KENNESAW STATE BASEBALL UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tues, March 10	at Georgia State	GSU Baseball Complex, Atlanta, Ga.	5 p.m. ET	Live Stats
Fri, March 13	at Winthrop	Winthrop Ballpark, Rock Hill, S.C.	6 p.m. ET	Live Stats	Video
Sat, March 14	at Winthrop	Winthrop Ballpark, Rock Hill, S.C.	3 p.m. ET	Live Stats	Video
Sun, March 15	at Winthrop	Winthrop Ballpark, Rock Hill, S.C.	1 p.m. ET	Live Stats	Video

About The Owls
• Kennesaw State will enter the week with an 8-5 overall record, and will take on in-state rival Georgia State in a rescheduled date Tuesday (March 10) evening.
• 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.
• Kennesaw State is batting .273 as a team through 13 games this season and has an earned run average of 3.34.
 
Head Coach Mike Sansing and the Owls Staff
* 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.
 
Coach Sansing FIVE 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 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' eight wins throughout the early parts of the 2015 season, the manager now sits only five 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.
 
Play Ball
• Kennesaw State got back on the field for its third home weekend of the young 2015 season, hosting visiting UAB for a three-game series at Stillwell Stadium.
• The Owls defeated the Blazers in 2-of-3, hitting .265 over the weekend and outscored UAB 19-15 in three games.
• KSU hit two more home runs on the season over the weekend against the Blazers, adding to their impressive Atlantic Sun leading 14 on the season.
• The Owls' starting rotation of Jordan Hillyer, Travis Bergen and Gabe Friese allowed four earned runs in 20.1 innings of work combined. The three-headed monster also struck out a combined 17 UAB batters, while walking only four.
• Chris Erwin extended his hitting streak to six games, going 6-for-12 (.500) over the weekend. Erwin had recorded three RBI in two of the three games, which set a new career high for the sophomore.
 
Scouting Georgia State
• Georgia State, who competes in the Sun Belt Conference, has raced off to a fast start to the 2015 season, starting 9-6 through its first 15 games. The Panthers, coached by Greg Frady, welcome the Owls to town for a midweek affair in a non-conference game.
• Coach Frady entered his ninth season at the helm of the program for Georgia State. The skipper entered the season with an overall record of 253-204-1 (.553).
• Frady boasts the highest winning percentage of any coach in school history for Georgia State. He has guided the Panthers to five winning seasons, all with 33 or more wins. Frady led the Panthers to their first conference titles and NCAA tournament birth in 2009.
•  Marc-Andre Habeck will be the starter on the mound for the Panthers. Habeck will enter the game with a 2-1 record and a 5.23 ERA. He also has recorded 11 strikeouts in 10.1 innings of work.
• Caden Bailey leads the Panthers offense, batting .310 (18-for-58) on the season –which leads the team in both hits and average. Bailey also leads the team with three stolen bases on the season.
• Joey Roach leads Georgia State with 18 RBI in 15 games played. Roach has three doubles, one triple and two home runs on the season for the Panthers.
• Justin Jones follows Roach with a .296 batting average. Jones has 16 hits –five of the extra base hits-and a .407 slugging percentage in 15 starts for the Panthers.
• Kevin Burgee and Matt Rose led the Panthers' bullpen. The two have recorded a combined five saves on the season and seven appearances in relief work.
 
"The Kal Show" Simmons
* Kal Simmons, who hails from Nashville, Georgia, has returned to the lineup for the Owls following an impressive 2014 campaign.
• The preseason all-conference selection has impressed thus far, batting .314 (16-for-51) on the season. Simmons also has recorded four double and four home runs for 12 RBI on the season.
• The shortstop's four home runs currently leads the team and is near the top of the Atlantic Sun in that category. Simmons is also tied for the most hits (16) and RBi (12) on the Owls' roster through 13 games this season.
* 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.
* 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 four games, Simmons has totaled a .353 batting average, six hits, three extra base hits and four RBI. 
• Simmons has recorded at least one hit in 10 of Kennesaw State's 13 games. The junior shortstop has two three-hit games, while recording multiple two-hit games to bump his on-base percentage to .386.
 
