Kent State University
Florida International University
Flashes Travel South for Four Games at FIU
2/23/2017 1:06:00 PM | Baseball
Kent State (3-0) will travel south to Miami to face Florida International (1-2) in a four-game series this weekend. The two teams will play at 7 p.m. on Friday, 3 and 7 p.m. on Saturday and conclude with a game at 1 p.m. Sunday.
COVERAGE
• Live coverage will be provided at fiusports.com
• Live Stats
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, February 24
Kent State: #31 LHP Eli Kraus (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8 SO, 1 BB, 1 GS, 7.0 IP)
FIU: #26 RHP Christopher Mourelle (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 SO, 1 BB, 1 GS, 6.0 IP)
Saturday, February 25 • Game 1
Kent State: #23 RHP Zach Willeman (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 SO, 2 BB, 1 GS, 5.1 IP)
FIU: #36 LHP Dominic LoBrutto (0-0, 4.15 ERA, 1 SO, 0 BB, 1 GS, 4.1 IP)
Saturday, February 25 • Game 2
Kent State: TBD
FIU: #9 LHP Andrew George (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 SO, 1 BB, 0 GS, 1.0 IP)
Sunday, February 26
Kent State: #30 RHP Joey Murray (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 3 SO, 2 BB, 1 GS, 4.0 IP)
FIU: TBD
THE MATCHUP
• Kent State and FIU have met just one time in program history
• The Flashes won that meeting 11-8 on the road on March 22, 1998
• The Panthers won their season-opener 5-0 against Jacksonville State then fell 6-5 and 12-6 last Saturday and Sunday
• FIU finished last season at an even 29-29
• They are batting .277 and have a team ERA of 5.67 through three games this season
HOW SWEEP IT IS
• Kent State had not started a season with a series sweep since 2009 when they won three games at UNC Greensboro
• The Flashes swept through an impressive seven series in 2016 en route to a 44-win season
• They outscored Belmont 23-4 in the opening series while hitting .328 with eight doubles, three triples and five homeruns
• The pitching staff did not give up a run until game three and had a 1.00 combined ERA on the weekend
LATE LIFE
• Kent State scored half its runs, 12 of 23, in the 9th inning at Belmont
• They started by scoring six in the 9th on Friday and then brought in two in the final inning on Saturday
• Down 3-1, the Flashes tallied four runs in the 9th on Sunday to comeback and earn the win and sweep
• With two outs, Kent State continues to do damage at the plate
• 15 of the team's 38 hits this season have come with two outs, as batters are hitting at a .375 pace
