KENNESAW STATE AT BELMONT March 8 | 5 P.M. | E.S. Rose Park | Live Stats

LEADING OFF

• The Owls travel to Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday (March 8) to face Belmont in a doubleheader at E.S. Rose Park. The first game is scheduled for 5 p.m. (ET).
• Kennesaw State enters the week with a 14-5 record after posting a 4-1 mark during the Dr. Bobbie Bailey Memorial Tournament last weekend. After falling 6-5 to UNCG in Friday's opener, the Owls rebounded to defeat Dartmouth (9-0, 9-5), UAB (8-1), and Akron (8-4).
• Belmont is currently 14-2 after winning the final two games of the Blue City Classic in Memphis, defeating Wright State (5-2) and Louisiana Tech (4-2).  

SERIES HISTORY

• Wednesday's first game between the Owls and Bruins will mark the 14th meeting between the two programs with the Owls leading the all-time series, 9-4. They last met during the 2015 season and KSU posted a 2-1 victory in Kennesaw.

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 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 (.338), home runs (21), doubles (33), slugging percentage (.551) and total bases (279).
• KSU ranks 10th in the country in slugging percentage, 18th in stolen bases per game (2.21), and 19th in batting average and doubles per game (1.74).
• Senior Courtney Sutter ranks ninth in the country and first in the ASUN Conference with seven home runs, while freshman Olivia Tamewitz is 11th in the nation hits (31) and 16th in batting average (.525).
• Senior Taylor Denton ranks first in the country as the toughest to strike out. She has yet to strike out in 54 plate appearances.
• Kennesaw State has six players – Tamewitz (.525), Sutter (.429), Noelle Winkles (.407), Denton (.353), Hannah Thomason (.327) and Katey Lynch (.327) – 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 six consecutive games, leads the Owls with 11 multiple-hit games and is 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 (2.18), opponent's batting average (.236) and third in strikeouts (129).
• Logan Viers ranks fourth in the ASUN Conference in ERA (1.60), sixth in opponent's batting average (.222), seventh in innings pitched (48.0) and tied for sixth with five wins.
• Alley Cutting is fourth in the ASUN Conference in strikeouts (68), fifth in ERA (1.85), third in opponent's batting average (.188) and tied for fourth with six wins. She also earned her first career save on Sunday.

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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