grabbed a 4-3 lead at the time in the top of the eighth inning.
For the season, Lowman has six appearances on the mound. He has allowed two earned runs in 4.1 innings of work.
 
Dibrell's First Collegiate Start
• Freshman Tony Dibrell made his first collegiate start on the mound Wednesday evening against Western Carolina.
• The righty tossed 3.2 innings on the mound, allowing one earned run while scattering four hits. He also struck out three batters.
In all, Dibrell has three appearances on the mound, compiling a 0-0 record and an ERA of 5.68 in 6.1 innings of work.
 
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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