Flashes' Title Defense Begins This Weekend at Bowling Green and Toledo
3/31/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Kent State opens Mid-American Conference play this weekend with a doubleheader at Bowling Green Friday, followed by single games Saturday and Sunday at Toledo. The Golden Flashes have won MAC regular season titles in three of the last four seasons and have captured MAC East crowns in each of the previous five seasons. During that five-year run, KSU has gone 83-21 in conference games.
• Offensively, the Golden Flashes are off to their best start in 20 years. KSU is hitting .293 as a team with 59 extra base hits in 25 games.
• Despite a 9-16 record, KSU has scored the same number of runs as their opponents this season (138-138).
Live Stats
Live stats for Friday's games can be viewed on www.bgsusports.com beginning at 1 p.m. Live stats on Saturday and Sunday can be viewed at www.utrockets.com.
A Look at Bowling Green
The University of Michigan used a three-run fifth inning to come-from-behind for a 4-2 win in upstart Bowling Green's upset bid Wednesday afternoon. In a game that looked like a mismatch on paper, the Falcons led for much of the contest and battled the Wolverines throughout. Michigan came into the game at 31-2 on the year and ranked No. 3 in the country, while BGSU was 4-12 entering the contest. Bowling Green's .971 fielding percentage is on pace to be the best single-season in program history. The Falcons fielded at a .940 clip a year ago and set the team record with a .966 fielding percentage during the 2005 season. Sophomore infielder Andrea Arney has begun to heat up at the plate. She is 4-for-6 with five runs scored in the past two games and is batting .500 in the last five contests (6-for-12). Arney had just six hits in the team's first 11 games total but has raised her average to .300 on the season. Senior pitchers Melissa Bott and Zada Lines have both thrown in 13 of the team's 16 games this year. Freshman Erin Greenwalt has been just about as reliable, hitting the mound 11 times on the season.
A Look at Toledo
Last past weekend, the Rockets finished 1-3 at the Miami Invitational, highlighted by a big 13-0 win over Marshall and a nailbiting 1-0 loss to the Big 10's Purdue. Freshman hurler Jen Solanics continued her stellar performance in the circle as of late, tossing two complete games and allowing just one earned run. Over her last six appearances, Solanics holds a sparkling 1.97 ERA, surrendering just six earned runs in 21.1 innings pitched while punching out eight and holding opposing hitters to a .238 clip.
Trio of Freshmen Making Major Impact
Freshmen Abbey Ledford and Alex Marcantonio are among the best hitters in the lineup this season, while classmate Lauren McNeil holds the lowest ERA on the pitching staff.
Ledford was named Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week Tuesday. Last week in Florida, Ledford raised her team-leading batting average to .404 after hitting .700 in three games.
In a doubleheader sweep of Bethune-Cookman on March 24, Ledford went 6-for-7 with three runs scored and three runs batted in. She has moved into the starting role at second base and recently moved up to the number six spot in the batting order. One week earlier, she hit .429 with two doubles over five games. Also a power threat, Ledford has belted three home runs and two doubles in 18 games started on the year. She has scored 12 runs and driven in 11.
Marcantonio has hit. 500 or better in two different weekends of competition. Playing three games at the Marshall Invitational, Marcantonio went 5-for-10 with two doubles. One weekend earlier, she went 6-for-11 (.545) with six walks, a double and six runs scored, giving her a .722 on-base percentage and an .822 slugging percentage. Marcantonio has started all 25 games, playing left field and shortstop. She is hitting .370 on the year with five doubles and carries a .511 on-base percentage, which ranks third in the MAC.
McNeil did not see action during the Flashes' eight games in Florida due to injury. Prior to spring break, she led the KSU staff with 54.1 innings pitched. At the Marshall Invitational, she tossed 8.1 innings against the Thundering Herd, allowing two earned runs with five strikeouts. One week earlier, she earned two victories at Florida Atlantic. Against FAU, she struck out a season-high eight. She has fanned 35 on the year and carries a team best 3.35 ERA. At the Pirate Classic, McNeil allowed only four earned runs in 14 innings.Â
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Recent Action
Kent State scored five runs in the bottom fourth Wednesday to take a 5-2 lead against Pitt (23-7), before snow forced the game's cancellation. Lauren Grimes led off the fourth with a single the opposite way and Alex Marcantonio followed with a home run to center to tie the game. Jess Carmichael and Shannon Laughlin made it four hits in a row for the Flashes with singles to center. Two batters later, Abbey Ledford launched a three-run homer to left center, just before the game was stopped.
All-Time Series and Last Season
Kent State holds a 48-33 all-time series lead against the Rockets. The Golden Flashes swept a pair of games from Toledo last season. Beth Cinadr drove in a pair of runs in a 2-1 victory, before KSU ripped 12 hits in an 8-3 victory. Markie Pozzuto earned the victory.  Jess Carmichael went 3-for-4, while Cinadr and Mary Holt each homered. The Rockets and Flashes split a pair the last time the teams met in Toledo in 2009.
Kent State holds a 53-43-1 all-time series lead against Bowling Green. The Flashes most recently defeated the Falcons 8-0 in the opening round of the 2010 MAC Tournament. Cinadr went 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Holt doubled and scored. Cinadr and Carmichael each went 3-for-4 in an 8-0 regular season win over the Falcons. Bowling Green has split the regular season series with Kent State in each of the past three seasons.
Cinadr Marching Over Opposing Pitchers
In Kent State's 11 games during the month of March, senior Beth Cinadr is hitting .512 (21-for-41) with seven doubles and 11 runs batted in. Four of those doubles came at the South Florida Invitational, including two in a 4-1 win over Rutgers. Cinadr went 3-for-3 against the Scarlet Knights with an RBI.
• Cinadr and Lauren Grimes each have nine doubles on the season, which is tied for second in MAC.
 • Jess Carmichael smashed her team-leading seventh home run of the season against Bethune-Cookman, raising her career total to 32. She ranks second in the MAC in homers and second among KSU's career home run leaders, trailing only Jamie Fitzpatrick who finished with 36. Earlier this month, she wa named MAC East Player of the Week for the fourth consecutive season.
• The Golden Flashes are 0-8 in one-run games this season and 0-4 in extra-inning contests.
• Sophomore Danielle Abernathy went 2-0 in two scoreless appearances at Bethune-Cookman last Wednesday.
Up Next
The Golden Flashes will visit Robert Morris Wednesday in a non-conference doubleheader.
