| KENNESAW STATE BASEBALL UPCOMING SCHEDULE |
| Tues, April 14 | vs. Jacksonville St. | Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga | 6 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Live Audio |
| Wed, April 15 | vs. Georgia | Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga | 5 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Live Video |
| Frid, April 17 | vs. FGCU (A-Sun) | Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga | 6 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Live Audio |
| Sat, April 18 | vs. FGCU (A-Sun) | Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga | 2 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Live Audio |
| Sun, April 19 | vs. FGCU (A-Sun) | Stillwell Stadium, Kennesaw, Ga | 1 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Live Audio |
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The Road Ahead• The Kennesaw State University baseball team returns home for five games at Stillwell Stadium this week, welcoming Jacksonville State, Georgia and Florida Golf Coast to campus.
• The Owls will take on Jacksonville State Tuesday night at "The Shake" at 6 p.m. in the fourth and final regular-season series game. KSU took 2-of-3 from the Gamecocks earlier this season on the road.
• Kennesaw State will turn right back around and welcome crosstown rival Georgia for Wednesday's midweek showdown. The Bulldogs took the first game of the home-and-home series by a final score of 9-5 in Athens, Georgia on March 25.
• KSU will continue its Atlantic Sun Conference schedule this weekend, welcoming Florida Golf Coast for a three-game set at Stillwell Stadium. The Owls will open the series with a 6 p.m. date on Friday before a 2 p.m. affair on Saturday and a 1 p.m. contest to conclude the weekend series.
• Kennesaw State enters the week with an 11-7 overall record in front of the Owl faithful, winning six of their last eight games at Stillwell Stadium. During the stretch, the Owls are batting .350 with 16 doubles, one triple and four home runs –averaging 7.6 runs per game.
Play Ball• The Owls are coming off an impressive 4-0 week, taking a midweek showdown against Troy before earning their first A-Sun sweep of the season against Northern Kentucky over the weekend.
• Kennesaw State defeated Troy for the first time since 2007, and the 3-2 win marked the first-ever win at Riddle-Pace Field in the all-time series.
• Kennesaw State continued its winning ways with a sweep over NKU. Since joining the A-Sun in 2013, Northern Kentucky has been unable to defeat the Owls, as Kennesaw State is a perfect 9-0 against the Norse –and hold a 10-1 all-time record against NKU.
• The Owls out-hit the Norse in each game over the weekend, totaling a 39-25 hit advantage over the weekend. Kennesaw State is an impressive 16-2 when out-hitting its opponents in a game.
• KSU also outscored NKU by a 30-14 margin over the three games, averaging 10 runs per game. A big reason for outscoring the Norse by a dominant figure is hitting six home runs over the weekend.
* In fact, the Owls' 31 home runs this season is only second in the Atlantic Sun Conference to North Florida's 32. KSU is averaging 1.12 home runs per game led by
Kal Simmons' team-high nine homers this season.
• For the season, the Owls are batting .280 with 64 doubles, one triple and 31 home runs. KSU has compiled 209 runs and 189 RBI on the season with a .418 slugging percentage and a .370 on-base percentage.
Home vs. Road Life• The Owls will enter the week with five scheduled home games, entering the week with an 11-7 record in front of the Owls faithful.
• Kennesaw State, through 18 home games, is batting .299 (181-for-606) with 28 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs at Stillwell Stadium. The Owls are slugging .419 and have outscored their opponents 104-81 at home, averaging 5.8 runs per game.
• KSU is currently on a two-game winning streak at Stillwell Stadium, batting .354 with five doubles, one triple and one home run in the short stretch.
• On the other side, the Owls are 8-9 on the road, batting .260 with 36 doubles, one triple and 18 home runs. But, prior to last weekend against NKU, Kennesaw State batted just .236 in 14 road games with 25 doubles and 12 homers.
• However, the Owls' offense exploded against NKU on the road, batting .371 –a seasons-best stretch in three games—with 11 doubles and six home runs. Kennesaw State compiled a .648 slugging percentage and a .455 on-base percentage over the weekend.
