GSU and KSU have two common opponents on the 2011 season, Georgia Tech and Harvard. GSU beat both GT and Harvard 6-3 and 9-3 respectively. KSU lost to both GT and Harvard by scores of 4-7 and 6-10. If you're a believer in common opponent play predicting the outcome of this game you have to believe GSU is able to semi-easily handle KSU. The Panthers are 2-1 against the Owls under Coach Frady.
Who: Kennesaw State University Owls compete in the NCAA D1 Atlantic Sun (A-Sun) conference. The Owls are currently 14-9 on the season and 12-4 at home. KSU returns about half of their 2010 defensive players and starters. KSU's top relief pitcher and top starter in 2010 are not returned for 2011.
KSU on the Mound: KSU will send junior righty Sean Fream to the hill today. Sean is 1-1 with a 8.44 ERA on the season. In 2010, he went 0-4 after 4 game starts and 4 relief appearances with an ERA of 25.07. Ouch. His innings pitched totaled only 9.1 and he allowed 28 runs (26 earned). Walks were a huge issue last season and he's improved on this so far this year however opposing batters are still seeing the ball well from him as they're hitting .328 against him. Sean had a great high school career but he's having issues translating that to D1-level success. KSU has some good relievers in their pocket and they typically cannot be tapped for more runs than their starters. The team ERA is a 4.95 and they're allowing 6 runs per game.
KSU at the Plate: Three-hole hitter/star catcher Ronnie Freeman (sophomore out of Lawrenceville) is KSU's leader at the plate. He's hitting .360 and has started all 23 games. He has 1 home run and 17 RBI's on the season. KSU likes to steal bases with infielder Aaron Dobbs who usually bats 2nd. He has a .364 on-base percentage and is leading the team by large margin with 9 steals in 11 attempts. Andy Chriscaden and Peyton Hart are KSU's other hitting threats, both batting .330, Andy with 3 home runs. Once you get beyond the 5 spot in the batting order, there is little offensive threat. Overall, KSU is hitting .285 as a team and scoring just beyond their pitching allowance at about 6.5 runs per game.
GSU on the Mound: GSU wins and ERA team co-leader Will Campbell will oppose Sean Fream. Will is 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA after 5 starts. He has pitched 30 innings allowing only 19 hits, 10 runs, 8 walks and recorded 20 strikeouts. The 4-0 record isn't hard to figure out when you look at Will's walk and hits per inning number. It is still below 1.00 at .9 which is outstanding. Opposing batters are having a heck of a time figuring Will out as they're batting only .188 against him. Our relievers are still pitching great, not much has changed here. The team ERA is at a CAA-best 3.56 and they are allowing an average of less than 4.5 runs per game.
GSU at the Plate: Brett Maxwell and Brandon Williams are still leading the way for the Panthers. Brett is hitting .443, which he's been close to all season long, and Brandon is hitting .390. Maxwell has been a doubles machine with 1-of-3 hits being a double hence his near .600 slugging percentage. As I mentioned in the season review I completed on Monday, Micowski is hot at the plate and has pulled his average up to .337 on the season. The whole team is hitting well right now and I think this continues into tonight.
The keys for this game are 1) Will Campbell, do what you do baby. You're sporting a .9 WHIP, you've got it figured out. 2) Micowski, stay hot. Let the team continue to feed off your top of the order energy. 3) Keep Aaron Dobbs off the bags so he's not moving into scoring position which leads me to 4) keep Ronnie Freeman at bay or at least minimize the runners on base when he's coming up and 5) this limits the damage that power threat Andy Chriscaden can do. Doing 3 and 4 will minimize the amount of runs Kennesaw can pile up on you at once due to their weak 6-9 spots in the batting order.
KSU is going to be tired after a 6 PM game with Georgia Southern last night and a 4-hour drive home to follow. They likely didn't get in bed until near 2 AM and with an important in-conference series at Mercer starting Friday, it's possible some starters are given rest tonight. The Panthers should pull this out by a safe margin. I hope to see some blue up in Kennesaw tonight! GO PANTHERS!!!
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