Kent State University
Ball State
Flashes and Cardinals Open Series Friday
4/5/2018 11:03:00 AM | Softball
The Golden Flashes softball team travels to take on Ball State in the third Mid-American Conference series of the season. Kent State (17-12, 3-3 MAC) and Ball State (23-10, 5-1 MAC) begin the series on Friday, April 6 at noon with a doubleheader. Game two will begin roughly 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game. The series concludes Saturday, April 7 with a single game scheduled for 2 p.m.
Media Information
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Live Stats
Game Notes
Last Time Out
Kent State was rained out on Tuesday in its midweek doubleheader against Ohio. Last weekend the Golden Flashes took one game in a three-game series from Toledo and won it in walk-off fashion on a Bailey Brownfield single to left field. Brownfield had tremendous week at the dish hitting 12-for-21 with 10 RBIs and four extra base hits. She hit her first dinger of the season in the series finale on a three-run shot to right centerfield which tied the game in the third inning. Brownfield was named MAC East Division Player of the Week for the second time of her career.
Outfielder Kennadie Goth also had a successful series. She collected nine hits against the Rockets with four in the first game and leads KSU with a .500 average (11-for-22) in conference games. Maria Cegledy was three-for-three in the first game of the series and clubbed her first career bomb to left in the sixth inning. The Pataskala, Ohio native has five RBI in conference games, which is second most on the team.
#FlashFacts
- KSU is off to a 3-3 start in the MAC for the second straight season and are third in the MAC East Division.
- As a team, the Flashes are hitting .307, which leads the MAC.
- Kent State also has the best fielding percentage in the conference at .970.
- Holly Speers has 40 career home runs and ranks second in school history and seventh in league history. She's currently 19th in the nation in active career home runs. Speers also leads the MAC with 76 total bases.
- Kennadie Goth is eighth in the country hitting .472 on the season.Â
- Speers is second in the nation in batting average (.520) and on-base percentage (.667) and ranks fourth in slugging percentage (1.013).
- Kent State has won six weekly awards this season. Holly Speers was named MAC East Player of the Week three times, Emily Dobbin and Bailey Brownfield once and Madi Huck MAC East Pitcher of the Week once.
- Two Flashes have had hitting streaks this season of ten or more games (Holly Speers, 14 and Emily Dobbin, 10).
- The Flashes scored eight runs in the first inning against Georgetown last week and are 6-1 when scoring in the first inning.
- Kent State has four walk-off wins this season. KSU came back from trailing by five entering the sixth last week against Western Michigan and came back to beat Toledo. Both were the first game of the series. The Flashes are 11-3 when scoring first and are 1-1 in extra innings.
Kent State Selected to win MAC East and MAC Tournament
The Golden Flashes were picked in the MAC's preseason coaches' poll to win the MAC East Division and MAC Tournament. Kent State was picked to win the MAC East Division in back-to-back seasons. KSU has won a MAC championship in three straight years with two regular season crowns in 2015 and 2016 and a tournament title a season ago.
Success in the MAC
Kent State has a 59-28 record in MAC play over the last four seasons with three championships. The Golden Flashes are also one of only two schools to win the tournament multiple times in the last decade. Under head coach Eric Oakley, Kent State has a 7-3 record in the MAC Tournament.
Series History / Scouting Ball State
Kent State leads the all-time series against Ball State 48-30 and will meet for the 79th time on Friday afternoon. The Golden Flashes defeated Ball State, 4-1, in the first round of last season's MAC Tournament. Emily Dobbin had two RBIs on a triple and a SAC fly to pace the Flashes offense. Kent State has won three of the last four against Ball State.
Ball State (23-10, 5-1 MAC) is in second place in the MAC West Division. Much like the Flashes, the Cardinals had their midweek doubleheader against Northern Illinois rained out. The Cardinals are on a four-game winning streak and have won eight of their last nine games. In the last weekend series, Ball State throttled Akron and took all three games, while outscoring the Zips, 30-8. The Cardinals rank first in the MAC with a 2.55 ERA and second in batting average (.303).
The sophomore due of Haley Dominque and Janae Hogg lead the Cardinals in most offensive categories. Dominique is hitting .411 which leads the team and has also hit 12 doubles, with two triples, two home runs and 26 RBIs. She checks in with a 10-game hitting streak. Hogg is the power threat in the lineup with a MAC leading 11 home runs. Hogg and senior Maddy Labrador, are tied for the team lead in RBIs (37). Junior Aeshia Miles is the ace of the staff with a 1.92 ERA in 105.2 innings of work and holds opponents to a .246 batting average.
Up Next
The Golden Flashes host East Division rival Ohio in a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 11.
