KENNESAW, Ga. - D1Baseball.com released their ranking of the "Top 100" baseball programs and noted the Owls as the 85th-best Division I baseball program in the nation.
D1Baseball releases its "Top 100" every few years with the last rankings coming in 2022, 2019, 2017, 2015. It's the Owls highest ranking and the last ranking since 2005 when they were tabbed 86th.
"[KSU head coach Ryan] Coe and his staff have a knack for identifying protectable talent on the recruiting trail, and then developing that talent. And as a public school in talent-rich Georgia, Kennesaw has a strong recruiting base," D1Baseball managing editor Aaron Fitt said. "We are bullish on the trajectory of this program under Coe's leadership."
2024 Highlights
>> Kennesaw State pitcher
Blake Aita was selected 177th overall in the sixth round of the 2024 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft by the Boston Red Sox. Aita's selection marked the 16th-consecutive year an Owl had been drafted, not counting the shortened 2020 MLB Draft. He's the second-straight Owl taken by the Red Sox after
Blake Wehunt was drafted in 2023.
>> Registered three top-25 wins (No. 25 Kentucky & No. 10 Clemson) | The Owls routed No. 10 Clemson 18-1 in Game 1 to mark the Tigers' worst home loss since 1936, before KSU then took 2-of-3 from eventual SEC regular-season champion Kentucky.
>> Aita,
Bo Rhudy and
Nick Hassan earned All-ASUN First Team honors in addition to a second-team selection for
Isaac Bouton and
Spencer Hanson.
Braden Osbolt was named to the All-ASUN Third Team.
Shamaar McDuffie joined Rhudy on the ASUN All-Freshman Team and Aita was tabbed as an ASUN All-Academic selection.
>> The Owls boasted eight summer league all-stars highlighted by a Cape Cod League all-star nod for pitcher Osbolt.
