It was a huge opening weekend for the Kennesaw State Owls baseball squad. They hosted three games at Stillwell Stadium and won all of them in convincing fashion, starting off the season 3-0 for the first time since 2013. The team now has a truckload of momentum heading into the big contest back at their home field on Wednesday against nationally ranked UGA, but after that game, the Owls will have to pack their bags for their first road trip of the year.
The Owls will take on three teams during the Coastal Carolina Tournament in Conway, South Carolina this weekend. It is the first of 13 road-trips the team will make over the course of the regular season, and the guys will hope to get off to a strong start away from Stillwell Stadium. Playing well on the road is essential to putting together a winning year, but it is no easy task. Traveling across the country while playing at a Division I level and managing a full-time school schedule is one of the most difficult aspects of collegiate athlete life.
Fortunately for the Owls, the 2020 road schedule is relatively kind. The Owls will not have to venture too far out of the Southeast and aside from one grueling week featuring three different states, the team will have plenty of long home-stands in between their travels.
Mapping It Out
2020 will see the Owls bringing their bats to six states and 12 cities in the Southeast. Inside the map are data about which teams they will be playing and their all-time records against them. There are also three layers in the map that can be toggled to reveal the routes the Owls will take from Stillwell Stadium to each destination.
Taking a long look at the map it’s easy to see the most difficult stretch for the Owls will be from April 17 to April 26. The team will travel through Lynchburg, Savannah and Jacksonville in nine days without any home games in between. The road-trip will feature two difficult in-conference rivals, and if that wasn’t enough already, final exams begin at Kennesaw State the Monday they return home. Yikes!
What About a Playoff Run?
If the Owls keep playing like they have on opening weekend they will have big aspirations for a playoff run in the summer. Using the Owls 2014 season as a guide, this map shows potential destinations for the club should they make it all the way to the College World Series in Omaha this June. A run could include some of their biggest road trips yet, but with finals wrapped up and school behind them, all focus would be on baseball.
By The Miles
The Owls will endure 5,970 long miles on all their regular season road-trips in 2020. The longest trip is to Fort Myers on March 27, and that’s a trip they would hope to repeat should they make the ASUN tournament at the end of the year. If they make it to the promised land in Omaha, they could add another 4,498 coveted bonus miles to their year, almost matching their regular season total!
While that may sound like a ton, it should be noted that MLB teams travel upwards of 30,000 miles during a single season. Playing on the road is simply part of being a ballplayer, and the Owls will hope for success on their many upcoming travels.
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