Category | Sports

Owls look to get back to winning ways in 2007

Published on February 13, 2007 by The Sentinel

    The KSU baseball program has a rich tradition of
winning, including
conference championships, NCAA Tournament appearances, and two national
championships. Under coach Mike Sansing, the Owls look to add more
accolades to their storied program, this time at the Division I level.
Last season, in their first year of Division I competition, the
Owls went 24-32 and 12-18 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. It was the
Owls’ first losing season at the NCAA level.

    This year the Owls will look to win their first A-Sun championship.
    Leading the way offensively for the Owls is senior
Matt Dallas. Last season Dallas led the Owls in hits [76], batting
average [.335] and total bases [106].
    Returning for his sophomore years is Jacob Robbins.
Last season, Robbins was selected to the A-Sun all-freshmen team, and
ended the season with a 22 game hitting streak. Robbins has also been
selected as a preseason all-conference team.
    Also returning are sophomores Martin Baker and Bubba Blalock.
    Baker had a stellar freshman year and has worked
hard to improve in the off-season. Last season Baker led the Owls in
stolen bases [15], walks [32] and was tied for second in homeruns [6].
    Blaylock, the Owls No. 1 pitcher, was hampered last
season by injuries, but pitched well in the games he started.
    This season’s team is one of the youngest teams the
Owls have had, but also one of the most talented, according to Sansing.

    The bulk of the freshman are pitchers.  Kyle
Clayton, Justin Edwards, Kyle Hecklathorn, Chad Jenkins and Kody Paul
are all new to the team and all of them will see significant playing
time.
    “We have a young staff, but all of them can really
pitch and all of them have done well in inter-squad games,” Sansing
said.
    Sansing said he is not concerned with the youth of
the team. “We may be young, but we feel that we are talented, and
talent can override a lot of things.”
    This season the Owls aren’t content with just
playing competitively. They want to win and Sansing feels they can do
so.
    When asked about the expectations for this
year,  Sansing replied, “We feel very confident in our entire
team, including both our players with experience and our freshman. I
feel we have a good team that’s improved a lot since last year.”
    The Owls will host their first home game Feb. 16
when Western Carolina pays a visit for a three-game series. Blaylock
will take the mound for the first game of the series.