Kent State Prepares for Dance in the Desert
5/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TEMPE, Ariz. - • • • ON DECK: NCAA Tempe Regional • • •
Tempe, Ariz.
Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark
Kent State (42-15)
All-Time Kent State NCAA Tournament Record: 6-16
First Game Opponent
5/29: Kent State at Arizona State 7 p.m. PST (10 p.m. EST)
The First Pitch
Kent State will travel to Tempe, Ariz. for its ninth NCAA appearance in the programs history Friday. The Golden Flashes will square off with the Arizona State Sun Devils at 10 p.m. EST (7 p.m. PST).
Flash Facts
• This will be the first meeting in school history between the Sun Devils and the Golden Flashes. Kent State is 2-3 against second-seeded Oral Roberts while KSU has never faced third-seeded Cal Poly.
• Kent State is 2-6 in NCAA tournament openers with its last win against Notre Dame in 2004 on ND's home field.
• With their 5-3 win over Toledo in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game, the Golden Flashes claimed either a MAC regular season or tournament championship every year this decade except 2005.
• Arizona State and Kent State have two common opponents in 2009. The Sun Devils swept a three-game series with Winthrop and beat Northern Illinois in a single game. Meanwhile, Kent State swept a three-game series with the Huskies while it beat Winthrop in a single game.
Follow the Action Live
Catch all the Kent State action in the 2009 NCAA Tournament for free through the Kent State ISP sports network. Ty Linder will be calling the action from sunny Tempe, Ariz. with Matthew Lofton providing color. Broadcasts will begin 15 minutes before every game. Friday's broadcast is set to begin at 9:45 p.m. EST. Livestats will be available through the Arizona State web site, www.thesundevils.com.
The Coaches
Scott Stricklin is currently in his fifth year as head coach of the Kent State Golden Flashes. He has a career record of 181-101 and has two MAC regular season titles and two conference tournament titles.
Arizona State is coached by Pat Murphy, who is currently in his 15th season at the helm for the Sun Devils. His overall record is 1,003-453-2. Under Murphy, ASU has won four PAC-10 titles (three straight), made three college world series appearances and was national runner-up in 1998.
Road To the Seventh MAC Tourney Title
It was not always easy, but Kent State captured its record seventh Mid-American Conference Tournament title 5-3 Saturday (May 23) at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Senior Chris Tremblay, a part of four MAC championship teams while at Kent State, was named the tournaments MVP. For the tournament, Tremblay was 7-for-14 with eight runs scored and one home run. Senior Jason Patton (eight RBI), sophomore Kyle Hallock (6.2 innings, one earned run in 17-2 KSU win over Central Michigan) and freshman Jimmy Rider (7-for-17, five runs scored and three RBI) were also named to the all-tournament team.
Kent State won its opening round game over rival Miami 6-5, overcoming a four-run deficit. Patton and senior Ryan Mitchell hit solo home runs in the fifth while fifth-year senior Greg Rohan gave KSU the lead for good with a three-run home run in the sixth.
Against Central Michigan, the Golden Flashes erupted for 17 runs to defeat Central Michigan 17-2. Hallock allowed two runs (one earned) in 6.2 innings, the longest outing of his KSU career. Tremblay had four hits in five at-bats with four runs scored.
In game three against Miami, Kent State recorded its third-straight comeback against the RedHawks with a 12-8 win. Patton and Rider each hit home runs.
In the championship game, Kent State scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back in a 5-3 win over Toledo. Junior Kyle Smith toed the rubber for the first time since April 25 to earn the three-inning win.
Sun Devils Three-Peat
Arizona State won its third-straight PAC-10 baseball title by two games over Washington State. The Sun Devils finished conference play with a 21-6 conference record. Head coach Pat Murphy was named conference coach of the year for the third-straight season.
The Sun Devils are led by Mike Leake, who finished second in the nation with a 1.24 ERA, less that a tenth more than Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State. He also has six complete games this season. Junior Josh Spence is 8-1 2ith a 2.35 ERA in 76.2 innings pitched.
Jason Kipnis leads the ASU offense with 76 hits in 200 at-bats for an average of .380. He also leads the team with 66 runs, 144 total bases and a .720 slugging percentage. Carlos Ramirez leads the team with 18 home runs and 67 RBI.
