March 24, 2008

MACON, Ga.--After recording the first complete game of the season for Kennesaw State on Friday evening, Owls junior Justin Freeman has been named Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week. The announcement was made by the A-Sun office on Monday afternoon.

A native of Macon, Freeman is the first Owl to earn a baseball weekly award this season. On Friday, the junior went the distance for the Owls, allowing two runs on eight hits with a KSU Division I record 13 strikeouts in the Black and Gold's 4-2 victory over Belmont.

Freeman threw 134 pitches in the winning effort, with 84 going for strikes.

Earlier in the week, Freeman pitched one inning against No. 17 Georgia Tech. The sports management major struck out the side, allowing just one hit.

"We're happy for Justin. To me, it looked like he was just as strong in the ninth inning as he was in the first," said KSU head coach Mike Sansing. "We needed someone to step up for us on our pitching staff. Justin took the ball and ran with it."

Freeman and the Owls will play five games this week, starting with this Tuesday's contest against Georgia. First pitch at Stillwell Stadium is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in a game that will air on ASun.TV.