Scouting Jacksonville State* The Owls and Gamecocks split four games in 2015, with the Owls taking the first and last games of the regular season series. The followed into 2015, with Kennesaw State taking 2-of-3 rom the Gamecocks on the road on Feb. 20-21.
• The Gamcocks are led by head coach Jim Case, who entered 13
th season at the helm of the program in 2015. Coach Case has led the program to six Ohio Valley Conference Championships and won more OVC games during his 12-year span than any other team in the league.
• Case entered the season with an impressive 421-351 overall record and, arguably, an even more impressive 192-99 record against OVC opponents.
• Ryan Sebra remains the catalyst of the Gamecocks' offense, batting a team-high .391 in 31 starts. He also leads the team with 50 hits, 11 doubles and three home runs –all adding up to 28 RBI and a .574 slugging percentage.
• His teammate, Paschal Petrongolo, is right behind him, batting .353 on the season in 31 starts. Petrongolo has compiled 42 hits, seven doubles, two triples and three home runs this season. He also leads the team with 29 RBI and a .521 slugging percentage.
• Tony Urban and Zach Fowler remain the 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation for Jacksonville State. Urban owns a 4-2 overall record with a 5.62 ERA over 41.2 innings of work. Fowler has a 5-2 record with a 3.40 ERA over a team-high 53.0 innings of work on the mound. The two both have made nine starts this season.
• Travis Stout remains the facilitator in the backend of the bullpen, totaling a team-best eight saves in 14 appearances. He owns a 2.55 ERA in 17.2 innings.
Scouting Georgia• Georgia will enter the week with two midweek games on its schedule. The Bulldogs will take on crosstown rival Georgia Tech on Tuesday before turning around Wednesday to trek to Kennesaw
State.
• The Bulldogs will enter the weekend with a 20-17 overall record and an even 7-7 mark in the SEC.
• Kennesaw State will enter Wednesday's showdown with Georgia having a 7-11 all-time record against the SEC-foe.
• Kennesaw State swept the 2014 series against the Bulldogs in two games by scores of 10-7 and 3-1. But, UGA broke its drought against the Owls with a 9-5 victory over on March 25 in the first game of the home-and-home series in 2015.
* 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.
• Stephen Wrenn has become a major factor in Georgia's lineup, batting a team-high .331 at the dish. Wrenn has compiled 49 hits, two doubles, three triples and five home runs on the season –adding up to 21 RBI. He also is leading the team with 20 stolen bases.
• Zack Bowers leads the team with six home runs entering the week. He is batting .274 –11 points higher since the two clubs meet on March 25— on the season with 11 doubles and one triple to add to his home runs.
Drew Davis' Power• Sophomore
Drew Davis made an immediate impact in the Owls' lineup last week, batting .500 (3-for-6) in two starts.
• Davis totaled the go-ahead run with his first career home run in the fifth inning against Troy last Wednesday. His first collegiate home run put the Owls ahead of the Trojans by a score of 3-2, giving KSU its first win against the program since 2007, and the first-ever win on the road.
• Davis continued to stay aggressive at the plate in his second start of the week against NKU, hitting hit second home run in as many games played. Davis had three RBI on the season and slugged 1.500 with an on-base percentage of .500.
McGowan RED-HOT • Senior first baseman
Chris McGowan continued his hot stick at the plate last weekend, extending his hitting streak to 15 games.
• McGowan's last game without a hit came on March 20 against Williams & Mary. Since then, the senior has batted .386 over a 15-game stretch, compiling 22 hits, five doubles and two home runs.
• Before the stretch, McGowan was batting just .185 (10-for-54) in his first 16 games of the season. But, with the current streak, McGowan has brought his average up an incredible 102 points.
• For the season, McGowan is batting .288 with 26 hits and 11 RBI.
Bergen Named Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Week, Again•
Travis Bergen, a left-handed pitcher from McDonough, Georgia, was tabbed A-Sun Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season.
• Bergen tossed a complete game, four-hit, shutout against NKU to earn his fourth game of the season.
• The lefty gave up only one run as KSU posted a 10-1 victory Saturday.
• Bergen currently ranks third in the A-Sun with 62 strikeouts.
• For the season, Bergen is 4-3 with an ERA of 2.59 which is fourth in the conference.
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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