EASTERN ILLINOIS AT KENNESAW STATE March 14 | 4 p.m. | Bailey Park Game 1: Watch | Live Stats Game 2: Watch | Live Stats SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE AT KENNESAW STATE March 15 | 5:30 p.m. | Bailey Park Watch | Live Stats Twitter: @KSUOwlsSB

LEADING OFF

• The Owls return to action on Tuesday (March 14) when they host Eastern Illinois at Bailey Park beginning at 4 p.m. (ET).
• Following Tuesday's doubleheader, Kennesaw State returns to the diamond on Wednesday (March 15) when it welcomes Southeast Missouri State to Bailey Park for a single game at 5:30 p.m. (ET).
• The Owls enter the week with a 19-5 record and have won an NCAA Division I program-record nine consecutive games. A win in Tuesday's opener against Eastern Illinois will give Kennesaw State its first 10-game winning streak since 2005 when KSU ran off 13 straight victories en route to advancing the NCAA Division II national championship game.
• Kennesaw State also has a chance to match the program's best 25-game start to a season since 2013 when the Owls opened 20-5.

EASTERN ILLINOIS

• The Panthers begin the week 11-11 on the season after losing the final three games of the SEMO Invitational hosted by Southeast Missouri State.
• Eastern Illinois is batting .305 as a team and has seven players hitting .300 or better, and is led by freshman outfielder Mia Davis, who tops the club with a .468 average.
• Junior Michelle Rodgers leads the Panthers in the circle with a 7-4 record.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE

• The Redhawks open the week 13-5 and have won two in a row after defeating Alabama A&M and Alabama State at the SEMO Invitational last weekend. Prior to facing the Owls, Southeast Missouri State will visit Georgia Tech on Tuesday (March 14).
• The Redhawks are batting .323 as a team and have five players batting .300 or better, and are led by freshman outfielder Rachel Anderson, who is batting .491.
• Junior Madeline Krumrey leads Southeast Missouri State in the circle with a 7-2 record and 1.57 ERA, and is tied for the team-lead with 32 strikeouts.

SERIES HISTORY

• Kennesaw State and Eastern Illinois will be meeting for the third time on Tuesday, and the Owls hold a 2-0 series lead. The two teams last met during the 2015 season, and KSU recorded a 6-4 victory in Kennesaw.
• Kennesaw State and Southeast Missouri State will meet for the first time on Wednesday.

LAST TIME OUT

• Kennesaw State recorded a 3-0 record during the Owl Challenge that was cut to a two-day tournament due wet field conditions on Sunday.
• The Owls opened the weekend with a dramatic 9-8 come-from-behind victory over Michigan State on Friday. KSU returned to Bailey Park on Saturday and posted wins over East Tennessee State (7-5) and Michigan State (7-3).

SUTTER NAMED ASUN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Senior catcher Courtney Sutter as honored for her play last week by being named the ASUN Conference Softball Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday (March 13). It marks the second time this season she has been honored.
• In five games, Sutter batted .471 (8-for-17) with four runs scored, three doubles, a home run, five RBIs, and slugged .824. She hit safely in each game, recording multiple hits three times, and scoring at least one run in four games.
• Sutter opened the week by hitting a home run and producing the game-winning hit in the seventh inning of a 5-4 comeback-back win over Belmont on March 8. During the nightcap of the doubleheader with the Bruins, she collected two more hits and caught Abbey Cutting's no-hitter. Her late-inning heroics continued on Friday as she had a game-winning two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning that lifted the Owls to a 9-8 come-from-behind victory over Michigan State. 

BATTING NOTES

• The Owls lead the ASUN Conference in several offensive categories, including batting average (.342), hits (224), doubles (40), triples (9), home runs (24), slugging percentage (.540) and total bases (354).
• Kennesaw State ranks 10th in the country in stolen bases per game (2.46), 11th in slugging percentage, 14th in average and 26th in home runs.
• Senior Courtney Sutter leads the ASUN Conference and is eighth in the country with eight home runs, while freshman Olivia Tamewitz leads the ASUN Conference with a .481 average, 38 hits and seven triples. Her triples and hits totals rank seventh and ninth in the country, respectively.
• Kennesaw State has six players – Tamewitz (.481), Sutter (.439), Noelle Winkles (.415), Denton (.385), Hannah Thomason (.342) and Katey Lynch (.323) – batting .300 or better.
• Tamewitz, who has hit safely in 11 consecutive games, leads the Owls with 13 multiple-hit games and is third on the team with five multiple-RBI games.
• Winkles tops the club with eight multiple-RBI games.

PITCHING NOTES

• With a perfect game and no-hitter to her credit, freshman Alley Cutting became the first Kennesaw State pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same season since Brittany Matthews tossed a perfect game and no-hitter in 2008.
• Cutting has struck out 83 batters in 64 innings to rank fourth in the ASUN Conference in strikeouts. Her nine victories tie for fourth in the conference.
• Senior Logan Viers is fifth in the ASUN Conference with a 2.14 ERA.

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 game against Southeast Missouri State, Kennesaw State will remain at Bailey Park to host Jacksonville State in a doubleheader on Saturday (March 18) beginning at 1 p.m. (ET).

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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