GAME DAY INFORMATION
Opponent | North Alabama
Date |  March 22 / 23 / 14
Time | 6 p.m. / 2 p.m. / 1 p.m.
Location | Stillwell Stadium

Live Stats | Friday | Saturday | Sunday 
Watch | Complete Series 

Pitching Matchup
Friday | RHP Brooks Buckler (1-1) vs. LHP Chase Best (0-5)
Saturday | LHP Ryan Kennedy (3-1) vs. LHP Bryant Claunch (0-1)
Sunday |  TBA vs. LHP Jacob Laws (1-3)

Leadoff
• This is the conference-opening series for the Owls. KSU has won its last two of three conference-opening series (UNF - 2016, USC Upstate - 2018).
• The Owls split with Binghamton this week winning the first game 10-1, but coming up short 12-6 in game two.
•  The sweep over UMASS was the first sweep over an opponent this season.
• After scoring just four runs in the first inning coming into the weekend, the Owls exploded for seven first-inning runs in the past three contests.
• Kennesaw State has launched 19 dingers through 22 games this season, which ranks first in the ASUN. The Owls are led by Garrett Hodges, who has five moon shots.
•  The Owls have five players on 5-plus game hitting streaks (Seres - 8, Hodges - 8, Chabut - 8, Simon - 5, Tolve - 5).
•  Head Coach Mike Sansing recorded another milestone in his career on Wednesday night against PC. With the win over PC, he captured his 1,000th win as the KSU skipper.
• The Owls' second weekend featured KSU winning two games. The Owls played a double-header on Saturday, losing the first game 5-2, but came back and won the second contest 5-2. Kennesaw State won the series with a convincing 11-5 win over Towson on Sunday.
• The Owls bats were hot during opening weekend. The offense yielded 10 extra base hits, including a pair of home runs from Alex Carballo and Terence Norman. Kennesaw State finished the weekend with a team slash of .308/.442/.405.
•  The Owls rank 39th in the country in sacrifice bunts, laying down 13 through 22 contests. This figure ranks first in the ASUN.
• Tyler Simon and Terence Norman were selections for the 2019 ASUN Preseason All-Conference team. Last season, Norman was tabbed a First Team All-Conference player while Simon was named to the Second Team.

Pitchers
•  Monty Horn has been lights out this season coming out of the pen. He has yet to give up an earned run in 7.1 innings pitched and has struck out nine.
•  Brendan Bickleman has pitched well for KSU, picking up two wins in his only two starts.
•  Brooks Buckler has been a unit on the mound this season for the Owls and has pitched at least 6.0 innings in his last three starts. He has unbeatable command as well - striking out 22 with just four walk on the year. 
•  Jared Rine has been effective coming out of the bullpen for the Owls. As just a freshman, he as 15.1 innings pitched and has given up just three runs . He has 19 punchouts on the year, and has allowed just nine hits. 
•   Jared Staples has been the most familiar arm on the pitching staff this season, as he leads the team with 11 appearances. He has been effective in his 12.1 innings pitched, ranking second on the team in ERA (1.46) while recording 14 strikeouts.
•  The Bullpen has stayed balanced for the Owls this season, as seven Owls have five or more appearances this season. Nathan Dupree has been a matchup nightmare for opposing squads, allowing just two hits in his 4.2 innings pitched.
•  Jake McLinskey has been a durable arm for the Owls so far. Of his eight appearances on the year, he has a pair of starts during midweek action. He has recorded a pair of wins and struck out 16 batters in 15 innings of work.

Outfielders
•   Garrett Hodges has been an anchor in the Owls outfield and at the plate. He has two multi-home run games and is batting .314 this season. He leads the Owls and the ASUN with five no-doubters. 
•  After newcomer Alex Carballo had a dazzling debut for the Owls during opening weekend, in which he batted .417 with a home run, two RBIs and logged a team-high .667 slugging percentage, he has struggled to find his touch at the plate. He is batting .232 over the last 17 games but has 11 RBIs.
•  Terence Norman has found his bat in the last ten games. The junior is batting .395 with four doubles and a team-high nine RBIs. He has also been perfect in the field.

Infielders
•  Jake Franklin is coming off a weekend in which he hit .385 with a double, triple and three RBIs while slugging .615. He leads the ASUN with eight doubles and is batting .338 on the season. 
•  Jaylen Smith has been a staple in the Owls lineup this season, joining Franklin as the only player to start every game. Against UMASS, he hit .455 with a pair of doubles and RBIs.
•  Tyler Simon is coming off an incredible weekend for the Owls. He hit .455 with two doubles and three RBIs. He has taken advantage of runners on third base this season, batting .750 (6-for-8) with someone on third. 
•  David Chabut has put together an impressive start to his senior campaign. He has started all but one game, and is hitting .348  with two doubles and nine RBIs. He is also second on the team with 41 assists in the field.  
•  Daniel Seres and Tyler Tolve have split time behind the dish this season. Seres has been impressive at the plate recently, batting .375 in his last five games played. He also hit two home runs in the second game against Binghamton.
•  Tolve has been dependable at the plate too - batting .333 in his last four starts.

2018 Recap
•  The Owls are coming off a 25-30 2018 campaign in which Kennesaw State finished third in the ASUN conference. 
•  KSU started the 2018 strong, and found itself sitting at 24-18 on April 27. Vying for another conference championship, the Owls  dropped their final 12 out of 13 games, with the sole win coming against NJIT (7-2).
• The pitching staff for the Owls is the most experienced group for the 2019 Kennesaw State squad. 15 out of the 19 pitchers off the 2019 roster were on the team last season. Three freshman arms are featured on this year's staff and one transfer junior, Josh Coburn.

Series History
• This will be the second, third and forth times these program have met, with Kennesaw State taking the only meeting. 

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