Kent State Sweeps MAC East Softball Awards
2/27/2017 4:45:00 PM | Softball
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Kent State softball program swept this week's Mid-American Conference East Division honors, as sophomore Bailey Brownfield was named Player of the Week and senior Ronnie Ladines was named Pitcher of the Week.
Brownfield continued the hot start to the season by batting .636 with four doubles and three RBIs over five games. She slugged 1.000 and drew five walks for a .750 on-base percentage to extend her reached-base streak to 14 games. Brownfield reached base in all six of her plate appearances on Friday, which included a 1-for-1 performance vs. Army West Point and a 3-for-3 performance vs. Albany. She doubled twice with two RBIs Saturday vs. Stony Brook and placed a crucial sac bunt that helped Kent State regain the lead in the third inning Sunday vs. Manhattan.
Ladines had her best weekend of the season, allowing just two earned runs in three complete game efforts for a 0.64 ERA. She held opposing batters to a .130 batting average and record 17 strikeouts. In the weekend opener vs. Army, the only run she allowed was unearned as the result of the international tiebreaker going into effect in the eighth inning. Ladines finished the game with a season-high nine strikeouts. She had six strikeouts and drove in the winning run with a two-out double to beat Columbia, 3-2, on Saturday. In the weekend finale, she held Manhattan to three hits and did not allow an earned run.
The Golden Flashes won their final three games at the EMU Madeira Beach Spring Invitational, snapping a five-game skid and getting back to .500 in the process. The Golden Flashes outscored their opponents 19-7 over the final 3 games. Ladines and fellow senior Janel Hayes were excellent in the circle all weekend, combining to allow just four earned runs in 29.2 innings, while striking out 22 batters. Brownfield led the offense with a 7-for-11 performance and fellow sophomore Jen Cader had a team-high five RBIs and hit .556 in nine at-bats. Junior Holly Speers launched her team-leading sixth home run of the season and also leads Kent State with 18 RBIs.
Kent State (7-7) will take a week off from competition and return to action at the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky on March 10-12. The Flashes will play five games headlined by matchups against No. 14 Michigan and host No. 22 Kentucky.
