By: Matteen Zibanejadrad
UP NEXT TO PLATE
The Kennesaw State baseball team (22-9, 10-2) finally returns home to the Stillwell Stadium to face Georgia Southern (21-14, 9-6) in non-conference action on Wednesday. This is the first meeting between the two teams since May 14, 2019, when the Owls came back from being 10-5 down in the bottom of the ninth inning and walked it off for an 11-10 win in the 12th inning.
Opponent: Georgia Southern
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Stillwell Stadium
Date: Wednesday, April 21
Time: 5:00 p.m. EST
Starting Pitching
KSU: RHP Andrew Grogan (3-0, 5.89 ERA)
GS: RHP Jaylen Paden (1-2, 4.15 ERA)
Live Stats | Watch
LAST TIME OUT
The Kennesaw State Owls are coming off of a three-game sweep of the hosting Bellarmine Knights. In Saturday's 3-1 win, Luke Torbert pitched the first complete game thrown by a KSU pitcher since Brooks Buckler in May 2018.
Giving up one run off of four hits, the right-handed hurler's seven-strikeout performance earned him the first ASUN Player of the Week won by an Owl in four years.
TERRIFIC TOLVE
Tyler Tolve continues to impress in the 2021 season, leading the team with his .369 batting average, six home runs and 35 RBIs.
Starting the season as a Preseason All-Conference selection, Tolve seems a shoe-in as an All-Conference catcher this year. He leads all ASUN catchers in multiple categories and is top-three among all ASUN batters in batting average, home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage.
The Owls' no. 1 backstop continued his stellar play last week against Bellarmine and Jacksonville State, hitting 10-for-17 (.588) over the four games. Tolve also contributed five RBIs, two of which came off of his game-winning home run in Saturday's 3-1 win against the Knights.
GRITTY GROGAN
The recent pitching performances from UNC transfer Andrew Grogan have clinched some important wins for Kennesaw State.
The graduate began his season out of the bullpen, debuting with five-innings of relief for a 17-8 decision win against Bellarmine last month.
In late March, the Cumming, Ga. native earned two wins in one week as a reliever. Against Jacksonville State, Grogan struck out five Gamecocks in four innings of work. He reappeared that weekend against Georgia State, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings in the team's 16-4 win.
CREAM OF THE CROP
The Owls lead the ASUN in multiple categories and are one of the four teams with a winning conference record.
Kennesaw State sports an impressive .290 team batting average; the Owls also earn the most runs per game. KSU is decimal points behind FGCU's league-leading .389 on-base percentage and much of that is to do with the Owls being the most-walked team in the ASUN.
SPEEDY SHERRILL
Our lone league leader in any offensive category is second baseman Jesse Sherrill. We've seen the sophomore's blistering speed earn the team runs on multiple occasions, as Sherrill easily scores from second or third base on any hard hit balls. His skill on the basepaths has seen him cross the plate 33 times, the fourth-best tally in the conference.
The Floridian leads the ASUN in stolen bases with 11 and has sat atop the ASUN's leaders for weeks now.
It's not just Sherrill's rapid pace that is at an elite standard, the middle infielder also leads the ASUN in double plays turned with 26 and assists with 92.
