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KSU Notebook: Baseball standout Hatcher earns all-American honors

marietta daily journal, ga.
·2 min read

Jun. 2—One of the leaders of Kennesaw State's run to the ASUN Conference championship and an NCAA regional berth, Kennesaw State center fielder Josh Hatcher was named third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

Hatcher, a senior from Albany, is batting .386 with 60 runs scored, 25 doubles, three triples, 13 home runs and 55 RBIs going into this weekend's regional at Southern Miss. He is among the Owls' top three leaders in every category.

Hatcher etched his name in the history book March 23, when he became the first player in team history to hit for the cycle in the Owls' 14-12 win over Georgia Tech. Three days later, Hatcher hit for the cycle again in a 17-9 win over North Florida, becoming the third player in NCAA history to hit for two cycles in the same season.

Hatcher was named first-team All-ASUN and was named the ASUN tournament most valuable player after hitting totaling four home runs and nine RBIs to help Kennesaw State win its first conference championship since 2014.

The Owls' season will continue Friday when they face LSU as part of the regional in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

QB SHEPHERD EARNS PRESEASON STATUS

Kennesaw State quarterback Xavier Shepherd was named a preseason first-team Football Championship Subdivision All-American by Lindy's.

It marked the first time Shepherd had been named to a preseason All-American team, with Lindy's also predicting him to be the most valuable player of the FCS in 2022.

The junior from Nashville, Tennessee, helped lead Kennesaw State to an 11-2 record, the Big South Conference championship and an appearance in the second round of the FCS playoffs last season.

Shepherd is coming off a season in which he passed for 1,341 yards, rushed for 867 and accounted for 38 total touchdowns. Shepherd's total yardage accounted for just over 40% of Kennesaw State's total yards last season.

For a team that is largely run-centric, Shepherd posted a 62.6% completion rate in 13 games, completing 77 of 123 attempts. He threw only three interceptions, with two coming in the Owls' season opener against Georgia Tech.