Duncan, Lauer Receive Highest MAC Honors; Eight Other Flashes Recognized
5/24/2016 10:22:00 PM | Baseball
The 2016 Mid-American Conference awards were announced during a ceremony at All-Pro Freight Stadium Tuesday night with Kent State Head Coach Jeff Duncan being named Coach of the Year and ace Eric Lauer named Pitcher of the Year.
Lauer was joined by Eli Kraus, Luke Burch and Zarley Zalewski on the All-MAC First Team. Earning All-MAC Second Team recognition was Andy Ravel, Zach Willeman, Dylan Rosa and Conner Simonetti. Mason Mamarella was named to the All-Defensive Team.
Duncan, currently in his third season guiding the Golden Flashes, won his 100th career game this year en route to a 41-12 regular season record. It is just the 10th 40-win season in Kent State history and marks the third most wins entering the postseason all-time. Duncan joins coaching greats Danny Hall (1992, 1993) Rick Rembielak (1996, 2000, 2003) and Scott Stricklin (2006, 2011, 2012) in receiving the prestigious honor.
Lauer currently leads the nation in ERA and is ranked in the top ten in hits per nine innings and strikeouts – he also leads the conference in nearly all starting statistical categories with a 0.76 ERA and 116 strikeouts already this year. He threw the 11th no-hitter in Kent State history this season and fittingly is the 11th Kent State hurler to be named Pitcher of the Year.
Kraus is tied with Lauer with a conference-high nine wins this regular season and sports a 2.37 ERA. Burch currently leads the team with a .370 batting average, ranking in the top of the MAC. Zalewski becomes a three-time First Team honoree as he is batting .362 in his senior campaign.
Ravel is close behind his fellow starters with eight wins and is ranked high in the MAC in strikeouts with 73. Willeman leads the conference in saves with 12 while the power duo of Simonetti and Rosa have averages around the .300 mark and have smashed 14 and 12 homeruns this season, respectively.
Mamarella, a redshirt sophomore, earned his second All-Defensive Team honors as he was also named last year as a member of the Akron Zips.
The team will begin competition in the 2016 MAC Tournament on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. For the full release on the MAC awards, visit mac-sports.com.
