By: Michael Pitts
ATLANTA - Kennesaw State baseball had seven Owls tabbed for Atlantic Sun All-Conference Postseason honors, the league office announced Monday afternoon.
Seven Owls earned Atlantic Sun postseason honors, including
Blake Aita,
Bo Rhudy and
Nick Hassan being named to the All-ASUN First Team.
Isaac Bouton and
Spencer Hanson were selected to the second team while
Braden Osbolt earned third team honors.
Shamaar McDuffie and Rhudy were tabbed as All-Freshman Team selections and Aita earned ASUN All-Academic honors.
Aita went 6-3 on the bump this season with a 3.64 ERA - fourth in the conference. The sophomore struck out 81 batters in 2024 (third in the ASUN) and collected a win on March 9 at No. 25 and eventual SEC Regular Season Champion Kentucky. The two honors for Aita marked the first ASUN awards for the Canton, Ga. native. He is pursuing a degree in management at KSU.
Rhudy tallied a 0.69 ERA in conference games this season with four saves, striking out 10 and holding opposing batters to a .140 average.
Hassan posted a .329 average this season behind the dish for KSU. He notched an OPS of .909 with 57 hits. The senior became one of 10 Owls to achieve 200 career hits in KSU's Division I history.
Bouton earns a second team honor batting .376 in conference play with a team-high 11 homers on the season - tied for the 10th-most in KSU DI history. His Owl debut featured two homers a single inning to open the year at UAB. He leads the Black and Gold with 46 RBI and started every game for the Owls.
Hanson batted .362 average with 42 hits in 32 games for KSU this season. He nabbed a .421 aveage in conference play with an OPS of 1.091. He was named to the 2024 All-ASUN Preseason team.
The March 11 ASUN Pitcher of the Week, Osbolt had an ERA of 4.83 with a 4-2 record. His big win came in a six-inning outing with seven strikeouts, one hit and zero earned runs at No. 10 Clemson on Feb. 23. KSU won the game 18-1, the worst home defeat for the Tigers since 1936. He earned his ASUN weekly honor with seven innings, eight strikeouts and just one earned run in a win on March 8 at No. 25 Kentucky.
McDuffie started every game at shortstop for KSU in his freshman campaign with 23 hits and 21 drawn walks in 29 conference games. The freshman finished second in the conference in fielding assists with 127. He posted an OPS of .703 this season and posted four hits in the Owls' key series victory versus Austin Peay at the end of March.
The Owls now have 64 ASUN All-Conference selections in program history. McDuffie and Rhudy marked the 25th and 26th ASUN All-Freshman selections for Kennesaw State.
The two-seeded Owls begin their run in the 2024 Atlantic Sun tournament with pool play starting Tuesday, May 21 at 2:30 p.m. against the host No. 3 Stetson Hatters on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the KSU Owl Network radio call
here.
