Baseball Hosts Steel City Foes This Week
4/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The First Pitch
The Kent State University baseball team (20-14, 4-6 MAC) wraps up its seven-game homestand this week with a pair of non-conference games against opponents from the Steel City.
The Flashes will face Duquesne University at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Apr. 19, and then look to avenge an earlier defeat to the University of Pittsburgh at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Apr. 20.
Quick Flashes
Kent State won just one of three games over the weekend against the University of Akron, but is coming off a 7-2 win on Sunday (Apr. 17).
Both games this week are rematches of earlier meetings this season. The Flashes won at Duquesne, 10-5, on Apr. 5 but lost at Pittsburgh, 12-2, on March 30.
The Golden Flashes are 5-3 at Schoonover Stadium this season and 18-8 at home the past two years.
The Golden Flashes are coming off their fifth MAC Tournament championship and seventh NCAA Regional Tournament appearance in 2004.
The Coaches
Scott Stricklin (Kent State 95) is in his first season as a head coach. The former Flashes catcher was previously an assistant at Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. Duquesnes Mike Wilson (Chadron State 71) is in his 12th year while Joe Jordano (Westminster) is in his eighth year at Pitt and 18th overall.
Series History
Kent State is 13-7 all-time against Duquesne, having won four straight after the 10-5 victory earlier this year. Pitts win over KSU in March gave the Panthers a 24-23 lead in the all-time series.
A Quick Look at The Dukes
Duquesne is 12-18 on the year, but has won seven of its last nine, including a three-game Atlantic-10 sweep of Xavier University this past weekend. Junior Steve Maiolo leads the squad with a .347 average and 20 RBI. Four other Dukes are hitting better than .300. On the mound, junior Scott Chisolm and redshirt freshman Joe Kaye each have three wins.
A Quick Look at The Panthers
Pittsburgh improved to 19-14 overall by winning two-of-three against Big East foe Villanova University this past weekend. Sophomore Jim Negrych tops the team with a .397 average, seven home runs and 39 RBI while junior Ben Copeland is close behind at .392 with five dingers, 27 RBI and 20 stolen bases. Five pitchers have three wins led by sophomore Billy Muldowney (3-2) who has a 2.33 ERA and three complete games.
Whats Up Next for KSU
The Flashes travel to Bowling Green State University this weekend (Apr. 22-24) for a three-game Mid-American Conference series with the Falcons at Warren E. Steller Field beginning Friday at 3 p.m.
Last Time Out
The Golden Flashes lost the first two games of their series with Akron, 4-2 and 2-0 before rallying for a 7-2 win in the finale to avoid a sweep. Akrons Ross Liersemann shut out Kent State on three hits through eight innings in game one and Doug Kruthaupt drove in three runs for the Zips. It was more of the same in game two, with freshman Tom Farmer going 7.2 innings of shutout ball and Kruthaupt driving in both runs. In Sundays finale, the Flashes led 2-0 early before Akron tied it in the seventh. KSU responded with four runs in the bottom of that frame and had three hits from three players in the victory.
2004 MAC Tourney Champs Honored
Prior to the Apr. 16 game against Akron, Kent State recognized and honored the members of the 2004 MAC Tournament Championship team and presented commemorative rings to each member of the squad in a special pregame ceremony.
Newest Addition Leading the Offense
Junior 2B Drew Saylor, a transfer from the University of Cincinnati, leads the team and the MAC with a .382 batting average and 53 hits. He also shares the team lead with six home runs and is second with 31 RBI and 33 runs scored while also leading the squad in slugging (.603), doubles (10) and on-base percentage (.442).
Grand Theft
As a team, the Golden Flashes have been successful on their last 20 stolen base attempts, swiping 15 bags in the last five games, including a season-high nine against Wright State Apr. 12.
Flashes Rank Among League Leaders
In addition to junior 2B Drew Saylor, who leads the conference in batting, several other Flashes rank in the top five in several statistical categories in the MAC. Junior DH Kurt Eichorn is tied for the league lead in triples (3), is second in RBI (38) and is among five players, including Saylor, tied for fifth in home runs (6). Junior CF Joe Tucker is tied for second in runs scored (35) and third in stolen bases (14) while sophomore SS Emmanuel Burriss is second with 20 steals. On the mound, sophomore closer Andrew Davis is third with five saves.
Tucker Approaching Painful Mark
Junior OF Joe Tucker, who was hit by a pitch a school-record 14 times last season, is just one away from tying that total as he has been struck 13 times this year, raising his career total to 40. He was hit three times March 25-27 at the University of Toledo.
Taking One for the Team- The Whole Team
Kent State batters have been hit by a pitch an incredible 43 times this season. Ten times this season the Flashes have had more than one player hit in the same game, including a season-high five HBPs in a 10-3 win at Toledo Mar. 26.
Smith Shutting Out Opposition
Sophomore RHP Evan Smith has been solid in his last three outings, allowing just three earned runs in 15.1 innings (1.76 ERA). He pitched six scoreless innings in a 20-6 win at Marshall University on Apr. 10 and then held Akron scoreless through the first six innings on Apr. 17 to extend his consecutive scoreless inning streak to 14. The Zips scored twice in the seventh to put an end to the streak.
Pitching Staff Stepping Up its Game/b>
In the last four contests, Kent State pitchers have surrendered just eight earned runs in 36 innings (2.00 ERA). During that stretch, the starting pitchers have allowed six earned runs in 20 innings (2.70 ERA) while the bullpen has allowed only two runs total in 16 innings of work (1.13 ERA).
Crushing Opponents in Crunch Time
From the seventh inning on, the Golden Flashes are outscoring their opponents 74-42 this season and are 15-1 this year when taking a lead into the eighth inning and 15-0 when leading going into the ninth.
