Baseball Plays Host to Mount Union Thursday at 3 p.m.
4/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Click Here for Game Audio
The Matchups
The Kent State University baseball team (15-17, 5-4 MAC East), winners in six of its last seven, will take on the Mount Union Purple Raiders at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 15 at Gene Michael Field. The Flashes will then take on its crosstown rival Akron Zips (14-10, 3-2 MAC East) in a pivotal three-game MAC East series this weekend. Game times are 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at UAs Lee R. Jackson Field.
Scouting The Purple Raiders
Mount Union enters Thursdays game with an 8-12 overall record and a 2-6 mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference. They are led offensively by Sam Simmerman who is batting .406 with three homers, 17 RBI to compliment a .716 slugging percentage. Jason Evans (.373) and Chris Liptak (.304) are also hitting above .300.
Tyson Smith is Mount Unions top pitcher with a 2-3 record in six starts. He has a .382 ERA in 30.2 innings to go with 20 Ks.
The Purple Raiders are coached by Paul Hesse who is in his eighth season as head coach.
Sonnanstine, Davis Collect MAC Honors
Sophomore pitcher Andy Sonnanstine and red-shirt freshman Andrew Davis have been named this weeks Mid-American Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week for the East Division. Both are the first of their careers and the first for Kent State this season.
Rembielak Gets Career Win No. 350!
Head coach Rick Rembielak won his 350th game last Wednesday (Apr. 7) in the Golden Flashes 16-2 win over Duquesne. Rembielak is the 12th coach in MAC history to register 350 or more victories. He is also nine league wins shy of becoming the fifth coach to collect 200 conference victories.
Flashes Last Time Out
Kent State took 2-of-3 games from the Marshall Thundering Herd at Gene Michael Field over the Easter weekend.
Andy Sonnnanstine led the Flashes past the Herd in game one, striking out 13 Marshall hitters in 7.2 innings in the 11-1 win. Chuck Moore went 3-for-4 to pace the Flashes offensively.
The Herd got the best of Kent State in a thrilling game two Saturday. The game was back and forth all afternoon until Aaron Jamiesons game-winning RBI double to right-field in the ninth clinched it for the Herd. The Flashes mounted one last rally in the bottom of the ninth, but Chris Meadows (1-2) got Chad Kinyon to ground out to third with a runner in scoring position to secure the win for Marshall.
KSU saved its best for last on Easter Sunday as they rallied in the bottom of the 12th inning to grab a 5-4 victory. Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the 12th with one out and the bases loaded, Andrew Davis came through with a game-winning two-RBI single through the left side, scoring Adam Crowder and Todd Balduf to give the Flashes the win in dramatic fashion. Davis finished the game 3-for-6 with two huge RBI for Kent State.
A Glance at the Flashes
As of April 12, senior Chad Kinyon is leading the Golden Flashes in almost every offensive category. He leads the team in batting average (.347), hits (42), home runs (8), RBI (35), slugging percentage (.612) and on-base percentage (.453) among others. His eight homers are good for third-best in the MAC and his 35 RBIs are good for sixth. Kinyon is also one of two Golden Flashes to start all 32 games this season - senior Matt Sega being the other. Sega is second on the team with six homers and 27 RBI to go with his .296 average. Sega connected on his third-career grand slam against Wright State April 6. Red-shirt freshman and reigning MAC East Player of the Week Andrew Davis also has come on of late, increasing his batting average to .310. Davis went 4-for-6 with five RBI and two scores against Duquesne April 7 and had the game-winning two-RBI base hit to best Marshall in the bottom of the 12th Easter Sunday. Chuck Moore, who had his nine game hit streak snapped last weekend against Marshall, is hitting .297 with two homers, nine doubles and 11 RBI.
Sophomore right-hander Andy Sonnanstine is leading the KSU pitching staff with a 5-3 record. He has made nine starts and has recorded a team-leading 54 Ks to compliment a 3.00 ERA in 57.0 innings of work. He recently struck out a career-high 13 batters in an 11-1 win over Marshall April 9. Junior right-hander Jason Brunke is 3-3 with a 5.79 ERA while Justin Laraway has a 2-3 record and a 3.83 ERA. Brunke recorded a season-best 10 Ks against Richmond Feb. 29. In the loss to Toledo March 28, Laraway pitched the first 7.0 innings, striking out 10 batters and giving up just three hits in the no decision. He then pitched a five-hit game in 6.0 innings of work at Ohio April 4 for his second win of the season.
Hot Bats
Almost every Kent State player has heated up offensively in some fashion of late. But the pleasant surprises have come from Chuck Moore, Andrew Davis and Joe Tucker who have caught fire at the plate. Moore is batting .435 (17-for-39) with 10 RBI in his last 11 games. Moore recently had a nine-game hitting streak snapped vs. Marshall April 10. Prior to that, Moore was hitting .142 (5-for-35) through his first 14 games. Davis is batting .405 (15-for-37) with 12 RBI in his last eight games and exploded for four hits against Duquesne April 7 to up his season average to .310. Tucker also has emerged of late, going 12-for-25 in his last six games (.480) with five RBI. Tucker was batting .229 prior and has now up his average to .281 over the last six games.
Kent State Record Watch
Senior first baseman Chad Kinyon moved into sole possession of fourth place on the Kent State all-time home run list with two homers at Ohio April 3. Kinyon has a team-leading eight homers this season and 37 for his career. He needs 12 to tie and 13 to break the all-time record of 49 held by Mike Bishop (1985-88) and John VanBenschoten (1999-01).
