USC UPSTATE AT KENNESAW STATE April 1-2 | 1 p.m. | Bailey Park GM1: Watch | Live Stats GM2: Watch | Live Stats GM3: Watch | Live Stats Twitter: @KSUOwlsSB

KENNESAW, Ga. – A match-up of two first place teams will be on display when the Kennesaw State softball team hosts USC Upstate in a key ASUN Conference series this weekend at Bailey Park. The series opens with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. (ET), and concludes with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.
 
The Owls (25-9, 2-1) and Spartans (29-7, 2-1) enter the weekend tied with Florida Gulf Coast (20-14, 2-1) atop the ASUN Conference standings after one week of league play.
 
All seven ASUN Conference teams have posted winning records and at least 20 wins entering this weekend's action. USC Upstate is currently among teams receiving votes in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll.
 
USC UPSTATE
The Spartans are 29-7 overall and 2-1 in ASUN Conference play. USC Upstate is coming off a doubleheader sweep of Appalachian State on Wednesday and opened its conference schedule with a series win over Lipscomb. The Spartans are batting .289 as a team and have five players batting .300 or better. USC Upstate is led by junior first baseman Karla Beasley, who is batting .372 with a team-leading seven home runs and 32 RBIs. USC Upstate leads the ASUN with a 1.20 ERA, and has two of the top pitchers in the conference in seniors Holly McKinnon (15-3, 0.99) and Lexi Schubert (13-3, 1.43).
 
THE SERIES
Saturday's first game between Kennesaw State and USC Upstate will mark the 52nd all-time meeting between the two programs, with the Owls leading the all-time series, 34-17. The Spartans swept last year's three-game series in Spartanburg. USC Upstate has won 10 straight in the series with Kennesaw State's last victory coming during the 2012 season.
 
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 conference announced on Monday. 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.
 
BATTED BALLS

• Kennesaw State continues to lead the ASUN Conference in several offensive categories, including batting average (.324), slugging percentage (.496), hits (305), triples (13), home runs (28) and total bases (467). The Owls entered the week ranked 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 34 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 – Hannah Thomason (.398, 3rd), Courtney Sutter (.396, T5th), Noelle Winkles (.396, T5th) and Olivia Tamewitz (.389, 9th) – ranked among the ASUN's top 10 in hitting.
• Sutter (.813) and Winkles (.719) 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 is currently tied with Tamewitz for the team lead in multiple-hit games with 14 and tops the club with nine multiple RBI games.
• Five different Owls have hitting streaks of at least 10 games this season. Sutter and Tamewitz each have had streaks of 11 games, while Beth McCulley, Taylor Denton and Hannah Thomason have produced 10-game hitting streaks.
• 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 2.52 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 tied for 10th in ERA (2.65), eighth in strikeouts (55), sixth in opponents' average (.240), and tied for seventh in wins (8).

ON DECK

• Following this weekend's series with USC Upstate, Kennesaw State will host Georgia Tech in the 10th Annual Lexi's Day game on Tuesday, April 5. First pitch is 6 p.m. (ET). For more information, and to contribute, click here.

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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