Give Me Some MOORE
* Freshman AJ Moore will make his second start on the mound in Tuesday's midweek showdown against Georgia State University.
• Moore made his collegiate debut on the mound in relief work against St. John's on Feb. 14, 2015, striking out five in 3.0 innings of work.
*  The right-handed pitcher then made his first collegiate start on the mound against Mercer in a midweek game on February 18. Moore retired 12 of his first 13 batters he faced, including nine strikeouts on the day to earn the win.
 
Captain Morgan At The Dish
* Junior Brennan Morgan has made a difference in the Owls' lineup throughout the first 13 games of the 2015 season.
• Morgan is currently batting .357 (15-for-42) –which is second best on the team— in 12 starts for the Owls. The junior catcher has three doubles, one triple and two home runs on the season.
• The right-handed batter also is tied for the most RBI on the team with Kal Simmons, driving in 12 runs to help the Owls average 6.2 runs per game.
• Morgan's posted his best week on the road from Feb. 18-21, going 7-for-15 (.466) with two home runs and six RBI to lead the Owls' offense to a 3-1 week. KSU defeated Mercer 8-2 in a midweek game before taking 2-of-3 from Jacksonville State.
• The junior, who hails from Peachtree City, Georgia, has a .619 slugging percentage and a .472 on-base percentage in 12 game for KSU this season.
 
Erwin Remains Hot
• Chris Erwin, who serves as an outfielder and pitcher for head coach Mike Sansing, followed arguably his best weekend of the season against UCONN with another strong showing against UAB.
• Erwin went 7-for-12 at the plate, including an RBI on the weekend to lead the Owls offensively at the plate last weekend against the Huskies. He reached base safely in each of those games and batted a team-best .583 for the three games.
• The lefty also pitched three scoreless innings in relief to secure a 6-1 decision over UCONN last Sunday (March 1), helping Kennesaw State take the series finale.
• Erwin followed the strong showing by going 6-for-12 (.500) at the plate with six RBI and a pair of runs scored this past weekend at Stillwell Stadium, helping the Owls take 2-of-3 from the Blazers of UAB.
• The lefty has a hit in each of his last six games, going 13-for-24 (.541) at the plate. During the stretch, Erwin has compiled five runs scored, seven RBI and one double.
• In all, the lefty is batting .390 on the season with three doubles and seven RBI. He also has logged 11.1 innings of work on the mound, compiling a 4.76 ERA and 14 strikeouts on the season.
 
Makin' Gaines
* Griffin "Gaines" Helms also made his collegiate debut against St. John's on Feb. 14.
* Helms finished the game 1-for3 (.333) with a two-run homer to deep left field, marking his first collegiate hit.
• Helms continued his strong start against Mercer on Wednesday (Feb. 18), going 2-for-5 (.400) with two RBI in his start in left field.
• Griffin "Gaines" Helms made his collegiate debut behind the dish Sunday (March 8) afternoon against the Blazers, going 1-for-3 with a run scored in the contest.
* For the season, the freshman left fielder has compiled a .250 batting average with one homer and four RBI in six starts.

Mr. "Freeze"
* Sophomore pitcher Gabe Friese made his season debut on the mound in game three against St. John's on February 14.  
* The sophomore from Effingham, Illinois tossed 5.0 scoreless innings to earn his first victory of the season.
* Friese 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.
• Friese had another strong showing on the mound during Sunday's tough 8-5 loss to the Blazers in game three of the weekend series. The sophomore pitched 7.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out five UAB batters.
* On the year, the Kennesaw native is 2-1 with a 2.38 ERA. He has compiled 17 strikeouts in 22.2 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.
 
Up Next
• Following the midweek game at Georgia State on Tuesday, Kennesaw State will load up and hit the road to Rock Hill, South Carolina for a three-game set against Winthrop.
• It will mark the first road series since the Owls traveled to Jacksonville State on Feb. 20-21, where KSU took 2-of-3 from the Gamecocks.
* The Owls are 3-1 on the road entering the midweek game against Georgia State. 


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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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