Kennesaw State might not be playing to go to the College World Series this weekend if it hadn’t lost so badly early in the season.
Though the Owls have won 26 of their past 28 games, a streak that included knocking off Alabama twice in last week’s NCAA Regional in Tallahassee, Fla., there was little evidence that such success could find them.
Yet they play at Louisville on Friday night in an NCAA Super Regional with a trip to Omaha, Neb., just two wins away.
It began well enough with Kennesaw State’s 7-4 start with wins at Georgia and at Georgia Tech. They then lost 16 of their next 23.
“It’s been two seasons within one,” coach Mike Sansing said.
The path to this weekend began nine weeks ago in Fort Myers, Fla., home of Florida Gulf Coast.
The Owls were hammered 5-0 in the first game and though they went down again the next day, they showed fight in a 4-3 loss. That resilience shone through in the Sunday finale, which the Owls won 11-9.
“We felt like we outplayed them even if we did lose the series,” senior center fielder Bo Way said. “It showed we can win and win big.”
From there, the Owls took off, losing just two game since April 5, a streak that culminating by taking the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. That secured a spot in the Tallahassee regional, where KSU improbably clinched a shot in the Super Regional with a 4-2 win over the Crimson Tide on Monday.
The comparison in the team’s hitting performance is stunning:
- The Owls hit .273 with 10 home runs and 159 RBIs and scored an average of 5.4 runs in the first 34 games.
- The Owls hit .331 with 17 home runs and 176 RBIs and scored an average of seven runs in the last 28.
Same story with the pitching staff:
- The Owls posted a 3.80 ERA and an opponents' batting average of .269 in the first 34 games.
- The Owls accumulated a 2.86 ERA with an opponents' batting average of .249 in the last 28.
“We started just having fun,” catcher Max Pentecost said. “Everybody started spending more time together. We started to bond and having more fun on the field.”
Whether that fun continues in this weekend will depend upon how comfortable the Owls remain with being an underdog, as well as how they deal with Louisville’s pitching and speed.
Thought KSU has won national championships on the Division II and NAIA levels, it had never played in an NCAA Division I regional before last week.
The athletic department has been inundated with media requests since Monday. Sansing has done at least 10 national radio shows. Coaches and players have done at least 50 interviews in the past few days. Before the regional, they would usually get one interview request per week.
“I understand how things work, if there is an underdog or favorite,” Sansing said. “We have a very short history in the postseason. Some of that is a tribute to that.”
Whether this was their first or 10th Super Regional, the Owls would still likely be considered underdogs to Louisville, which played in the College World Series last year.
The Cardinals (48-15) are led by Kyle Funkhouser, who leads Division I in wins (13). The team has an ERA of 2.78.
Speed powers the offense. Led by Sutton Whiting’s 36 stolen bases, the Cardinals have 127 steals, second-most in the country.
But Kennesaw State remains confident.
“We’ve had all different sorts of games which gave us confidence,” KSU ace pitcher Travis Bergen said. “We’re never out of the fight.”
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