KENNESAW STATE (24-22, 9-6) vs NORTH ALABAMA (18-16, 4-8)
Date: Friday and Saturday,
April 19-20
Time: Friday: 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.; Saturday: 1 p.m.
Location: Bailey Park
Game 1: Live Stats |
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Game 2: Live Stats |
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Game 3:
Live Stats |
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KSU Notes
LEADING OFF
» The Kennesaw State softball team closes out its 2019 home slate Friday and Saturday, hosting North Alabama for its final series of the year at Bailey Park. The Owls square off with the Lions for a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. before closing out the series with Senior Day on Saturday at 1 p.m.
» The Owls are currently in fourth place in the ASUN standings after winning their third straight conference series this past weekend at Stetson. Liberty leads the league with a 12-3 record followed by FGCU who sits at 9-3.
» Six Owl seniors will be honored before Saturday's first pitch.
Katie Byrd,
Kira Czyrklis,
Jessie Mullen,
Abbey Post,
Hailey Andrews and
Maddie Roth will all be playing in their final games at Bailey Park Saturday.
GAME DAY STORYLINES
» The Owls look to win their fourth straight conference series this Friday and Saturday, fifth of the season, having won 11 of their last 12 three-game league series.
» Senior right-hander
Hailey Andrews rested for KSU's midweek game against Georgia State, but is coming off yet another weekend in which she pitched three straight complete games. She has pitched a complete game in 16 of her last 17 appearances, seven straight, going 7-2 over her last nine appearances. The Bridgeville, Del., native currently leads the league in wins (16), innings pitched (173.2), complete games (22) and total strikeouts (185). After her performance this past weekend, Andrews was named the ASUN Pitcher of the Week for the second time this year.
» Junior
Abby Deane is coming off arguably one of her best outings this season against Georgia State, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out two over 4.1 innings.
»
Kira Czyrklis snapped her 11-game streak of reaching base safely Wednesday, but she remains the Owls' leader with a .433 on-base percentage, placing her fifth in the ASUN. She also leads the team with a .333 batting average to rank 10th in the conference. The senior is one of six players in the ASUN to hit multiple doubles, triples and home runs this season, ranked tied for fifth for doubles and triples.
» As a team, the Owls are third in the ASUN with a .277 batting average. KSU is second in the league with 334 hits on the year, one of three teams in the conference with over 300 total hits. The Owls also lead the league in home runs (27) while ranked second for doubles (63) and slugging percentage (.408) and third for RBIs (172).
»
Maddie Roth is a big factor in KSU's production, currently ranked among the ASUN's top-10 for doubles (2nd), hits (4th), RBIs (6th) and runs scored (T-5th).
»
Hannah Thomason went 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts at Stetson. The redshirt junior needs only two more swiped bags to set the KSU all-time career record.
» Redshirt freshman
Christen Florence became the eighth Owl to hit double-figures for RBIs on the year after recording an RBI single against the Panthers. Florence has logged an RBI in three of the last four games, currently hitting .387 at the plate.
NORTH ALABAMA SCOUTING REPORT
» The Lions enter the three-game series as one of three teams vying for the final spots in the ASUN Tournament with a duplicate 4-8 conference record. UNA is looking to string together a few wins after going 1-6 over its last seven games.
» This series will mark the first time the Lions and Owls will square off as ASUN rivals as UNA is in the midst of its first season at the DI level.
» Junior Veronica Westfall leads the Lions and ranks fourth in the conference with a .380 batting average.
» Right-hander Megan Garst is the Lions' ace, going 10-5 on the year with a 1.11 ERA which leads the ASUN. Garst averages just over nine strikeouts per seven innings.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
» The Owls remain one of the top hitting teams in the ASUN, leading the league in homeruns while ranked second for total hits, on-base percentage, doubles and slugging percentage. KSU is also ranked third for batting average, runs scored and RBIs.
» Senior
Maddie Roth is a major factor in KSU's production, ranked fourth in the conference with 47 total hits. Roth is also second in the league with 13 doubles while ranked sixth for RBIs (25), fifth for runs scored (30), ninth for on-base percentage (.420) and 15th for batting average (.324).
»
Lexi Solorzano and
Jessie Mullen are both ranked among the league's top-5 for home runs this season with Solorzano tied for third with eight and Mullen tied for fifth with six.
» Roth, Solorzano and
Jade Lee all rank among the league's top-15 for RBIs, three of the 14 players in the conference to register over 20 RBIs so far this year.
»
Kira Czyrklis has registered a hit or a walk in all but eight games this year with her .433 on-base percentage currently ranked fifth in the league while her .333 batting average ranks 10th.
