Kennesaw State (25-12) at No. 11 Auburn (33-7)
Dates: April 4 | Time: 7 p.m. (ET)
Location: Auburn, Ala. (Jane B. Moore Field)
Live Stats | Watch

LEADING OFF
* The Kennesaw State softball team (25-12, 2-1) travels to Alabama for a mid-week non-conference game against No. 11 Auburn on Wednesday beginning at 7 p.m. (ET). The contest will be available on the SEC Network.
* The match-up with the Tigers will mark the Owls' second against a ranked opponent in the span of a week after taking on No. 6 Georgia in Athens on March 28.
* Kennesaw State improved its ASUN Conference record to 5-1 following a three-game sweep of visiting North Florida last weekend at Bailey Park. KSU opened with a doubleheader sweep (4-1, 5-0) on Friday before closing out the series with a 3-2 win on Saturday.
* The Owls have won 19 of their last 24 games, posting a .311 team batting average and 1.79 ERA.

THIS WEEKEND'S SCHEDULE

Wednesday, April 4
7 p.m. (ET)	Kennesaw State at No. 11 Auburn
Saturday, April 7
1 p.m. & 3 p.m.	Kennesaw State vs. Stetson
1 p.m.	Kennesaw State vs. Stetson

SCOUTING AUBURN
The Tigers enter the week 33-7 and ranked No. 11 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches' Poll. Auburn is coming off a series victory at Ole Miss after taking two of three games from the Rebels. The Tigers are batting .301 as a team and have five players batting .300 or better. Freshman infielder Taylon Snow leads the club with a .416 average, while Casey McCrackin is batting .337 with a team-leading six home runs, and Justus Perry has five home runs and a team-high 31 RBIs. Auburn ranks third in the country with a 0.94 team ERA and is led by senior Kaylee Carlson, who has posted a 15-1 record and 0.64 ERA in 22 appearances. Junior Makayla Martin is 13-3 with a 1.19 ERA while appearing in 22 games.

SERIES VERSUS AUBURN
Kennesaw State and Auburn will be meeting for the second time. The two programs met for the first time during the 2017 season and the seventh-ranked Tigers recorded a 7-3 victory in Auburn.  
 
KIRA CZYRKLIS NAMED ASUN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Kira Czyrklis is the current ASUN Conference softball Player of the Week, after earning the distinction on Monday (April 2). It marks her first career player of the week honor. Czyrklis was impressive in helping the Owls to an ASUN Conference series sweep of North Florida. The KSU junior batted .385 (5-for-13) with two runs scored and a pair of doubles, while slugging at a .538 clip and posting a .385 on-base percentage in four games. During the North Florida series, Czyrklis went 5-for-10 with two runs scored and two doubles, while slugging .700 and recording a .500 on-base percentage. She hit safely in all three games and had two multiple-hit games. For the season, Czyrklis is batting .345 with 22 runs scored, seven doubles, two triples, four home runs and 20 RBIs, while posting a .619 slugging percentage and .427 on-base percentage. She ranks in the ASUN Conference's top 10 in batting, slugging percentage, triples and total bases.

2018 HONORS
ASUN Player of the Week
Noelle Winkles (March 12)
Patricia Awald (March 19)
Kira Czyrklis (April 2)

ASUN Pitcher of the Week
Alley Cutting (March 19)

IN THE BATTER'S BOX
* The Owls lead the ASUN Conference with a .299 average and top the league in slugging percentage (.458), runs scored (183), hits (286), RBIs (163), doubles (57), home runs (28) and total bases (439).
* Sophomore Olivia Tamewitz leads the club with a .400 average, nine doubles and 16 stolen bases. She is third in the ASUN in hitting and doubles, seventh in stolen bases, and ranks in the league's top 10 in runs scored (5), hits (2), and total bases (6). Her 15 multiple-hit games also top the Owls.
* Tamewitz ranks 20th in the country with 50 hits.
* Freshman Patricia Awald is second on team with a .392 average, while her 32 runs scored, 10 home runs, 31 RBIs, .773 slugging percentage and .483 on-base percentage lead KSU. Her home run total ranks sixth in the country among freshmen.
* Awald is first in the ASUN in slugging percentage and RBIs, tied for first in home runs, and third in total bases and fifth in average. She also has 11 multiple-hit, seven multiple-RBI and three multiple-home run games.
* Junior Maddie Roth has been hot during her last 22 games as she is batting .418 (28-for-67) with 13 runs scored, three home runs and 17 RBIs, while slugging at a .642 clip and posting a .480 on-base percentage. She has produced a team-leading 11 multiple-hit games and totaled five multiple-RBI games during that stretch.
* Kennesaw State has four players ranked among the ASUN's top 10 in batting average and slugging percentage. Tamewitz (2), Awald (5), Roth (.374; 7) and Kira Czyrklis (.345; 10) are amongst the leaders in average. Awald (1) and Czyrklis (.619; 5) are joined by Noelle Winkles and Roth, who are tied for sixth with a .560 slugging percentage.

