Flashes and Falcons Set To Do Battle This Weekend
4/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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The Matchup
The Kent State University baseball team (19-19, 6-6 MAC East) welcomes the Bowling Green State University Falcons (19-10, 6-6 MAC West) to Gene Michael Field for a three-game series April 23-25. This weekend will prove to be an important one as both teams have identical 6-6 MAC records heading into the weekend and are fighting to stay alive for a MAC Tournament bid.
The Series with the Falcons
Kent State leads the all-time series with the Falcons, 89-57. The Falcons and Flashes last met in 2002 when Bowling Green took 3-of-4 from Kent State in Kent.
Scouting Bowling Green
Bowling Green enters the weekend with a 19-10 overall record and a 6-6 mark in the MAC West. The Falcons lost 2-of-3 to Northern Illinois last weekend and fell to Dayton, 6-2, Tuesday, April 20. The Falcons are led at the plate by Nolan Reimold who is batting .404 with a team-leading eight homers and 29 RBI. He also spouts a .740 slugging percentage and .483 on-base percentage. Jimmy Lipari is just behind Reimold with a .391 average. Jeff Warnock (.343), Eric Lawson (.322), David Barkholz (.311) and Josh Stewart (.304) round out the .300 hitters for the Falcons.
Tyler Johnson leads all Falcon hurlers with a 4-0 record and a 2.76 ERA. He is second on the team in Ks and has allowed just nine walks in 32.2 innings this season. Tyler Saneholtz is 3-2 on the season with a 2.79 ERA to go with a team-leading 38 strikeouts. Burke Badenhop is 2-2 with a 5.12 ERA in seven starts.
Bowling Green is coached by Danny Schmitz who is in his 14th season at BGSU. During his tenure the Falcons have won four MAC East Division Championships, two MAC Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Regional twice.
Flashes To Watch
As of April 23, senior Chad Kinyon is leading the Golden Flashes in almost every offensive category. He leads the team in batting average (.349), hits (51), home runs (8), RBI (40) and slugging percentage (.589) among others. His eight homers are good for fifth-best in the MAC and his 40 RBIs are good for seventh. Kinyon is also one of two Golden Flashes to start all 38 games this season - senior Matt Sega being the other. Sega is second on the team with seven homers and 31 RBI to go with his .306 average. Sega connected on his third-career grand slam against Wright State April 6 and drove in the game-winning run in the top of the eighth in a 4-3 win over Akron April 18. Red-shirt freshman Andrew Davis also has come on of late, increasing his batting average to .314. 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.
Sophomore right-hander Andy Sonnanstine is leading the KSU pitching staff with a 5-4 record. He has made 10 starts and has recorded a team-leading 61 Ks to compliment a 2.95 ERA in 64.0 innings of work. He recently struck out a career-high 13 batters in an 11-1 win against Marshall April 9, earning him MAC East Pitcher of the Week honors. Junior right-hander Jason Brunke is 3-4 with a 5.55 ERA while Justin Laraway has a 2-3 record and a 3.56 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.
