The Kennesaw State baseball team saw its season end on a disappointing note with losses to Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun conference tournament, but those two losses don’t erase the success the Owls had throughout their 2016 campaign.
KSU finished the year 29-27 overall and 17-4 in the Atlantic Sun conference, along with nonconference wins over national powers Georgia, Auburn and Purdue. The Owls dominated the A-SUN, winning the program’s first ever regular season conference championship with a +59 run differential. KSU also won all seven of their regular season conference series’ for the first time in program history. It was an incredible feat that led the Owls to the #1 seed in the conference tournament.
“I’ve always believed good players make good coaches and we’ve had that this year, for sure,” Kennesaw State head coach Mike Sansing said. “I am proud of the way our guys have battled this year and in conference play. They are a bunch of blue-collar guys and got after it.”
KSU coach Mike Sansing unanimously won conference coach of the year, leading the owls to their first conference title in his 25 years with the program. Along with Coach Sansing, junior pitcher Gabe Friese, senior catcher Brennan Morgan, sophomore first baseman Austin Upshaw, junior outfielder Corey Greeson and sophomore designated hitter Griffin Helms were tabbed to the All-Conference Second Team, while freshman shortstop David Chabut was named to the All-Freshman Team.
“I think all those guys had really good years for us, as well as other guys. It was truly a group effort and I was very excited for our conference to recognize them for having great years,” Sansing said.
Friese led the Owls rotation this season finishing with a 6-1 record in 12 starts, and totaled a 4.14 ERA in 67.1 innings of work. He tallied an impressive 58 strikeouts to just 21 walks, as well as a .295 opponent batting average. Friese will look to lead the Owls pitching rotation again next season.
Upshaw, Greeson and Helms helped lead the potent KSU offense to one of their most successful seasons of all-time. They dynamic trio combined for a .355 batting average (162-456), 16 home runs, 87 RBI’s and a .522 slugging percentage. Helms led the Owls with an impressive slashline of .384/.458/.525, Upshaw’s slashline was .337/.402/.505 and Greeson’s was .361/.421/.535.
Along with success on the field, KSU had success off-the-field as well. Greeson and Helms were named to the Academic All-Conference team for their hardwork and dedication in the classroom.
“It says a lot about them as individuals and that they are the definition of a true student-athlete,” Sansing said. “It’s a tremendous honor to have them receive the award and recognition for their hard work in the classroom.
Greeson accumulated an impressive 3.57 GPA in Mechanical Engineering and Helms earned a 3.74 GPA in Exercise Science.
“For both of them to maintain the required GPA while playing and traveling is something to be proud of. It can be a grind at times and to keep up with their academics like they did says a lot,” Sansing said.
The Owls season might not have ended the way they wanted, but the incredible success they on-and-off the field is something all coaches, players and fans can be very proud of. KSU hopes to carry their success from this year into the offseason, as they begin to recruit talent from all around the country.