IN THE CIRCLE
* The Owls have a 2.23 team ERA, are yielding a .225 opponents' batting average and have 23 complete games. The staff's 234 strikeouts lead the ASUN.
* Sophomore Alley Cutting has an 8-6 record and team-best 1.74 ERA while making a team-high 20 appearances, including 15 starts. She also has 10 complete games and two saves. Cutting has struck out 92 batters in 100 1/3 innings while allowing 25 earned runs.
* Senior Abigail Green is 11-4 with a 2.60 ERA in 16 appearances. She has made 13 starts and posted nine complete games. Green, who has struck out 10 or more batters in a game three times, has fanned a team and career-high 100 in 80 2/3 innings.
* The KSU right-hander has established single-season career highs for wins (11), games started (13), complete games (9), shutouts (3) and innings pitched (80.2).  
* Over her last 11 appearances, Green has registered a 10-1 record, 1.48 ERA and six complete games. In 56 2/3 innings of work, she has allowed 12 earned runs and struck out 74, including a career-high 13 versus Marist on March 23.

ASUN PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Following a 40-win season that included a postseason berth plus a solid nucleus returning, Kennesaw State was picked to finish first in the 2018 ASUN Conference Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Jan. 17. The Owls, who received four first-place votes and totaled 46 points to finish ahead of defending conference champion USC Upstate (43 points, 2 first-place votes), garnered the top spot in the poll for the first time since joining the ASUN Conference prior to the 2006 season. KSU was ranked second in the preseason coaches' poll on three different occasions (2007, 2008, 2013).

ASUN Preseason Rankings

Rank	Team (First Place Votes)	Votes
1.	Kennesaw State (4)	46
2.	USC Upstate (2)	43
3.	Florida Gulf Coast (1)	31
4.	Lipscomb	29
5.	North Florida	23
6.	Jacksonville	13
7.	Stetson	11

2017 REVIEW
* Under first-year head coach Pete D'Amour, who took the reins on Sept. 16, 2016, Kennesaw State posted a 40-20 record and advanced to the postseason in 2017. The Owls finished second in the ASUN Conference and made their first postseason showing at the NCAA Division I level, finishing third in the inaugural National Invitational Softball Championship. KSU was ranked No. 47 nationally in the final RPI rankings.

CUTTING TABBED ASUN PRESEASON CO-PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Sophomore Alley Cutting was named ASUN Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year, along with Lipscomb's Mandy Jordan, and selected to the all-conference team. She was also named the ASUN's Preseason Pitcher of the Year in a vote by the fans. The Owls right-hander posted a 20-10 record, 2.19 ERA, 16 complete games and two saves while making 38 appearances, including 31 starts. She worked 201 1/3 innings, allowed 63 earned runs, walked 49 and struck out 186 batters en route to earning ASUN Freshman of The Year and first team all-conference honors.

SOLID NUCLEUS RETURNS IN 2018
Including Alley Cutting, the Owls return five players who earned ASUN Conference accolades in 2017. Senior Noelle Winkles (.360, 8 HR, 41 RBI), junior Hannah Thomason (.354, 47 R, 33 SB) and sophomore Olivia Tamewitz (.342, 31 RBI, 19 SB), who earned second team All-ASUN Conference recognition a year ago, are back to form a talented outfield, while sophomore utility player Katey Lynch (.285, 4 HR, 28 RBI) also returns after garnering all-freshman team honors.

HEAD COACH PETE D'AMOUR
* Head coach Pete D'Amour enters his second season as Kennesaw State head coach after spending the prior 10 seasons at the University of Missouri.
* In his first season guiding the Owls, D'Amour led KSU to 40-20 overall record National Invitational Softball Championship Region 5 title and a No. 47 ranking in the final RPI rankings.
* 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.

UP NEXT
Following Wednesday's game, the Owls return to Bailey Park to open a three-game ASUN Conference series versus Stetson. The series opens with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday and concludes with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.

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. You can also follow head coach Pete D'Amour at @KSUSBCoach.

To learn more about The Owls Fund visit www.ksuowls.com/theowlsfund.  
 

Related Videos

Now Playing:

• Play Video