By: By Jake Dorow
KENNESAW, Ga. – It may be hard to believe, but the defending regular-season ASUN champion Kennesaw State baseball team returns to the diamond in just over a week to begin its 2017 campaign. The Owls' first pitch will be part of the annual Atlanta Challenge as they play host to Western Michigan, BYU and Marshall at Stillwell Stadium. The games can be seen live on ASUN.TV with play-by-play announcer
Nathan McCreary on the call.
26th-year head coach
Mike Sansing, who is the reigning ASUN Coach of the Year, looks to build on a dazzling 17-4 ASUN regular-season championship that saw the Owls win every league series for the first time in six years to earn a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
Kennesaw State's strong regular season saw eye-popping offensive numbers as a team, batting .294 while totaling 137 extra base hits with seven hitters batting .300 or better. Meanwhile, the pitching staff posted an impressive 3.60 ERA against ASUN opponents and held hitters to a .251 average in 21 games.
With the season just around the corner, several members of the Black and Gold were rewarded with preseason selections. KSU was picked to finish third in the ASUN Coaches' Poll while starting pitcher
Gabe Friese, senior outfielder
Corey Greeson and junior first baseman
Austin Upshaw all garnered 2017 Preseason ASUN All-Conference selections.
Today's second of a four-part season preview breaks down the Owls' bullpen and what KSU fans can expect in relief of the starters.
BULLPEN
An experienced bullpen should carry the load for the Owls in 2017, as four key relievers –
Erich Stahl,
Brock Turner,
Turner Watkins and
Mason Ward – are all seniors under pitching coach
Kevin Erminio. Other key relievers that return are
Drew Reeves,
Jordan Versteeg,
Will Bice and
Brian Exley that produced 146 total appearances to back the starters throughout the Owls' 56-game slate in 2016.
The bullpen's strength will heavily rely on the backend of the pen, which comes down to senior closer
Erich Stahl. The right-handed product that stands 5-9, 168 pounds out of Sautee, Ga. transferred to The Nest from Georgia Perimeter in 2016 and made an immediate impact. The righty appeared in 28 games a season ago, which tied for the sixth-most in a single season while posting a 3.67 ERA and eight saves.
His eight-save total was the third-most in a single season and he now sits 13 saves away from becoming the all-time saves leader in KSU D-I history. Of his 28 appearances, Stahl finished 22 of those games which were the fifth-most in a single season.
An experienced bullpen also turns to Turner, a 6-2, 175-pound right-hander out of Colber, Ga., who will follow his best season with the Owls in 2016 posting a 1-2 record and a 5.40 ERA in 26.2 innings. His 26 appearances out of the bullpen were a career-high, and he went a perfect 1-0 in ASUN play with a 3.00 ERA.
Southpaws Ward and Exley could be called upon the middle innings to fill during critical situations for the Owls. Ward finished with a 2-1 record in league play and an impressive 2.70 ERA in seven appearances while Exley, a Woodstock, Ga. native, posted a 1-1 record and held opponents to a .208 batting average.
Right-handed Watkins, a 6-1, 202-pound native out of Roswell, Ga., could also fill innings for the Owls as he worked 6.2 frames and totaled eight strikeouts. The senior made eight appearances last season and could work in critical situations in 2017.
Newcomers for the Black and Gold that could make an immediate impact on the mound will be left-handed
Joe Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.), and right-handed specialists
Rhian Mann (Lawrenceville, Ga.),
Taylor Wilkes (Jefferson, Ga.) and
Jordan Krueger (Acworth, Ga.).
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State baseball news follow the team on
Twitter
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOwlsBaseball or by liking Kennesaw State University on
Facebook.
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