Oh, How Sweet...A Three-Peat! No. 25 Kent State Baseball Rumbles Over Rival Miami To Capture MAC Title
5/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio -- Three is a magic number. You'll have a hard time convincing the Kent State baseball team otherwise after the Golden Flashes stormed past Miami, 11-0, in the 2011 Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship Game today (May 28) at VA Memorial Stadium, clinching the program's unprecedented third straight conference tournament title and ninth in program history.
The win also punched Kent State's ticket to the 2011 NCAA Championships as the MAC's automatic bid, marking the 12th time Kent State will appear in the national tournament and third straight appearance.
"We got some runs early, and our pitching was unbelievable," said seventh-year head coach and MAC Coach of the Year Scott Stricklin. "We made sure they knew they had a big challenge today, and we told the pitchers to strap it on and the hitters to have it ready. It was great to see our kids perform like they did."
Ranked No. 25 in the nation according to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the Golden Flashes (43-15) won their ninth conference tournament crown in program history, seventh in the last 10 years and fourth under Stricklin. The program becomes the MAC's first to win back-to-back-to-back tournaments, and the 2011 squad becomes the first to capture both the regular season and tournament titles since the 2005 Miami team did it. No. 1-seeded Kent State became the first top seed to win the MAC Tournament since that same Miami squad accomplished the feat, with the Flashes doing it with a 4-1 record over the past four days. The Flashes opened the tournament with a 6-2 victory over Bowling Green on Wednesday (May 25) and followed it with a 5-4 triumph over Eastern Michigan on Thursday (May 26). EMU forced the Flashes to win two games on championship Saturday after beating Kent State, 4-2, on Friday (May 27), but Kent State answered the challenge by shutting out the Eagles, 8-0, in the semifinal today to advance to their sixth straight championship game and 14th in program history. The squad becomes Kent State's sixth to win more than 40 games in a season. Â
The 2011 NCAA Championships begin with the Regionals next weekend (June 3-5). Regional sites will be announced Sunday (May 29) at www.ncaa.com/cws at 3:30 p.m. The 64-team field, with first-round regional pairings and site assignments, will be revealed in a live, half-hour telecast Monday (May 30) on ESPN at 12:30 p.m. The Golden Flashes will hold a watch party at the Water Street Tavern in downtown Kent beginning at 11:30 a.m., and all fans of the blue & gold are welcome to attend.
Junior left-handed starting pitcher and First Team All-MAC pick David Starn (Hudson, Ohio) delivered a four-hit shutout gem in seven innings of work to improve to 9-2, matching his career-high of 11 strikeouts and passing Matt Guerrier (1999; 103) for the second-most strikeouts in a single season with 114 to earn MAC Tournament MVP honors. He joins Dustin Hermanson (1992), Ryan Beeney (1993), Tim Fails (1994), Jon VanBenschoten (2001), Andy Sonnanstine (2004), Jason Patton (2007), Chris Tremblay (2009) and Justin Gill (2010) as the ninth Golden Flash to garner such honors. Starn went 2-0 in two starts in the 2011 MAC Tournament, striking out 15 and allowing just two earned runs on 10 hits in 14.1 innings.
"They told me if we got to the championship game, I would probably get the start," said Starn. "To get the run support was such a spark. We just didn't let them get any runs."
The senior righty Gill (North Canton, Ohio) completed the shutout by tossing scoreless eighth and ninth innings, marking Kent State's 12th shutout victory of 2011 and second in as many games.
"I guess this one is better than the last one since it's fresh," said Gill. "This group of guys is just unbelievable. It seems like I have 27 best friends. We're such a close-knit group, and it's exciting to be moving on to the NCAA Championships with this team."
Kent State's final championship push began with the Flashes unloading a five-run opening frame on Miami. Sophomore center fielder Evan Campbell (Beloit, Ohio) got things rolling by drawing a walk. Junior shortstop Jimmy Rider (Venetia, Pa.) and junior third baseman and First Team All-MAC pick Travis Shaw (Washington Court House, Ohio) each followed with base hits to fill the bags with Flashes. Senior right fielder and First Team All-MAC pick Ben Klafczynski (Granger Township, Ohio) landed the game's first punch by driving home Campbell with a base hit to center. That set up a bases-clearing triple to right center by junior catcher and Second Team All-MAC pick David Lyon (Emporium, Pa.) to make it 4-0. His seventh triple of 2011 ties Matt Rundels' Kent State single-season record set in 1991. His 10 career triples match Rich Rollins (1958-60), Jim Givens (1988-91), Mike Gulan (1990-92) and VanBenschoten (1999-01) for fourth-most all-time in Kent State history. Lyon then put the RedHawks in a 5-0 hole by scampering home on a wild pitch.
"I knew, with the bases loaded, they weren't going to try to walk me or pitch around me," said Lyon. "I was just looking for a fastball to hit. That's what they threw, and I put the barrel on it."
Kent State tacked on single insurance runs in both the third and fourth innings. Klafczynski led off the third by working the count full and drawing a walk. He advanced to both second and third on wild pitches, then scored courtesy of an single to third by redshirt junior left fielder Joe Koch (Youngstown, Ohio). Rider drew a four-pitch one-out walk, moved to second on a groundout and then scored by way of a base hit to left by Klafczynski in the fourth to make it 7-0.
"I feel so blessed to have this opportunity," said Klafczynski. "All the championships are great and special in their own way."
Kent State wasn't done yet. Klafczynski hit a one-out base hit to short and stole second to set the table for a two-run round tripper over the left field wall by Lyon to make it 9-0 in the seventh.
Kent State's lead swelled to double digits when Koch led off the eighth with a single and later scored on an RBI groundout by Rider. Campbell, who reached by way of a fielder's choice, scored on a single up the middle by Shaw.
Campbell, Lyon and redshirt sophomore left-handed starting pitcher Andrew Chafin (Wakeman, Ohio) join Starn on the MAC's 2011 All-Tournament Team.
Stay tuned to KentStateSports.com for continuing coverage of Kent State's championship and more information on its road to the 2011 NCAA Championships.
