Monday, May 10, 2010

KENNESAW, Ga. - Kennesaw State Owls softball head coach Scott Whitlock earned the 900th fast pitch softball victory of his collegiate coaching career on Saturday when his squad swept a doubleheader against Atlantic Sun Conference rival North Florida, 3-0 and 2-0.

Whitlock, who began coaching the Owls when they still played slow pitch softball in 1987, is just the 26th coach in history to accomplish the feat among all NCAA divisions. He currently ranks 27th all-time in wins and is 17th among coaches who have won all of their games with one team.

“Any time you reach a milestone during your career, you think about all of the people that worked with you to help you get to that point,” said Whitlock, who is the only coach in the program’s history. “I like to look at this more as our program’s 900th fast pitch victory rather than just mine, that’s what makes me really proud.”

Wins 899 and 900 couldn’t have come at a better time for the Owls, as their victories over the UNF Ospreys on Saturday earned them a spot in their first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, which takes place beginning this Thursday at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. They are eligible for the first time in program history after the athletic department successfully completed the NCAA’s mandatory four-year re-classification period last summer.

The Owls began competing in fast pitch softball at the NAIA level in 1991, before moving to NCAA Division II in 1995 and ultimately Division I in 2006.