KENNESAW STATE AT SAMFORD March 29 | 6 P.M. (ET) | Samford Softball Field Watch | Live Stats | Twitter: @KSUOwlsSB

KENNESAW, Ga. – Following a successful opening to ASUN Conference play, the Kennesaw State softball returns to action Wednesday (March 29) when it travels to Birmingham, Ala., for a non-conference game at Samford. First pitch is 6 p.m. (ET).
 
The Owls (24-9) opened their ASUN Conference schedule last weekend at Stetson and took two of three games from the Hatters. KSU opened with a 4-0, 10-inning victory on Saturday before falling 3-0 in the second game of a doubleheader. The Owls produced more late-inning dramatics in Sunday's series finale, posting a 5-4 victory on the strength of a 10th-inning Noelle Winkles home run.
 
With the series win, Kennesaw State matched its best 33-game start to a season since posting a 24-9 mark in 2008.
 
CUTTING TABBED ASUN CONFERENCE PITCHER OF THE WEEK
For the second time this season, freshman Alley Cutting was honored as the ASUN Conference's Pitcher of the Week. The Grand Island, N.Y. native pitched the Owls to a pair of conference victories at Stetson that helped KSU grab a share of first place after the opening weekend of league play. In three starts that included an appearance at Georgia State on Wednesday, Cutting went 2-1 with a 1.08 ERA and three complete games. In 26 innings, the Owls' freshman allowed 18 hits, four earned runs and struck out 18 while limiting opposing batters a to .188 average. Making her week even more impressive was that her two wins came after throwing a pair of 10-inning complete games against Stetson. In 20 innings, Cutting allowed 11 hits, one earned run, walked eight and struck out 16 against a Hatters team that entered the weekend leading the ASUN in runs scored. In the series opener on Saturday, Cutting allowed five hits, four walks and struck out eight while throwing 173 pitches.
 
SAMFORD
The Bulldogs are 11-23 overall and 1-2 in Southern Conference play after dropping two of three games to Furman over the weekend. Samford is batting .262 as a team and has three players batting .300 or better. Junior outfielder Shelby Maze leads the Bulldogs with a .467 average, while topping the club in hits (56) and runs scored (27). Senior Grey Adams leads the Samford pitching staff with a 5-9 record and 3.18 ERA in 22 appearances. In 101 1/3 innings pitched, she has allowed 87 hits, 46 earned runs, walked 60 and struck out 69.

THE SERIES
Wednesday's game between Kennesaw State and Samford will mark the 11th meeting between the two programs, with the Owls leading the all-time series, 9-1. The two teams last met during the 2013 season, and KSU posted a 3-2 victory in Kennesaw. The Bulldogs' lone win in the series was a 6-2 victory in 2006.

BATTED BALLS

• Kennesaw State continues to lead the ASUN Conference in several offensive categories, including batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.497), hits (296), triples (12), home runs (28) and total bases (455). The Owls also rank among the top 25 nationally in batting average (23rd), slugging percentage (24th), stolen bases per game (16th) and triples per game (11th).
• With 28 home runs through 33 games this season, KSU has already surpassed its entire home run total from a year ago when the Owls hit 18 in 58 games.
• KSU has four players – Noelle Winkles (.409; T3), Courtney Sutter (.409; T3), Hannah Thomason (.400; 6th) and Olivia Tamewitz (.387; 9th) – ranked among the ASUN's top 10 in hitting.
• Sutter (.839) and Winkles (.742) rank first and second, respectively, in slugging percentage. Both players have established single-season career highs in home runs with 10 and seven, respectively, to rank first and second in the ASUN.
• Winkles has been the Owls' hottest hitter of late, hitting safely in seven straight games while batting .458 (11-for-24) with four extra base hits and five RBIs. She has also reached base safely in 12 consecutive games, posting a .432 average (16-for-37) with seven runs scored and six extra base hits, including three home runs.
• With her first-inning single at Stetson on Sunday, senior Taylor Denton picked up her 200th career hit. Making contact this season has almost been automatic for Denton, who ranks 16th in the country as the toughest batter to strike out. She has fanned just two times in 99 plate appearances.
• With 31 home runs, senior Courtney Sutter is two away from tying Keri McKee (2004-2007) for sixth place on Kennesaw State's all-time career home run list. McKee totaled 33.

QUICK PITCHES

• Kennesaw State is third in the ASUN Conference with a 2.54 earned-run average.
• Freshman Alley Cutting established and then tied her own Kennesaw State NCAA Division I single-game record for innings pitched when she worked 10 innings in Saturday's opener at Stetson and then equaled the mark on Sunday against the Hatters.
• Cutting ranks fourth in the ASUN with a 1.93 ERA, opponents' average (.194), innings pitched (109.0), third in strikeouts (121), and wins (13).
• Senior Logan Viers is ninth in ERA (2.66) and strikeouts (52), seventh in opponents' average (.242), and tied for eighth in wins (7).

ON DECK

• Following Wednesday's game at Samford, Kennesaw State will return to ASUN Conference play on Saturday when it hosts USC Upstate in a doubleheader at Bailey Park. The first game begins 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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