Flashes and Cardinals to Play for Top Spot in the MAC
4/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Kent State University baseball team hosts Ball State University in a three-game series at Schoonover Stadium Friday-Sunday, Apr. 14-16.
Fridays game begins at 3:00 p.m. while Saturday and Sundays first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Both teams are 6-3 in the Mid-American Conference heading into final weekend of East vs. West crossover games.
Former Teammates to Face Off
Scott Stricklin and Greg Beals, both 1995 graduates of Kent State, will be in opposing dugouts as head coaches for the first time.
Stricklin is in his second season at Kent State with a career record of 51-31. In 2005, Stricklin led the Golden Flashes to a 33-win season, the second most victories by a MAC-East team. The win total also tied for the second most victories by a KSU coach in their first year. On Tuesday (Apr. 11) at Duquesne, Stricklin recorded his 50th career victory just midway through his second year.
Beals is in his fourth season as head coach at Ball State. He carries a career record of 120-81 and a 54-28 mark in MAC games. In his first three seasons, Ball State has won two MAC-West titles including a 38-18 overall record and a 17-5 league mark last season. Prior to Ball State, Beals was an assistant coach at Kent State for nine seasons.
Series History
The Cardinals and Golden Flashes have met 87 times dating back to 1974. Kent State leads the all-time series 49-38 and has taken six of the last eight meetings. Ball State won the most recent meeting 4-0 in the 2004 MAC Tournament. However, the Flashes went on to win the tournament crown two days later. The two teams have not met in the regular season since 2002.
Quick Flashes
Kent State has won seven of its last eight and 10 of its last 12 games.
The Golden Flashes have smacked 14 or more hits in 13 of their last 26 games and 11 or more hits in 17 of those 26 games.
KSUs .315 batting average ranks first among MAC teams. The Golden Flashes rank fourth in the league in pitching with an ERA of 4.55.
Last season, the Flashes went 11-5 in the month of April and are 7-1 in April this season.
The Golden Flashes are on pace for their eighth straight 30-win season and 15th in the last 17 years.
A Look @ Ball State
The Cardinals carried an eight-game winning streak into last week, which included a three-game sweep of defending MAC champion Miami. The streak was capped off with a 31-19 victory over Valparaiso on Apr. 4.
Sundays projected starter Ryan DeGeeter carries a team best 2.95 ERA while Fridays starter Ben Snyder leads the squad with 54 strikeouts.
Reliever Kory Bucklew has been flawless in conference play. In three MAC appearances, Bucklew has not allowed an earned run in 10 innings of work. Ball State ranks third in the MAC with a 4.28 ERA.
Offensively the Cardinals regulars hitting above .300 on the year. Senior first baseman Brad Miller is among MAC leaders in home runs (11), runs scored (33) and RBI (36). Designatted hitter Matt Gard carries a team best .342 batting average. Outfielder Mike Sullivan is 12-of-14 on stolen base attampts.
Several Cardinals have played error-free ball, giving Ball State the best fielding percentage (.976) in the MAC.
Last Time Out
Andrew Davis and Drew Saylor homered for the second time in as many days, leading Kent State to an 11-7 victory over Youngstown State. The Blue and Gold smacked 15 hits in their fifth consecutive non-conference victory.
Freshman Alan Morrison won his third consecutive start. Davis went 3-for-5 from the plate and five other Flashes ripped two hits each.
Last MAC Action
The Golden Flashes took two of three games from a MAC West opponent for the third consecutive week. Kent State defeated Northern Illinois Friday (Apr. 7) at McKinzie Field 13-10 and again on Saturday (Apr. 8) 21-2. Starting pitchers Chad Wagler and Steve Ross each earned victories on the mound.
Saturdays win was the lasrgest margin of victory (19) this season. The 21 runs scored were a season-high while the 17 hits were the third most in a game this season.
Emmanuel Burriss tallied seven hits and seven runs scored in the series.
Hits All Around
Last Fridays (Apr. 7) 13-10 victory over Northern Illinois marked the third time this season, all nine batters in the KSU lineup recorded a hit. The Golden Flashes also filled the hit column in home games vs. Cleveland State (Mar. 28) and Duquesne (Apr. 4).
All Over the Bases
Emmanuel Burriss has been nearly automatic on the base paths. He has stolen eight bases in his last four games. Now 20-for-21 this season, Burriss has converted on 50 of his last 55 stolen base attempts. He is 70-of-81 on career stolen base attempts for an .864 percentage.
MAC Log-Jam
Kent State, Ball State and Central Michigan enter this weekend tied for the best record in the MAC (6-3). Just two games seperate the top 10 teams as four squads carry a 5-4 conference record and three other teams have posted a 4-5 mark.
Saylor Named Hitter of the Week
Senior infielder Drew Saylor was named Mid-American Conference East Division Hitter of the Week on Apr. 3. It marked the fourth time this season the Golden Flashes have earned a Hitter of the Week honor.
Saylor tallied eight extra-base hits, three home runs and 13 RBI. He also extended his hitting streak to eight games. He scored six runs over those five games and had a slugging percentage of over 1,000.
Home Cooking
The Golden Flashes are off to a 5-1 start at Schoonover Stadium in 2006. Kent State has scored 11 or more runs and belted 14 or more hits in all five of their home victories. KSU is scheduled to play 17 home games in 2006.
Flashes Among MAC Leaders
Emmanuel Burris leads the league with a .421 batting average, 37 runs scored and 20 stolen bases. Kurt Eichorn and Drew Saylor are tied for fourth in home runs with eight. Eichorn is second in the league in RBI and slugging percentage while Saylor is second in doubles and total bases. Chad Wagler is third in innings pitched (53.2) and tied for fourth with four wins. Ryan Davis is third among MAC leaders with six saves.
Whats Up Next
The Golden Flashes will host Malone College Tuesday (Apr. 18) at Scoonover Stadium. KSU hits the road the very next day (Apr. 19) for a non-conference battle with Wright State in Dayton at 6:00p.m..
