(born
September 28 ,
1982 in
Gainesville ,
Georgia ) is a professional right-handed
Pitcher for the
Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball team.
Owings holds Georgia's high school
Home Run record with 69, second in the nation only to
Drew Henson . As a sophomore in high school he hit .630 with 21 homers. As a senior he hit .448 with 25 home runs while going 12-1 on the mound with a 1.03
ERA , 121 strikeouts, 3 walks in 75 innings. Owings played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Forsyth Central High School in Cumming, Georgia until he later transferred to Gainesville High School as a junior.
Owings played college baseball at
Georgia Tech in
2003 and
2004 before transferring to
Tulane University .
He was selected by the
Colorado Rockies in the 2nd round (50th overall) in the
2002 Major League Baseball Draft but did not sign with them. He was selected again in 2003 in the 19th round (576th overall) by the
Chicago Cubs but did not sign with them. In
2005 , he would be selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 3rd round (83rd overall) and would sign with the Diamondbacks.
After signing with the Diamondbacks, he was assigned to the Single-A team, the
Lancaster Jethawks . He pithced in 16 games out of the bullpen, going 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA. In
2006 , he played in Double-A and Triple-A for the
Tennessee Smokies and the
Tucson Sidewinders , respectively. He made 12 starts for the Smokies and went 6-2 with a 2.88 ERA. His stats in Triple-A were even better, in which he went a perfect 10-0 with a 3.75 ERA in just 15 starts.
Owings made his major league debut on
April 6 ,
2007 against the
Washington Nationals . He pitched five shutout innings, allowing only one hit, and striking out six. Originally brought up to fill a starter spot while
Randy Johnson recovered from back surgery, management was very impressed by his performances. He now holds a starter spot in the Diamondbacks rotation.
Owings was having an uneventful season in the major leagues in 2007, until his return to the state of Georgia to face the
Atlanta Braves on
August 18 , 2007. In front of more than 48,000 fans, he pitched 7.0 innings, allowing three hits and three earned runs, striking out seven. However, it was his batting performance that made it a career night. Owings went 4 for 5 at the plate, including two home runs, scoring four times, and knocking in six runs. He is the first pitcher with four hits, four runs and six RBI in the same game. The last pitcher in the Major Leagues to record four hits and four runs was
Danny Jackson in
1988 . Owings' 11 total bases are the most by a pitcher in the last 50 seasons. The last Arizona player to have four hits, two homers, four runs and six RBIs was
Shea Hillenbrand in 2003. He was also the first Diamondbacks pitcher to have 2 home runs in one game. The Diamondbacks would win the game 12-6.
After the game, Owings said "It's up there with the best ever. To be back home and have the game I had tonight, I'm just unbelievably blessed."
