Tournament Central
KENNESAW, Ga. - Kennesaw State softball returns to Bailey Park Friday to begin the Dr. Bobbie Bailey Memorial Tournament. Admission is free as the Owls host ETSU, Marshall, and Rhode Island through Sunday.
Live stats will be available for every game, and each contest featuring KSU will air on Owl Network YouTube. Click
here for more on the tournament.Â
KSU Storylines
• The Kennesaw State University softball team has high expectations under year two of Head Coach
Tripp MacKay's tenure with strong returners and key newcomers already seeing action.
•
Katie Greep collected her first ASUN Player of the Week honor with an eight-hit, three-RBI week.
• She had two hits in KSU's 4-1 victory at Auburn. It was KSU's first win against an SEC foe since 2015, and Auburn's first home opener setback in program history.
• The Owls won three more games over the weekend, including a victory over the defending OVC champions, SEMO.
• By sweeping the Phyllis Rafter Memorial Tournament, KSU started a season 4-0 for the first time since 2016 when the Owls went 30-28. Coincidentally, the first Saturday games were also canceled that season. The 8-1 record through nine games also is the best since that year, when KSU blazed to a 10-1 start.
•
Cheyanne Sales made her presence known early. The freshman garnered ASUN Player of the Week honors after an incredible first weekend with a .600 clip, three doubles, a homer, eight RBI, and caught all four games.
• The KSU pitching staff allowed a combined zero earned runs over the first weekend. Amazingly, the first three starters were all freshmen.
• The team finished its 2019 season with a record of 26-29, finishing fifth in the conference, and was predicted to finish in the same spot for the 2020 season according to the ASUN Conference Coaches Poll. The 2020 conference tournament will be held at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
• The Owls return 13 players, including a pair of ASUN All-Freshmen,
Christen Florence and
Katie Greep. Preseason ASUN All-Conference Team honoree,
Jade Lee, bolsters the lineup from her utility position.
• Kennesaw State has a challenging non-conference slate and will compete against a handful of Power Five Conference School such as Iowa State, Penn State, Oklahoma State, Clemson, and Georgia Tech.
Scouting the Opposition
• Marshall Head Coach Megan Smith enters her second season. Smith began her Marshall career with a turnaround of a 17-win improvement. She also led the team to the Conference USA Championship.
• Mya Stevenson returns for her second year. She set school records with 20 homers, 130 total bases, and the first ever cycle in program history.
• The Owls played the Herd last in 2012, taking a 4-3 decision.
• East Tennessee Head Coach Brad Irwin is in his ninth season. Irwin is the all-time winningest coach in program history with 164 wins.
• Since last decade, the Owls and Bucs have met 13 times, with KSU claiming 11 meetings and scoring a total of 75 runs.
• Senior Nikki Grupp led the team with a .323 batting average, 38 runs, 11 doubles, 11 home runs, 43 RBI, 94 total bases and was second with 50 hits in 2019.
• Senior Kelly Schmidt is in the top-10 in program history for career strikeouts with 151.
• Rhody senior Sarah Gunderson has earned back-to-back Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week honors. For the season, she is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA.
