By: Russ Lockridge
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The Kennesaw State baseball team (22-10, 10-2) is set for a weekend series against Lipscomb (12-20, 4-8), who took two games out of three when the teams last played in mid-March at Lipscomb.
Opponent: Lipscomb
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Stillwell Stadium
GAME ONE
Date: Friday, April 23
Time: 5:00 p.m. EST
Starting Pitching
KSU: LHP Jake Rice (6-0, 1.56 ERA)
LU: Max Habegger (1-5, 5.09 ERA)
Live Stats | Watch
GAME TWO
Date: Saturday, April 24
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Starting Pitching
KSU: RHP Luke Torbert (5-1, 3.78 ERA)
LU: RHP Dylan Bierman (2-3, 6.18 ERA)
Live Stats | Watch
GAME THREE
Date: Sunday, April 25
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Starting Pitching
KSU: LHP Ryan Kennedy (4-0, 5.55 ERA)
LU: TBA
Live Stats | Watch
LAST TIME OUT
The Kennesaw State Owls had a three-game winning streak snapped by Georgia Southern after the Eagles won 11-5 on Wednesday night.
Jesse Sherrill hit a grand slam for the first home run of his college career, which was also the team's first grand slam of the season.
TORBERT TORCHING
Luke Torbert is coming off by far his best game of his KSU career. Tolbert threw Kennesaw State's first complete game since Brooks Buckler on May 12, 2018.
The six-foot-two rightie didn't allow a run until a Bellarmine home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, allowing the shot on four hits and striking out seven.
Torbert is set to take the ball for the Owls in Game Two of the series.
RICE ROLLING
Kennesaw State's ace Jake Rice will take the ball on Friday for the Owls. Rice returned after being away from the team for the North Alabama series with a gem against Bellarmine. The six-foot-one leftie pitched eight innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts in his last start.
David Seifert of D1Baseball.com ranked the top 100 draft-eligible pitchers from an analytical standpoint and the graduate pitcher ranked 69th on the list.
Rice remains the current ERA leader in the ASUN. He is the only conference hurler that possesses an ERA below 2.00. Rice is also tied for the first in wins with six on the season.
SLUGGER SHERRILL
In his last game, Jesse Sherrill hit a grand slam for the first homerun of his college career.
Sherrill leads the team in doubles with nine two-baggers on the season, while also hitting for a fourth-best .331 average.
In addition to his slugging, Sherrill is the ASUN leader for stolen bases with 26 on the season.
TOLVE REMEMBERS
The last time the two teams faced off, Lipscomb had a difficult time getting Tyler Tolve out. Tolve racked up eight hits in the three-game set, including a five-hit performance on March 20th.
Tolve is third in the ASUN for batting average with a .358 clip. He is the team leader in home runs with six dingers on the season; his 35 RBIs is also good for first on the team and third in the ASUN.