» Redshirt freshman
Christen Florence got back on the plus side after recently snapping her 11-game hitting streak at North Florida. She has recorded at least one hit and one RBI in three of the last four games. After hitting only .182 after her first 11 appearances, she has since raised her season batting average to .387. In the past 10 games Florence has recorded three doubles, six RBIs and four runs scored.
»
Jade Lee,
Brea Dickey and
Maddie Roth are the only other Owls, besides Florence, to record at least 10 hits over the last 10 games.
»
Brea Dickey has been on fire as of late with five runs scored, five RBIs, five stolen bases, a double and a triple in the last 10 games.
IN THE CIRCLE
» Senior
Hailey Andrews owns sole possession of first in the ASUN with 16 wins on the year, going 7-2 over her last nine appearances. She also leads the league in complete games with 22, five more than the next closest player. That mark is currently tied for 10th on the KSU single-season record list.
» Andrews' 185 strikeouts on the year leads the conference and ranks 14th in the NCAA. She has logged double-digit Ks in five games this year, including a career-high 15 in the series-opener against Jacksonville. Andrews now ranks ninth on the KSU single-season record list, needing just 15 more strikeouts to become the fourth Owl in program history to log 200 strikeouts in a single-season.
» Andrews has not allowed more than one earned run in nine straight appearances. After entering March with a 3.73 ERA, she has since worked that mark down to 2.02, good enough for sixth in the ASUN.
» Andrews heads into the weekend series among the ASUN's top-10 in innings pitched (1st), games started (1st), strikeouts per seven innings (3rd) and ERA (6th).
CLIMBING THE CAREER CHARTS
» After going 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts at Stetson, redshirt junior
Hannah Thomason needs just two more swiped bags to set the KSU record for career stolen bases. She has 17 stolen bases this year and ranks second all-time with 79 career stolen bases.
Taylor Denton (2014-17) is the career record-holder with 80.
» Junior
Olivia Gocke is also making a run up the career stolen base list. She is 7-for-8 this season and ranks sixth all-time with 45 career thefts.
»
Jessie Mullen set the single-season record for sacrifice hits in KSU's last outing at Stetson, laying down her 11th sac bunt of the year. With 14 sacrifices in her career, she needs just five more to tie the KSU DI career record.
PLAYING THE FIELD
»
Hailey Andrews,
Kira Czyrklis and
Olivia Gocke all have a perfect fielding percentage on the year, with Czyrklis being one of two players in the ASUN to log over 100 putouts and maintain a perfect fielding percentage.
» The Owls have turned 15 double plays on the year, putting them in a tie for second in the conference.
» Shortstop
Jessie Mullen is eighth in the league with 76 total assists while ranked sixth with 11 double plays turned this year.
Maddie Roth is tied for second, helping complete 13 of KSU's 15 double plays.
SENIOR SHOWCASE
» During the upcoming series, the Owls will honor a group of six seniors playing in their final games at Bailey Park.
»
Katie Byrd,
Kira Czyrklis,
Jessie Mullen,
Abbey Post,
Hailey Andrews and
Maddie Roth will all be recognized before Saturday's home finale at 1 p.m.
» With an overall record of 133-86 over the past four seasons, this senior class helped KSU earn its first ever ASUN Regular Season and Tournament Championships in 2018, reaching an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history.
POSTSEASON PLAY
» With three conference series left to play this year, the defending ASUN Tournament Champions look to lock up their spot in the postseason tournament for the 10th straight season.
» Last year's ASUN Tournament Championship marked the first in program history for the Owls, defeating USC Upstate 8-4 in the final. KSU earned its first ever NCAA postseason bid, falling to Auburn and Jacksonville State in the Tallahassee Regional.
» KSU has reached the ASUN Tournament every year since becoming postseason eligible in 2010.
» The Owls are 12-16 overall in the ASUN Tournament, earning a top-two seed and a first-round bye the last two seasons.
PROTECTING THE NEST
» After spending nearly the entire month of March at home, the Owls close out the year with only five games at Bailey Park in April, playing 29 of its 53 games this year on their home field.
» With 15 wins at Bailey Park so far this year, KSU is one of two teams in the ASUN, the other being Liberty, with 15 or more home victories.
» The Owls have recorded at least 15 home wins in seven straight seasons, and have finished with a winning home record every year since 2009.
LOOKING AHEAD
» Following the series against North Alabama, the Owls hit the road for their final games of the season.
» KSU takes on in-state rivals Georgia Southern Wednesday (Apr. 24) at 5 p.m. before closing out the year at Lipscomb on Saturday (Apr. 27) and Sunday (Apr. 28).
