Owl Challenge Tournament Central

LEADING OFF

• Following a doubleheader sweep of Belmont on Wednesday, Kennesaw State returns to Bailey Park on Friday when they host Michigan State during the opening day of the three-day Owl Challenge. The Owls and Spartans square off at 5:30 p.m. (ET).
• In addition to Kennesaw State and Michigan State, the field also includes East Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.
• Winners of a season-high six in a row, the Owls are currently 16-5 on the season following their sweep of Belmont. KSU won by scores of 5-4 in comeback fashion in the opener, before freshman Alley Cutting tossed her second no-hitter within a week to highlight a 7-1 victory.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, March 10
12:30 p.m.	Tennessee Tech vs. East Tennessee State
3 p.m.	Michigan State vs. East Tennessee State
5:30 p.m.	Michigan State vs. Kennesaw State
Saturday, March 11
10 a.m.	East Tennessee State vs. Tennessee Tech
12:30 p.m.	Michigan State vs. Tennessee Tech
3 p.m.	East Tennessee State vs. Kennesaw State
5:30 p.m.	Michigan State vs. Kennesaw State
Sunday, March 12
10 a.m.	Michigan State vs. Tennessee Tech
12:30 p.m.	Tennessee Tech vs. Kennesaw State
3 p.m.	East Tennessee State vs. Kennesaw State

THE FIELD

• East Tennessee State is currently 8-10 on the season and has lost three in a row, including a 7-6 loss to St. John's in the final game of the Buccaneer Classic. ETSU has two players batting .300 or better and is led by sophomore infielder Tiffany Laughren.
• Michigan State is 14-4 and has won two in a row following wins over Georgia Tech (7-3) and Georgia State (5-2). The Spartans are batting .335 as a team and have seven players batting .300 or better. Junior outfielder Leah Foerster leads the club with a .473 average and 10 doubles.
• Tennessee Tech is 4-15 and has lost six in a row after going winless at the Mizuno Classic in Stillwater, Okla. The Golden Eagles are batting .199 as a team and have posted a 4.14 team ERA.

KENNESAW STATE VS. THE FIELD

• East Tennessee State: The Owls and Bucs have met 22 previous times and Kennesaw State leads the all-time series, 16-6. The two programs last met during the KSU Kickoff Classic a season ago and the Owls posted a 4-2 victory.
• Michigan State: The Owls and Spartans have met one previous time and Kennesaw State recorded a 2-0 victory at last year's Gamecock Invitational.
• Tennessee Tech: The Owls hold an 11-9 series lead that includes a 3-0 victory earlier this season at the UTC Tournament.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Owls were last in action on Wednesday where they swept Belmont in a doubleheader in Nashville. KSU posted a 5-4 come-from-behind victory in game one before posting a 7-1 win in the nightcap.
• After hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning to cut a two-run deficit to 4-3, senior Courtney Sutter singled home the go-head run in the top of the seventh, and freshman Alley Cutting worked a scoreless bottom half of the inning to earn her second save and secure a 5-4 victory.
• Cutting was the story in game two as she tossed her second no-hitter in the last week. The Owls' right-hander allowed an unearned run, walked four and struck out seven. Sutter collected two more hits and freshman Beth McCulley had two RBIs to lead the offense.

CUTTING NAMED ASUN CONFERENCE PITCHER OF THE WEEK

• Freshman Alley Cutting continued her impressive start to the season and was rewarded for her performance last weekend in the Dr. Bobbie Bailey Memorial Tournament by being named ASUN Conference Pitcher of the Week. It marked the first time she has been honored.
• In her three games, Cutting registered a 2-0 record, one save and 0.00 ERA. The Owl's freshman allowed five hits, no earned runs, walked three and struck out 17 while limiting opposing batters to a .096 average during 16 innings of work.
• The highlight of the weekend came on Friday against Dartmouth when Cutting pitched a six-inning perfect game against Dartmouth. She retired all 18 batters in 71 pitches while striking out eight. The Grand Island, N.Y. native started the game with two first-inning strikeouts and stuck out at least one batter in five of six innings. She also induced six ground ball outs, a pop out and fly ball to the outfield. 
• Cutting returned to the circle Saturday and helped secure the win for the Owl's after allowing four hits, an unearned run, and striking out five in a complete-game effort against UAB. She finished the weekend strongly by earning her first career save against Akron after allowing one hit, a walk, an unearned run, and struck out four on Sunday. 

BATTING NOTES

• The Owls lead the ASUN Conference in several offensive categories, including batting average (.334), home runs (22), doubles (36), slugging percentage (.542) and total bases (307).
• Senior Courtney Sutter leads the ASUN Conference with eight home runs, while freshman Olivia Tamewitz ranks among the top 20 in the nation in hits (34)) and batting average (.515).
• Senior Taylor Denton ranks first in the country as the toughest to strike out. She has yet to strike out in 61 plate appearances.
• Kennesaw State has six players – Tamewitz (.515), Sutter (.423), Noelle Winkles (.393), Denton (.351), Katey Lynch (.327) and Hannah Thomason (.317) – batting .300 or better.
• Tamewitz (2nd), Sutter (4th) and Winkles (6th) all rank in the top 10 in the ASUN Conference in batting.
•  Tamewitz, who has hit safely in eight consecutive games, leads the Owls with 12 multiple-hit games and is tied for second on the team with five multiple-RBI games.
• Winkles tops the club with seven multiple-RBI games.

PITCHER PERFECT

• Alley Cutting's perfect game against Dartmouth on Friday was the second in the last two years by a Kennesaw State pitcher. Logan Viers accomplished the feat on Feb. 28, 2016 during an 8-0 victory over Alabama A&M.
• The perfect game Cutting marked the 38th no-hitter in program history dating back to 1991 and was the seventh perfect game. It also represents the third perfect game in KSU's NCAA Division I era.

PITCHING NOTES

• Kennesaw State ranks second in the ASUN Conference in ERA (2.17), opponent's batting average (.226) and third in strikeouts (140).
• Alley Cutting ranks in the top five in the ASUN Conference in strikeouts (76), ERA (1.58), opponent's batting average (.163) and wins (7). She also has two saves.

HEAD COACH PETE D'AMOUR

• Head coach Pete D'Amour begins his first season as Kennesaw State head coach after spending the previous 10 seasons at the University of Missouri.
• While at Mizzou, D'Amour helped the Tigers post a 453-154 (.746) record, advance to three Women's College World Series (2009, 2010, 2011), reach eight NCAA Division I Super Regionals, and participate in 10 NCAA Regionals.
• During D'Amour's tenure, Missouri won two Big 12 Conference championships and earned 10 straight Top 20 national rankings.
• Primarily responsible for working with the pitchers and catchers, D'Amour watched Tigers pitcher throw 11 no-hitters, while mentoring 11 All-Americans, two SEC Freshen of the Year, three conference Pitchers of the Year, a national earned-run average leader, and a Defensive Player of the Year.

NEXT UP

• Following Wednesday's doubleheader, the Owls return home to Bailey Park to host East Tennessee State, Michigan State and Tennessee Tech in the Owl Challenge. KSU opens play Friday versus Michigan State beginning at 5:30 p.m.

To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State softball news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsSB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook. 
   
 

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