By: Matteen Zibanejadrad
UP NEXT TO PLATE
No. 2 seed of the ASUN's Northern Division Kennesaw State baseball team (27-20, 13-8) will host the No. 3 seed in the Lipscomb Bisons (18-27, 8-13) in the quarterfinals of the ASUN Championship Tournament. The opening round will be a best-of-three series between the two teams, with the winner of the weekend advancing to the next round of the tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. In the six games the two teams played against each other in the regular season, their record is split 3-3.
Opponent: Lipscomb
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Stillwell Stadium
Date: Friday, May 21
Time: 5:00 p.m. EST
Starting Pitching
KSU: LHP Jake Rice (8-2, 1.71 ERA)
LIP: TBA
Live Stats
Date: Saturday, May 22
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Starting Pitching
KSU: LHP Ryan Kennedy (7-1, 3.97 ERA)
LIP: TBA
Live Stats
Date: Sunday May 23 (if necessary)
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Starting Pitching
KSU: RHP Luke Torbert (5-5, 5.56 ERA)
LIP: TBA
Live Stats
ASUN ELITE
The ASUN Conference announced its All-Conference team on Thursday afternoon, naming six members of the Kennesaw State baseball team to its First and Second teams.
Starting pitcher Jake Rice and designated hitter Garrett Hodges highlight the First Team, while starting pitcher Ryan Kennedy, catcher Tyler Tolve, second baseman Jesse Sherrill and outfielder Alex Carballo make the Second Team list.
With six honorees among both the First and Second Team All-Conference squads, this matches the highest tally in the program's record. The only other time the ASUN All-Conference team sported six Owls was 2014, the same year Kennesaw State won their first ASUN Tournament and made it to the NCAA Super Regionals.
REIGN OF RICE
Jake Rice retains his spot as the Owls' ace heading into his first ASUN Tournament. After transferring from Presbyterian College, Rice ends his 2021 regular season as the ERA king of the ASUN.
His tremendous earned-run-average doesn't just find itself on the conference list; the leftie's 1.71 ERA also ranks 18th in the nation.
Back on April 23, the Birmingham, Ala. native won his seventh game of the season at home against the Lipscomb Bisons. In his 6.1 innings of work, the graduate struck out seven Bisons and let up only one run.
RYAN REARS HIS HEAD AGAIN
In the team's last series against Lipscomb, no player left the weekend with more shine than starting pitcher Ryan Kennedy.
On Sunday, April 25, the Virginian pitched the team's only shutout of the season in a seven-inning complete game against the Nashville, Tenn. team. The performance earned Kennedy the first ASUN Pitcher of the Week award of his career.
The left-handed pitcher went on an incredible run to close out the season, winning six of his last seven starts. His overall 3.97 ERA ranks eighth in the conference, while his 2.70 ERA in ASUN play ranks seventh.
NORMAN, THE BISON HUNTER
There's no batter that a Lipscomb Bison wants to see in the box less than KSU veteran Terence Norman.
In the six games the two teams have played, the outfielder has nine hits in his 23 at-bats for a team-best .391 batting average. Of the seven home runs the senior has hit this season, three of them are against the Lipscomb Bisons.
Taking place in the same Sunday game that Kennedy threw his shutout, Norman made a Kennesaw State win certain with his most clutch hit of the season. After consecutive walks to Sherrill and Tolve, Carballo bunted a perfect single to load the bases for the Owls' powerhouse.
The right fielder snapped on the first pitch he saw, sending a pitch over the right-field wall for the second grand slam of his career. The Owls would end up winning the series-clinching game 7-0.