History looking to Repeat Itself
In eight different seasons making it to the NCAA Tournament, Kent State has not once but twice knocked off the home team on its home field. In 2001, KSU beat Ohio State 9-8 in Columbus. The Golden Flashes went on to defeat Delaware 12-11 before they were knocked out by Mississippi State 14-4. In 1998, KSU knocked out host LSU 15-12 and Western Carolina 8-5 before losing to South Alabama 8-7.
Chafin MAC Freshman of the Year, Four Others All-Conference
Freshman Andrew Chafin has been named the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year and All-MAC first team as relief pitcher, announced Tuesday (May 19) by the conference office.
Chafin is 4-1 this year with eight saves. He has a 1.26 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 35.2 innings pitched. One of his best outings of the year came against nationally-ranked Ohio State (April 15), where he threw the final 1.1 innings to preserve the Golden Flashes 8-7 win over the Buckeyes in Columbus. Chafin is tied for sixth in career and season saves with eight. He was also one of 36 players nationally invited to the Team USA Baseball Trials in Cary, North Carolina.
Fifth-year senior Greg Rohan (first base), redshirt junior Jared Humphreys (outfield), junior Jon Pokorny (relief pitcher) and freshman Jimmy Rider (second base) made second team All-MAC.
Dynamic Duo
A pair of Kent State senior players have shown success from the plate and in the field during their careers. Chris Tremblay is second with 14 career triples. He is also fourth with 788 at-bats, fourth in hits (251) and fifth in runs (177). Fifth-year senior Greg Rohan is fourth with 47 career home runs and third in both total bases (427) and RBI (177). Defensively, Tremblay is second in career assists (579) and Rohan is seventh in putouts (958).
Also in the Record Books
Freshman Andrew Chafin is already sixth in season and career saves (8) while defensively, senior Brad Winter is ninth in career putouts with 852. Junior Anthony Gallas is tied for seventh with 32 career home runs and eighth with 100 career walks. Junior Jon Pokorny is sixth with 66 career appearances on the mound.
MAC Decade of Dominance
Since the 1999 season, Kent State has recorded the best conference record in the MAC...
Team MAC Record Percentage
Kent State 186-91-0 .671
Ball State 178-100-0 .640
Miami 174-116-0 .600
Central Michigan 170-115-0 .596
Ohio 155-126-1 .552
Bowling Green 154-127-0 .548
Eastern Michigan 153-140-0 .522
Western Michigan 137-147-0 .482
Toledo 119-147-0 .447
Northern Illinois 116-169-0 .407
Akron 108-169-0 .390
Buffalo* 53-169-1 .239
* Joined Mid-American Conference in 2001
A Century of Championships
Since the 2000 season, Kent State has either won the Mid-American Conference regular season or conference tournament every year in the new millennium with exception of 2005. It started with a regular season championship in 2000 and a pair of conference tournament titles in '01 and '02. The Golden Flashes won the regular season in '03 and the tournament in '04. After a year hiatus in '05, Kent State won the regular season in '06 and the tournament in '07. Even though Kent State lost the first five conference games of '08, they went 16-3 in their final 19 games to win the regular season title. Kent State capped the decade with a MAC Tournament title in 2009.
Stillings a No-Hit Wonder...
On Friday, April 10 against Toledo, junior Brad Stillings tossed a 111 pitch, no-hit shutout against the Toledo Rockets. Stillings is the ninth different pitcher is KSU history (for the 10th time overall) to throw a no-hitter. One Rocket batter did advance to third when he was hit by a pitch to lead-off the bottom of the sixth and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, but Stillings got out of the jam unscathed with an infield pop-up to end the inning.
Sophomore Ben Klafczynski drove in the only run of the game in the top of the sixth with a two-out, RBI double.
Patton Slugs his Way to National Player of the Week Honors
On April 26, The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper named senior Jason Patton one of six Louisville Slugger's national player of the week. In two games against Youngstown State and three games against Ohio, Patton went 10-for-20 with 11 runs scored, 10 RBI and four home runs.
Oh What A Day (May 16)
In 2008, Miami made a miraculous ninth inning comeback with 12 runs to defeat Kent State in Oxford. A year later, Kent State turned the table with seven runs of its own in the ninth at Schoonover with a hit by pitch, six singles, a double and a home run. Every senior in the lineup, in their final home game, recorded a hit in the inning. Senior Brad Winter tied the game at 11 with a three-run bomb to left field on an 0-2 pitch while fifth-year senior Greg Rohan had the game-winning single.
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