As Mike Sansing enters his 28th season as Kennesaw State’s head baseball coach, the Owls will be seeking consistency after last season’s wild ride of ups and downs.
KSU finished last season with a 25-30 overall record, experiencing long winning and losing runs that reflected both the potential and inconsistencies of the team.
In late March, the Owls went on a six-game winning streak before winning five straight games a few weeks later. With a record of 24-20 late in the season, the Owls dropped 10 of their last 11 games.
This disparity of form was seen in the number of runs scored per game. After scoring a total of 78 runs in just four games during their late March streak, the Owls faced tougher situations later in the season where few chances existed for runs.
Despite the late stumble of last season, many returning starters will be helping the team try to improve and move on from the several senior leaders who graduated last season.
Last year’s leading hitters Terrence Norman and Tyler Simon will return after representing the Owls as All-Conference selections.
Norman was the team’s overall offensive leader, accruing a .333 batting average with 63 hits in 189 at-bats. Playing in all 21 Atlantic Sun Conference games, Norman had a .354 average against those teams. He also had hitting streaks of nine and 10 games.
Simon was second on the team last season with 36 runs, finishing on the ASUN All-Freshman team as well.
As for pitching, the Owls will rely on seniors Brooks Buckler and Jake Rothwell to be regular starters, while reliever Monty Horn will look to continue the form he showed last season that led him to be chosen as an ASUN All-Freshman choice.
“Our expectations are always to play well and to play with passion and discipline,” Sansing said. “Hopefully those results will turn into … championships and postseason play.”
The baseball team begins their season with seven consecutive home games, starting with a matchup against West Virginia on Friday, Feb. 15, at 4 p.m.
