By: By Jake Dorow
Owls in the Pros (Full List) |
Tony Dibrell Bio |
Austin Upshaw Bio |
Gabe Friese Bio |
Mason Ward Bio
KENNESAW – Four former Kennesaw State baseball standouts that inked Major League Baseball (MLB) contracts found new homes and began their journeys at the professional ranks.
Austin Upshaw, who was assigned to the South Bend Cubs on July 2, hit a three-run homer last weekend, marking his first career HR for the Class-A Affiliate. In 10 games with South Bend, Upshaw is batting .386 (17-44) with four doubles, one home run and seven runs batted in,
Gabe Friese, who inked a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent, earned his first victory at the professional ranks with the AZL Brewers on Wednesday, July 5 in a 6-3 victory over the AZL White Sox. In five games, the righty has allowed just one unearned run and six hits in 10.0 frames.
Meanwhile, fourth-round draft pick
Tony Dibrell and LHP
Mason Ward made their pro debuts on the mound for the Brooklyn Cyclones (Class-A, New York Mets) and the Bristol Pirates (Rookie, Pittsburgh Pirates), respectively.
In addition, LHP
Richard Lovelady, who played a key role in the Owls' bullpen in 2016 to help the Black and Gold win the ASUN regular season championship, recently got called up to Double-A for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, the Minor League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.
In his third appearance for Northwest, Lovelady tossed three scoreless innings and now sits with a 0.87 ERA in 41.1 innings of work for the year. The lefty has compiled 51 strikeouts to just five walks.
Summer Ball Update: The Black and Gold have represented the Lima Locos in the Great Lakes League well this summer as
Garrett Hodges,
Joe Taylor and
Taylor Wilkes were the latest to be named All-Stars.
Daniel Seres (South Florida Collegiate League) and
LaDonis Bryant (Sunbelt League) were tabbed All-Stars in their leagues.
Hodges has been hot at the plate all summer, batting .343 (35-102) with four doubles, one triple, and six home runs, driving in 24 runs in 27 games. LHP
Joe Taylor sits at a perfect 2-0 in eight games with a 0.00 ERA in 11.0 innings, and RHP Taylor Wilks has three saves in nine appearances for the Locos.
Grant Williams, reigning ASUN Co-Defensive Player of the Year, is the lone representative in the Cape Cod League, and is batting .329 (25-76) with two doubles and seven RBI. Williams hit a walk-off single to lift the Braves to victory Wednesday (July 12) evening.
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.
- #GoKSUOwls -
