Kent State Baseball Normal9Cast With Evan Campbell - Episode 6
5/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Kent State Baseball Normal9Cast With Evan Campbell - Episode 6Â
The Kent State baseball team is offering its fans an insider's view of everything dealing with the Golden Flashes with another episode of the 'Kent State Baseball Normal9Cast,' co-hosted by junior outfielder Evan Campbell (Beloit, Ohio) and baseball media relations director Mike Ashcraft.
This week, Campbell and Ashcraft chat with senior shortstop Jimmy Rider (Venetia, Pa.).
Rider collected his 319th hit with a single to right field in the top of the first inning in Kent State's 13-4 triumph at Ohio last Sunday (May 6) to surpass Scott Simon (2003-04, 06-07) of Northern Illinois for the conference's career hits record. He finished the contest with a double and two singles to up his career total to 321.
Rider leads Kent State with 74 hits on the season in 2012 - including a team-high 22 doubles to tie for fourth in the country. He's smashed three home runs and driven in 32 runs and is batting .365 on the season. Rider is hitting .333 in MAC play with 30 hits - including seven doubles and three home runs - to go along with 17 RBIs and 28 runs scored. He was named MAC East Division Player of the Week on April 30 after cracking a two-out, two-RBI double to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning to help Kent State blank Western Michigan, 4-0, on April 28 and establish himself as the school's new all-time hits king. Rider's historic hit highlighted a week in which the senior co-captain batted a team-best .571 with a team-high 12 hits and five RBIs – including matching his career best with a 5-for-5 effort at the plate in a 6-4 non-conference loss at Penn State on April 25.
A 2009 Second Team All-MAC pick, Rider is also one of the top defensive shortstops in MAC history, owning Kent State's all-time record in assists with 701.
The Kent State baseball team has also gone social. You can follow the Golden Flashes on Twitter @FlashesBaseball.
With a five-game lead with six conference games to play in the race for the 2012 Mid-American Conference regular season title, the Kent State baseball team welcomes East Division rival Miami to town this weekend (May 11-13) for a three-game weekend set with the opportunity to clinch its 11th-such championship in front of its fans at Olga A. Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium.
The Golden Flashes (30-17, 18-3 MAC) clinched the MAC East Division title by winning their sixth MAC series of the 2012 season in seven tries and earning their fifth straight conference series sweep and second straight thanks to their three victories at Ohio last weekend (May 4-6). The Flashes weathered a lightning suspension that pushed their Friday (May 4) series opener into Saturday (May 5) to post a 4-1 win over Ohio, then followed it up with an 8-1 triumph in game two. Kent State completed the sweep of the Bobcats with a decisive 13-4 win in the Sunday (May 6) finale. Kent State has won 22 of its last 29 games – including 11 of their last 13 and six in a row. The weekend series win allowed Kent State to maintain its hold on first place in the race for the conference's regular season championship and number one seed in the 2012 MAC Tournament, which will be held May 23-26 at All-Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio. Kent State has won at least 30 games 25 times in the last 30 years – including 13 years in a row and all eight seasons under eighth-year head coach Scott Stricklin's watch.
Kent State can clinch the MAC regular season championship outright with two victories over the RedHawks this weekend. A win coupled with a Toledo loss at Bowling Green Friday would also clinch the title outright. A win Friday would clinch at least a share of the MAC crown.
