Stetson enters the ninth week of the 2017 season tied atop the ASUN standings after taking two of three games from FGCU last weekend.

The Hatters and Kennesaw State Owls renew a rivalry for Easter weekend that has been very close throughout its' short history. Stetson has won five of the last seven games against KSU, including a home sweep of the Owls in 2015. Kennesaw State owns a slight edge in the series in total runs scored, having bested the Hatters by six runs, 192-186.

For Stetson coach Steve Trimper and Kennesaw State coach Mike Sansing it will be their first encounter. Stetson owns an all-time record of 274-139-2 against Division I teams from the state of Georgia.

All three games this weekend will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Pete Blais and Evan Weston calling the action. There will be no radio broadcasts during the series.

Pitching has been the name of the game of late for the Hatters, who are hitting just .224 as a team over the last five games. Freshman Andrew MacNeil is the only Stetson player with at least 10 at bats who is batting better than .300 (.313) over that last five games. Sophomore Kirk Sidwell is raking at a .714 rate over the last two games (5-7).

Going back over the last 10 games, sophomore Jack Gonzalez is hitting .378 with 11 RBI, and that doesn't include a 3-for-3 at Florida. Freshmen Jorge Arenas (.353) and Ben Rowdon (.343) are also swinging it well.

Stetson's weekend rotation is a combined 5-0 with a 1.63 combined ERA and 78 strikeouts over those 10 games.

Sidwell carried the Hatters in their four games against the Owls last year, batting .529 with a pair of doubles and four runs scored in four games against KSU.

Stetson's Thursday starter, junior Brooks Wilson, has not faced the Owls since his freshman year. In his only previous outing against KSU he went 6.2 innings, allowing a run on five hits with seven strikeouts in a 7-2 Stetson win.

KSU sophomore shortstop David Chabut led the Owls in the series against the Hatters last year, batting .533 in the four games. As a team the Owls hit .378 against Stetson.

All three members of the KSU rotation pitched against Stetson last year. Thursday starter Tony Dibrell pitched four no-hit innings, but also walked four with five strikeouts. Friday starter A.J. Moore allowed one run on eight hits over 7.2 innings of work in a KSU win. Senior Mason Ward made two relief appearances against Stetson, allowing two runs on three hits in an inning of work.

The Hatters enter this weekend ranked second in the nation in total strikeouts with 358. USF (362) reclaimed the national lead on Tuesday by recording 14 strikeouts against the Hatters.

Wilson leads the nation with 78 Ks so far this year with Gilbert ranked eighth with 73 and Jack Perkins 12th with 70. No other team in the nation has more than one pitcher with at least 70 strikeouts this year.

The Hatters' loss on Tuesday night was the second this year in which Stetson took a lead to the ninth inning but was unable to close out the victory. The Hatters had a 6-2 lead over the Bulls going to the seventh inning but allowed a run in the seventh, two in the eighth and three in the ninth to lose 8-6.

Sidwell added his name to the four-hit club in the USF game. He is the fourth different player to have a four-hit game this year. As a team, the Hatters have equaled the total number of four-hit games from 2016 with five. Stetson has not had a player with five hits in a game since Cory Reid did it against LIU Brooklyn on March 20, 2015.

In the series against FGCU last weekend, the Hatters and Eagles put on quite an impressive pitching display. There were a total of 10 runs scored during the weekend, five by each team. Stetson pitchers combined for 39 strikeouts in the series, including 18 by sophomore Logan Gilbert in Sunday's dramatic 1-0 Stetson win.

Gilbert started his outing on Sunday by striking out the first 10 batters he faced. While no records exist on consecutive strikeouts, there are only a few such streaks known about. Navy's Luke Gillingham posted 12 consecutive Ks against North Carolina A&T on opening day, 2015, Bethune-Cookman's Ali Simpson struck out the first 10 against Alabama A&M on Feb. 19, 2011, and Wake Forest had a pitcher named Cuthrell who struck out 13 straight against West Virginia in April of 1914. Jared Weaver also had 10 straight Ks to open a game twice for Long Beach State in 2004, against BYU and USC.

Gilbert's 18 total strikeouts are the second most in a game by any pitcher in Division I this year. J.P. Sears had 20 strikeouts against VMI in a game in March. The performance also left him one strikeout shy of the school record, which was set by George Tsamis against Bethune-Cookman in 1986.  

According to ASUN archives, it was the most strikeouts in a game for a league hurler since at least the 2000 season. There were two previous 17 strikeout performances – Dan Jackson of Florida Atlantic vs. Samford on March 31, 2000, and Tim Bascom of UCF vs. Siena on March 5, 2005.

Gilbert retired the first 23 batters in the game before hitting a batter with two out in the eighth. He lost his no-hit bid to open the ninth inning and finished by allowing two hits in the complete-game shutout. For his performance, Gilbert was named the ASUN pitcher of the week and was also recognized by Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game and College Sports Madness.

The shutout against FGCU was the fourth for the Stetson pitching staff this season, which is tied for 21st in the nation. Auburn, Oregon State and Clemson all have seven shutouts on the year.