Flashes Look to Clinch Regular Season Title, Hosting Four Games This Weekend
5/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The Kent State softball team (27-19, 14-4 MAC) has an opportunity to wrap up its fifth straight MAC East title this weekend in front of its home crowd. The Golden Flashes can also claim their third MAC regular season title in four years, hosting a doubleheader with Toledo (12-35, 4-14 MAC) Friday (May 7) followed by single games against Bowling Green (11-25, 7-11) Saturday and Sunday (May 8-9). Sunday's game against the Falcons will be the final home contest for six Kent State seniors.
- Since March 5, the Golden Flashes have gone 26-10. During that span senior pitcher Kylie Reynolds is 20-6 with four saves and a 1.78 ERA, while averaging 1.42 strikeouts per inning. Among active pitchers, she ranks second in the nation with 1,180 career strikeouts behind 2009 National Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie.
Live stats for all four weekend games can be found at www.kentstatesports.com.
Quick Hitters
- KSU's 51 home runs this season are the second most in school history. Its 1.11 home runs per game rank 25th in the nation.
- The Flashes are just three wins shy of their fourth 30-win season in five years.
- Since 2006, the Golden Flashes are 80-20 in conference games.
- In her first career start Tuesday, Lauren Balodis went 2-for-4 with a home run.
- In the last two weeks, Karen Linder has earned her 400th career victory at Kent State and her 200th MAC win.- The Rockets split a doubleheader at Akron Sunday. Toledo knocked 10 hits in a 7-5 victory, including 2-for-4 outings from Mica Sanchez, Brooke Gates and Lacey LeVier. Gates launched her third home run and 10th double of the season. She and Kate Ricchio are a combined 30-of-32 on stolen base attempts. Sanchez is hitting .290 with seven home runs, 28 RBIs and 15 walks. Erin Wright leads the team in hitting at .358. Hannah Rockhold earned her eighth win of the year Sunday. She has tossed two shutouts and has totaled 101 strikeouts. Last week, the Rockets swept a doubleheader at Horizon League leader Cleveland State. Toledo has also earned league wins over Miami, Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan.
The Opposition
Toledo
Bowling Green
Grimes Comes Alive in Crucial Sweep of Central Michigan
Freshman Lauren Grimes homered three times in a doubleheader sweep of Central Michigan last Saturday and drew four walks. She hit .455 on the week with six runs scored, a 1.273 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage. Grimes also stole a base, converted a sacrifice bunt and did not commit an error in four games in left field. She is hitting .404 on the season with a team-high 11 home runs.
More Weekend Highlights
Series History
Kent State holds a 51-42-1 all-time series lead against the Falcons after splitting a pair in Bowling Green last season. The Falcons knocked eight hits and took advantage of five walks in a six-inning, 8-0 run rule over KSU in the first game. The next day, an eighth innng double by Heather Duhon helped the Flashes pull away with a 4-3 win. The MAC East rivals also split a pair the last time they met in Kent in 2008. Kylie Reynolds fanned nine in a complete game win. This season, two points are at stake in the Centennial Cup Challenge between the two schools.
The Golden Flashes lead the all-time series with the Rockets 46-33 after splitting a pair in Toledo last season. Markie Pozzuto fanned eight in a 7-3 game two victory as Ashlee Hein blasted a pair of home runs. Heather Duhon also homered and Leah Archual went 2-for-4. The Rockets won the opener 4-0 as Hannah Rockhold tossed a two-hit shutout. KSU swept Toledo the last time the teams met in Kent in 2008. Kylie Reynolds hurled a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 win. Kent State has won 20 of the last 22 meetings with Toledo.
Since Feb. 26, Kylie Reynolds has:
1. Become the MAC's all-time strikeout leader now with 1,180
2. Become the MAC's career wins leader with 80.
3. Become KSU's career leader in shutouts with 27.
4. Thrown her fifth and sixth career no-hitters.
5. Earned her 13th through 17th MAC East Pitcher of the Week awards.
6. Surpassed 300 strikeouts in a season for the second straight year.
For the second time this season, Beth Cinadr sealed a Kent State home victory in the game's final at bat on Saturday, this time with a two-run homer against Central Michigan.
- On April 16, Cinadr's bottom-of-the-12th single scored Heather Duhon to defeat Miami 2-1. It was KSU's third straight extra-inning victory this season.
- On March 28, Clare Sullivan smacked a pinch hit, three-run homer in the top of the 11th to lift KSU over Coastal Carolina 7-3. It was Sullivan's second career at bat.
- On Feb. 26 against Auburn, Sarah Starr stole third in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and scored on a throwing error to give the Flashes a 1-0 victory. Kylie Reynolds tossed and eight-inning no-hitter against the Eagles.
MAC Leaders
Jess Carmichael
Up Next
Eight teams will compete in the 2010 MAC Softball Championships May 12-15 at Firestone Stadium in Akron. Live audio for all of Kent State's game can be heard free on www.kentstatesports.com.
Kent State currently sits in a tie with Ball State atop the MAC's overall standings at 14-4 and would win the seeding tiebreaker with the Cardinals if the teams finish with identical records. The Golden Flashes lead Ohio (13-5) by just one game in the East Division standings. Central Michigan (11-7), Northern Illinois (10-8) and Miami (10-8) are in a race for the fourth through six seeds, while five teams (Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan) are separated by just one game for the final two tournament spots.
MAC Tournament Pairings
leads the conference with 301 strikeouts and four saves, while her .198 opponent batting average is the lowest in the MAC. Her 21 wins and 2.23 ERA are both second in the conference. is tied for fourth in the MAC in home runs (10), while Beth Cinadr is seventh with eight. Cinadr is eighth in on-base percentage (.441). Ashlee Hein is fourth in walks (21). ranks second in the MAC in batting average (.404), on-base percentage (.469), runs scored (39) and hits (57). She ranks third in both home runs (11) and slugging percentage (.667).Cinadr Provides Late Game Heroics
Reynolds Setting the Standard for MAC Pitchers
went 1-0 with a 1.62 ERA in two weekend starts...Leah Archual hit .438 on the week with four runs scored and two doubles...Beth Cinadr hit .417 on the week, including a walk-off homer in a 4-2 victory over Central Michigan Saturday...Kylie Reynolds went 2-0 against the Chippewas Saturday, allowing just four hits in 9.2 innings...A two-out RBI double by Alyssa Frobase started a six-run fourth inning in a 9-1 win over Central Michigan. Frobase also hit a game-tying home run in the sixth inning of game two against the Chippewas.- The Falcons were 6-4 to start MAC play, but have dropped seven of their last eight conference games. BGSU hit .316 in five games last week, but its only win came at Akron. Freshman Paige Berger recently broke the scool record for home runs in a season with 12, which also ties her for the MAC lead. Berger also leads the team in hitting (.358), RBIs (31) and slugging (.800). Freshman Hannah Fulk is batting .356 with 11 doubles and 20 walks. Senior Karmen Coffey (.292) is 15-of-16 on stolen base attempts. The Falcons are hitting .284 in conference play, which ranks fourth among MAC teams. Juniors Zada Lines and Melissa Bott have each thrown over 100 innings this season.
Live Stats
| Complete Notes in PDF |
