Murray, Flashes recognized by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
12/22/2017 10:27:00 AM | Baseball
KSU ranked 34th in publication's Top 40
Murray, Flashes recognized by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
KSU ranked 34th in publication's Pre-season Top 40
KENT – Even with the season opener just 56 days away, honors are already coming in for the Kent State baseball team.
Recently, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper announced its "Fabulous 40" NCAA Division I Pre-Season Poll. The defending Mid-American Conference regular season champion Golden Flashes are ranked 34th with 410 points. They finished just 13 points shy of the top 30.
"It's obviously an honor and sign of respect to be ranked in any poll," head coach Jeff Duncan said. "I think it shows there is great respect nationally for our program and a lot of people have worked hard for that."
At #34, KSU is the highest-ranked squad in the state of Ohio and the MAC. Florida, which won 52 games a year ago, is the nation's top team heading into 2018, according to the poll. The Gators lead all D-I programs with six trips to Omaha in the last eight years but were eliminated from the College World Series in 2012 by Kent State.
The Flashes will visit #3 Arkansas in early March. They'll also see two other teams ranked in the poll's top 40 – traveling to Sam Houston State (raked 32nd) and Winthrop (28th) on Feb. 16-18 and March 2-4, respectively. The Ohio Bobcats received a handful of votes in the poll and will visit Schoonover Stadium April 20-22.
"Our schedule is going to be pretty unforgiving," Duncan said. "We'll need to be ready to play right from the start and it'll be a grind each and every weekend, but I think our guys are up for the challenge."
KSU is prepared to return a strong starting pitching rotation which features junior Joey Murray. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper recently named him a Second-team Pre-Season All-American. The 2017 MAC Pitcher of the Year will enter the 2018 campaign as Kent State's most decorated underclassman.
The righty posted a 6-1 record with a sparkling 1.80 ERA a year ago as KSU's Sunday starter. He made 14 appearances on the year, including an eight-strikeout performance in the MAC Tournament. In 2016, he burst onto the scene with a mesmerizing eight-inning, 11-strikeout, no-walk effort in the tournament semi-finals to send KSU to the title tilt.
"That's great for Joey, and well deserved," Duncan said. "His work with Mike Birkbeck has really paid dividends and we're looking for even bigger things from him."
KSU will open the 2018 season on Friday, Feb. 16 in Huntsville, Texas against the Sam Houston State Bearkats at 7:30/6:30c.
