Flashes to Host Bowling Green and Toledo This Weekend
4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Kent State continues Mid-American Conference play this weekend with four games in three days at the Diamond at Dix. The Golden Flashes (17-17, 3-1 MAC) host Bowling Green (18-13, 3-1) in a doubleheader Friday, beginning at 1 p.m. Both teams are in a three-way tie with Ohio atop the MAC East standings. Toledo (10-16) then comes to Kent for single games on Saturday and Sunday.
Live stats for all games can be viewed on www.kentstatesports.com
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Strides For Autism
For the second straight season, the Kent State softball team is sponsoring Joey Cheney and the Family Child Learning Center during Autism Awareness Month. Joey was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2 ½ has had major breakthroughs in the areas of communication and motor skills since enrolling at the FCLC. The Golden Flashes had the opportunity to see first-hand, the benefits of attending FCLC. During home games throughout the month of April, the softball team will be taking donations to benefit children with autism.  Donations can also be made at FirstGiving.com.
Quick Flashes
Over her last six games, senior Mary Holt (Providence, R.I.) is hitting .500 with a home run, a double and five runs scored.Â
Senior Shannon Laughlin (Fairview Park, Ohio) has an extra-base hit in all four conference games. Laughlin hit .333 last week with four doubles, a home run and five RBI.Â
Five different Golden Flashes have homered since Friday:Â Laughlin, Holt, Alex Marcantonio, Jess Blanton, and Kim Morgason.
Morgason became the fifth player to homer on Wednesday against Robert Morris, where she also doubled on a 3-for-6 day.
Junior Danielle Abernathy (Adairsville, Ga.) retired the first 18 RMU batters she faced in a complete game victory on Wednesday. In three appearances since Friday, Abernathy is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA.
Kent State ranks 13th in the nation in doubles per game (1.5), led by Holt and Laughlin with eight.
Freshman Dani Ramos (South Euclid, Ohio) hit .429 (9-for-21) last week with five runs scored.
In her last nine appearances, freshman Emma Johnson (Groveport, Ohio) is 6-1 with a 1.26 ERA and a pair of shutouts. She ranks 46th in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings.
Kent State's current RPI is 111 of 289 Division I teams. Thirteen of the Flashes' games played have come against opponents with higher RPIs.
Since 1999, Kent State has gone 134-59 at home.
Kent State has gone 13-8 since March 4.
The Opponents
Bowling Green –The Falcons hold the third-best earned run average in the conference at 2.40. Freshman Paris Imholz is 8-6 with a 2.06 ERA over 97.2 innings pitched.  Classmate Jamie Kertes (8-7, 2.41) is also likely to see action on Friday. Bowling Green is paced offensively by junior Andrea Arney and (.305) sophomore Katie Yoho (.298). Arney and Yoho are both tied for second in the conference with seven home runs on the season. Arney leads the MAC with 29 RBI, while Yoho has 24. BGSU swept a pair of road games at Akron Saturday and Sunday.
Toledo - Before dropping a pair of games to Ohio on Saturday and Sunday, the Rockets swept Akron in a Friday doubleheader, scoring 20 runs on the day. Toledo is led offensively by senior Jillian Spink and junior Lindsey Tobias. Spink's .301 batting average leads the Rockets, while Tobias leads the team with 21 runs batted in. In a win over Akron, sophomore Lani Ernst went 4-for-4 with a double. The Rockets have a combined team ERA of 5.92. However, freshman Casi Rohr tossed a seven-inning, one-hit shutout against Akron last weekend.
MAC Honors
Johnson was named Mid-American Conference Co-East Division Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season on Tuesday. In four conference appearances this past weekend, Johnson went 3-0 with a 1.53 ERA and complete game victories in each of her two starts. For the entire week, Johnson went 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 23.1 innings.Â
Sophomore Abbey Ledford (West Liberty, Ohio) was named MAC East Player of the Week on Feb. 29.Â
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Team & MAC Leaders
Ledford and Holt lead the team with four homers. Ledford has a team-high 23 runs scored, which ranks sixth in the MAC. Her 23 RBI are seventh.
Blanton has a team best .352 batting average, a .441 on-base percentage, which ranks 10th in the MAC and a .495 slugging percentage.Â
Laughlin and Holt are tied for third in the MAC in doubles per game.
 Johnson carries a team best ERA of 1.81, which ranks third in the MAC. She has thrown four shutouts, which is tied for first in the conference. Her 14 complete games are tied for second and her 129 strikeouts are third.
Up Next
The Golden Flashes are scheduled to play at Cleveland State Tuesday.
