By: Miles Lally
KSU Game Notes
Kennesaw, Ga. - The Owls look to reinvigorate their offense in weekend series against Ivy League foe, Pennsylvania.
Opponent: Pennsylvania
Date: Feb. 28, Feb. 29, Mar. 1
Time: 4 p.m. / 2 p.m. / 1 p.m.
Location: Stillwell Stadium
Live Stats |
Friday |
Saturday |
Sunday
Watch |
Friday |
Sunday
Pitching Matchups
Friday
KSU | LHP
Ryan Kennedy
PENN | RHP Christian Scafidi
Saturday
KSU | RHP
Jared Rine
PENN | RHP Mitchell Holcomb
Sunday
KSU | RHP
Gage Vailes
PENN | LHP Joe Miller
Top Storylines
• The Owls are coming off of a tough loss to No. 4 Georgia. The Bulldogs offense could not be contained which led to a 15-1 defeat for the Owls. They look to bounce back in this weekend's series against Ivy League foe, Pennsylvania.
• While most of the offense struggled against the Bulldogs,
Tyler Tolve continued his impressive season against the Bulldogs, going 2-for-3 at the plate and recording the team's lone RBI. Tolve now has 12 RBI's on the season, which puts him at first in the conference in total RBI's. Tolve is also tied for the conference lead in total stolen bases with five.
•
Alex Carballo looks to improve upon his already superb campaign this weekend. Carballo leads the team in runs scored with 10 and is second on the team in RBI's and slugging percentage with nine and .545, respectively.
•
Jared Rine has impressed thus far in his first year as a regular starter. In two appearances, both starts, Rine leads the Owl's starting pitching staff in ERA (4.70) and opponent batting average (.267).
• KSU is currently leading the ASUN in total RBI's (55), total runs (58), batting average (.284), and on-base percentage (.395). They are second in the conference in total hits (77).
• The Owls are switching things up just a little to this weekend's pitching rotation.
Ryan Kennedy is pitching in his usual Friday spot, however,
Gage Vailes and
Jared Rine are swapping, with Rine drawing the Saturday start and Vailes getting the Sunday start.
• Sophomore
Tyler Tolve has picked up where he left off last year. Through eight games this year he is batting .400 and slugging .467, improving upon his marks of .328 and .420, respectively, from last year. He also leads the team in consecutive games with a hit (16) and consecutive games reaching base (18).
• Pennsylvania opens its season this weekend against the Owls. The Quakers ended last season with a record of 23-18, finishing fourth in the Ivy League standings.
• Outfielder
Terence Norman was selected as the Preseason ASUN Player of the Year. The senior led the conference in batting average in 2019 (.350) on his way to earning First Team All-Conference honors.
•
Justin Russell joined Norman on the Preseason All-Conference list after having an impactful season in his first as an Owl in 2019. He mashed 12 home runs last season and hit .308. He was mesmerizing at the plate in league play, knocking in 25 runs while collecting 30 hits, which ranked second and sixth, respectively.
• Coach Sansing welcomed
Travis McClanahan as Kennesaw State's pitching coach in 2020. McClanahan completed 18 seasons as the head coach at Gordon State College before his tenure as an Owl. There, he mentored 2019 15th round draft pick Adam Leverett, who went to the Phillies.
