Baseball Welcomes Wright State and Duquesne
4/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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The Matchups
The Kent State University baseball team (11-16, 3-3 MAC) welcomes Wright State and Duquesne to Gene Michael Field this week for a pair of non-conference games Tuesday and Wednesday. The Flashes will face Wright State (11-14, 3-1 Horizon) at 3 p.m. Tuesday April 6 and Duquesne (8-9, 2-1 Atlantic-10) at 3 p.m. Wednesday April 7.
Scheduled Starters
Taking the hill for Kent State against Wright State will be red-shirt freshman right-hander Andrew Davis who is 0-0 in four appearances. Davis has a 3.86 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work this season. Wednesdays starter will be freshman right-hander Evan Smith. The Milford, Ohio native is 0-2 in three starts and has 16 Ks in 18.2 innings.
Closing In On 350 Career Wins
Kent State head coach Rick Rembielak needs just two more victories to record his 350th career win as a head coach. Further, he is 11 shy recording his 200th win in MAC play.
Flashes Last Time Out
The Flashes took 2-of-3 from the Ohio Bobcats over the weekend. Kent State opened with a 7-1 loss in game one Saturday as starter Andy Sonnanstine was roughed up for six earned runs on 10 hits in 6.0 innings. The Flashes offense managed just six hits the entire game.
But they quickly rebounded in game two as senior co-captain Chad Kinyon went yard not once, but twice as the Flashes won 9-6. Kinyon was 3-for-4 with five RBI and took over sole possession of fourth place on the KSU all-time homer list. Jason Brunke picked up the win for KSU, going five innings while giving up three runs on 10 hits. He also had six Ks.
A big first inning and excellent starting pitching by Justin Laraway enabled Kent State to walk away with win in game three, 11-6. The Flashes took full advantage of five OU errors, scoring five runs in the first inning off three OU miscues. Laraway pitched into the seventh inning, giving up three runs on five hits while fanning five.
A Glance at the Flashes
Senior Chad Kinyon is leading the Golden Flashes in every offensive category. He leads the team in batting average (.368), hits (39), home runs (8), RBI (31), slugging percentage (.660) and on-base percentage (.434), among others. His eight homers are good for third-best in the MAC and his 31 RBIs are good for fourth. Kinyon is also one of two Golden Flashes to start all 27 games this season - senior Matt Sega being the other. Sega is second on the team with four homers and 18 RBI. Sega recently went 4-for-5 with three RBI, a triple, two runs and two stolen bases to pace the Flashes offensively in the win over Findlay March 30. Junior Eric Holick is next with a .298 batting average with three doubles and eight RBI. Kurt Eichorn is batting .286 with three dingers and 13 RBI.
Sophomore right-hander Andy Sonnanstine is leading the KSU pitching staff with a 4-3 record. He has made eight starts and has recorded a team-leading 41 Ks to compliment a 3.28 ERA in 49.1 innings of work. Junior right-hander Jason Brunke is 3-3 with a 6.50 ERA while Justin Laraway has a 2-3 record and a 4.37 ERA. 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.
Scouting Wright State
The Raiders are 11-14 on the season and 3-1 in the Horizon League. Wright State has three hitters over the .300 plateau with Brian Shoup (.333), Ross Vagedes (.318) and Pat Masters (.313). Bryan Vickers (.277) leads the team in homers with five while Chris Coleman (.247) has the team lead in RBI with 17.
On the hill, the Raiders are led by Coleman who is 4-3 in eight starts with a 5.86 ERA.
The Raiders are coached by Ron Nischwitz who is in his 30th year at Wright State.
The Series With WSU
Kent State owns an 18-9 all-time record against the Raiders. Kent State won the last meeting, 8-7, back on April 24, 2002 in Kent.
Scouting Duquesne
The Dukes support an 8-9 overall record with a 2-1 mark in the Atlantic-10. Joe Berletic is hitting a team-best .405 with 12 RBI and two doubles. Andy Gallina (.241) leads the team in both homers (3) and RBI (13).
Adam Haun leads all pitchers with 31 Ks in 30.2 innings this season. He is 1-2 in five appearances with 5.87 ERA. Scott Chisholm is right behind Haun with 29 Ks in 25.1 innings. Chisholm supports a 4.62 ERA and is 2-3 in four starts.
The Dukes are coached by Mike Wilson who is in his 11th season at Duquesne.
The Series With The Dukes
The Flashes own an 11-7 record all-time vs. the Dukes. Kent State took both games last year from Duquesne winning the first, 25-6, April 2 at Duquesne and then took the next meeting at home April 23, 12-9. Duquesne last defeated the Flashes back on April 2, 2002, a 7-5 win at Duquesne.
Nail Biters
Kent State has had several games go down to the wire this season as 14 games have been decided by three runs or less, six of those being one-run games.
Ouch!
Sophomore Joe Tucker has already been hit by 10 pitches in the 2004 season. The centerfielder/second baseman is on pace for 22 plunkings by seasons end. Last season, Tucker and Kurt Eichorn were co-leaders with 13. School records on hit-batsmen go back to the 1984 season, with Tucker and Eichorns mark ranking as top single-season mark in KSU history.
Brunke, Laraway Gun em Down
When junior right-hander Jason Brunke struck out 10 Richmond Spiders in a 7.1-inning no-decision Feb. 29, he became the first Golden Flash hurler to KO double-digits since Matt Lorenzo struck out 10 Central Michigan batters on May 24, 2002. Justin Laraway also recently struck out 10 batters in a 7.0 inning, three-hit, no decision against Toledo March 28.
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).
On Deck
Kent State will continue MAC play with a three-game series with Marshall this weekend, April 9-11 at Gene Michael Field. Game times are 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
