GAME DAY INFORMATION
Opponent: Samford
Date:  March 8, 9, 10
Time: 5 p.m. / 3 p.m. / 2 p.m.
Location: Birmingham, Ala.

Live Stats / Watch (Friday)
Live Stats / Watch (Saturday)
Live Stats / Watch (Sunday)

Pitching Matchup

Friday
KSU: RHP Brooks Buckler (0-0)
SAM: LHP Samuel Strickland (2-1)

Saturday
KSU: RHP Ryan Kennedy (2-0)
SAM: RHP Jesse McCord (0-1)

Sunday
KSU: LHP Josh Coburn (1-1)
SAM: Zach Hester (1-0)


Leadoff

•   The Owls dropped a pair of midweek games to Georgia Tech. The temperature was chilly both nights, and the fell in the first game 10-7 and fell 9-1.

•  The Owls won another series last weekend, their second of the 2019 season against UT Martin. Kennesaw State won its first two games of the series but dropped the finale.

• 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 66th in the country in stolen bases per game through 2019, swiping 1.58 bases per game. Against Towson, KSU stolen 11 bases and was caught just once.

• 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

•  Brooks Buckler has gotten off to impressive starts in 2019. Although he does not have a decision, he leads the team in innings pitched (19.0) and is third on the team in punchouts (15). He is also the least run supported pitcher on the staff, as he has just had just 3.3 runs per game of support, almost two runs below staff average.

•  Not only has Buckler been effective at striking batters out, he has unbeatable command, walking just two batters. He paces the ASUN and checks in at 68th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.5 strikeouts per walk).

•  Jared Rine has been effective coming out of the bullpen for the Owls. As just a freshman, he as 11.0 innings pitched and has not given up a run. He has 16 punchouts on the year, and has allowed just two singles. 

•  Rine made his first start of the season on Wednesday against GT. He pitched two innings, giving up two earned runs. 

•   Jared Staples and Jake McLinskey each have earned a win this season out of the bullpen. They are first and second in appearences, respectively, and neither have given up a run out of the pen.

•  The starting pitching was exceptional for the Owls over the first weekend. Buckler pitched well against West Virginia, completing 5.0 innings with six strikeouts and allowing just one run. On Saturday, Kennedy pitched 5.0 innings with six strikeouts and allowed just two hits. In his KSU debut, Coburn struck out seven Spiders in just 3.1 innings of work.

•  The pitching staff only allowed just two extra base hits in the first three games. After a triple from West Virginia, Richmond doubled for the only other two-plus bagger of the weekend.

Outfielders

•  Terence Norman is working out of a early-season struggles after batting .429 against Georgia Tech this week. He collected 3 hits in 13 at-bats and slugged at a .429 clip.

•  Garrett Hodges turned in a career-best day at the plate on Sunday against Towson. He went 3-for-3 for a pair of home runs and a double. The five RBIs were a career high along with it being his first multi-home run game. Over the weekend, he hit .455 with a slugging percentage of 1.091.

•  Newcomer Alex Carballo had a dazzling debut for the Owls during opening weekend. He batted .417 with a home run, two RBIs and logged a team-high .667 slugging percentage.

•  After batting just .192 during the firt two weekends of play, Terence Norman rebounded and went 2-for-3 in the the only game he saw action in against UT Martin.

Infielders

•  Tyler Simon hit the ball well against Georgia Tech this week, after hitting at a .429 clip. He went 3-for-7 over the two games and plated one run.

•  Third baseman David Chabut produced at the plate this weekend after batting at a .667 clip with six hits , including a double and an RBI. He recorded a weekend on-base percentage of .727.

•  After returning from an injury suffered last season, Jaylen Smith led the Owls at the plate during opening weekend. The senior batted .462 with six hits, a pair of RBIs and two doubles. He also stole two bases.

•  Jake Franklin has been a staple in the Owls lineup this season. The senior is batting .308 with a team-high five doube and has started every game at first base except one.

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
• These will be the 20th, 21st and 22nd meeting between the two programs, with Kennesaw State holding a 13-7 lead. 


 

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