TOP OF THE ORDER• Kennesaw State returns to Atlantic Sun Conference play this weekend when it opens a three-game series against Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, Fla. beginning Saturday (April 16).
• The series versus the Eagles gets underway with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. The two teams will wrap up the weekend on Sunday (April 17) with a 2 p.m. contest will be broadcast on ESPN3.
• BIG SERIES: A lot is at stake when the Owls (22-17, 5-4) and Eagles (21-20, 5-4) meet this weekend. The two teams are locked in a three-way tie for first place with North Florida. All three teams have a one-game lead over USC Upstate and Stetson, and have the opportunity to clinch an A-Sun Conference tournament berth.
• Three opponents on the Owls 2016 schedule opened the year nationally ranked or were receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches and ESPN3.Com/USA Softball preseason polls. No. 8/9 Tennessee (Apr. 5), No. 12/14 Georgia (Mar. 16) and No. 25/RV South Alabama (Apr. 30) received Top 25 national rankings. KSU is also scheduled to travel to Atlantic Sun Conference rival USC Upstate Apr. 23-24 for a three-game series in Spartanburg. The Spartans were among teams receiving votes.
A look at the Opponent:
• FLORIDA GULF COAST: The Tigers enter the weekend at 21-20 overall and 5-4 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Eagles are batting .286 overall and four players batting .300 or better, including freshman Racquel Fournet, who is batting .377 and tops the club with six home runs and 39 RBIs. FGCU has posted a 3.19 team ERA and is led in the circle by Riley Randolph, who is 10-4 with a 1.69 ERA.
• SERIES VERSUS FLORIDA GULF COAST: Kennesaw State and Florida Gulf Coast have met 21 times and the Owls lead the all-time series, 14-7. The two programs met a year ago and KSU won the series, 2-1, in Kennesaw.
• LAST TIME OUT: Kennesaw State was last in action on Wednesday (April 13) and suffered a 6-4 setback at Georgia Southern. The Owls fell victim to the home run as Eagles hit three homers in the victory. Georgia Southern relied on home runs in the second, third and fifth innings to overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Senior
Missy Perkowski highlighted KSU's offense with a two run single and senior
Rachel Dennis walked three times and scored a run.
• A-SUN CONFERENCE WEEKLY HONORS: Kennesaw State has had two players recognized by the A-Sun Conference with weekly honors. Senior third baseman
Kara Chambers was named the A-Sun Conference Player of the week on March 14 after posting a .429 average (6-for-14) with four runs scored, a double, triple, four RBIs, and was 9-for-9 in stolen bases in six games.
•
Logan Viers earned A-Sun Conference Co-Pitcher for the week honors for the week of Feb. 29. She concluded the weekend 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA. In 17 2/3 innings, she allowed 11 hits, seven runs (five earned), walked two and struck out 23 to help the Owls post a 4-0 record at the Dr. Bobbie Bailey Memorial Tournament. Viers capped the tournament by tossing a six-inning perfect game against Alabama A&M.
• ACHIEVING PERFECTION: Junior right-hander
Logan Viers achieved perfection in on Feb. 28 when she needed just 64 pitches to dispatch Alabama A&M as she struck out six in six innings.
• MORE RECOGNITION FOR VIERS: In addition to being named A-Sun Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week, Viers also was tabbed the HERO National Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 7) following a week of online voting. The junior right-hander received 56 percent of the votes.
NOTES• Kennesaw State continues to be one of top base stealing teams in the country as it ranks fifth nationally, averaging 2.67 stolen bases per game. Southeastern Louisiana leads the nation with 2.98 steals per game.
• The Owls have already established a single-season school record for stolen bases. Through 39 games, Kennesaw State has totaled 104 stolen bases in 121 attempts. The previous was record was 74 accomplished in 90 attempts in 2015.
• Junior
Taylor Denton and senior
Kara Chambers have led the running game while establishing single-season career-highs. Denton is 24-for-25, while Chambers is 22-for-26. The duo also ranks second and third, respectively, on Kennesaw State's all-time career charts as Denton has 54 career stolen bases and Chambers has 52. Jennifer Hunt (2003-06) is KSU's career leader with 60.
• The Owls are 11-1 when scoring in the first inning and 17-5 when scoring first.
• Senior first baseman
Megan Veringa, who ranks second on the club with 22 RBIs, recorded her 100th career RBI with a base hit in the fourth inning at Tennessee State (April 7). She added to that total at Georgia Southern (April 13) with a sacrifice fly to increase her total to 101.
• Freshman
Anastasia Villanueva collected her first career hit with a two-run single in the seventh and recorded the first two RBIs of her career at Tennessee State (April 7).
• Freshmen
Jenna Kniss,
Anastasia Villanueva and
Kira Czyrklis combined to go 3-for-6 with two runs scored and six RBIs.
• Senior
Rachel Dennis has reached base safely in a team-high nine straight games.
• Junior
Logan Viers and senior
Morgan Sikes have established single-season career-highs for strikeouts. Viers has struck out 79 batters while Sikes has fanned 52.
• Viers currently tops the A-Sun Conference with a 1.67 ERA, while Sikes is third with a 1.96 ERA.
PRESEASON COACHES POLL: The Owls are picked to finish third in the Atlantic Sun Conference, according the league's coaches. Lipscomb, which finished runner-up in the conference tournament a year ago, is picked to win the regular season after receiving six of seven first-place votes and 48 points.
USC Upstate, the 2015 tournament champion, finished second in the voting after garnering one first-place vote and 41 points.
Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason Poll| RK | Team (1st Place Votes) | Points |
| 1. | Lipscomb (6) | 48 |
| 2. | USC Upstate (1) | 41 |
| 3. | Kennesaw State | 31 |
| 4. | Stetson | 25 |
| 5. | North Florida | 19 |
| 6. | FGCU | 16 |
| Jacksonville | 16 |
• SUTTER, VERINGA PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE: Junior catcher
Courtney Sutter and senior first baseman
Megan Veringa was named to the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason all-conference team.
• Veringa was a unanimous selection by the league's coaches after earning second team all-conference selection in 2015 after batting a career-high .347 and establishing personal-bests in every offensive category, including runs scored (30), hits (52), home runs (9) and RBIs (46), while ranking sixth in the A-Sun Conference in RBIs and tied for 10th in home runs.
• A first-team all-conference catcher in 2015, Sutter is coming off a sophomore season in which she batted .313 with 26 runs scored, 47 hits, 10 doubles, seven home runs and 33 RBIs.
• HEAD COACH TORY ACHESON: Head coach
Tory Acheson is in his second season at the helm of the Owls program. The 2016 season marks Acheson's 22nd as a collegiate coach during which time he has posted a career mark of 848-471-2 (.643).
MILESTONE WATCH
• With 32 wins in his first season leading the Owls and 22 thus far this year, head coach
Tory Acheson has reached 50 wins at Kennesaw State. He is also two victories shy of 850 career wins.
