Friday, March 28
Akron, OH
1:00 p.m.
Kent State University
vs
Miami University (OH)
Kent State Softball Opens MAC Play Against Miami, Ball State
3/27/2014 4:37:00 PM | Softball
Live Stats
Audio
After making its way through a challenging non-conference schedule, Kent State will open Mid-American Conference play for the 2014 softball season this weekend with a pair of two-game series against Miami and Ball State. All four games have been moved to the University of Akron's Lee R. Jackson Field.
Recent winter weather conditions have caused the field at the Diamond at Dix to be unplayable, forcing the Golden Flashes (14-12) to delay their home opener. Kent State will remain as the home team throughout the weekend, which means it will bat second in all four games.
The Flashes begin the weekend with a doubleheader against Miami on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Flashes will then play 2013 MAC regular season champion Ball State at 2 p.m. on Saturday and again at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Weather Conditions Force Schedule Changes
Weather has not been kind to the Golden Flashes as of late, allowing them to play just twice since March 10. Last week's home doubleheader with Youngstown State, Tuesday's doubleheader at Virginia Tech, and both of Sunday's games at the Radford Invitational were all canceled due to inclement weather. If they are unable to play at home on Sunday, the Flashes will not play their first game at the Diamond at Dix until Wednesday, April 17.
Last Time Out
The Golden Flashes went 2-3 at the Kentucky Tournament in Lexington, Ky. this past weekend. The Flashes defeated Fairfield and Saint Francis (Pa.) while losing to Kansas and twice to No. 10/8 Kentucky. Kent State scored first, and led for the majority of, all three losses before being doomed by big innings in which they were outscored by a combined 16-0 mark. Over the other 32 innings, the Flashes outscored their opponents 21-6.
Freshman Maddy Grimm hit three home runs and had 8 RBI to earn her second consecutive, and third overall, Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week accolade. Grimm went 8-for-16 and also hit two doubles and scored eight runs.
Junior outfielders Kim Kirkpatrick and Dani Ramos both finished the weekend with four-game hitting streaks and five hits overall. Kirkpatrick hit two double and a home run with two RBI, Ramos hit her second triple of the season.
Senior Lauren McNeil threw a shutout in her only start of the weekend against Fairfield on Saturday. McNeil was in command the entire game, recording a season-high six strikeouts and allowing only three hits. She also made relief appearances in both of the Golden Flashes' games on Friday and finished the weekend with nine strikeouts in 8.1 innings and a 1.68 ERA.
Offensive Leaders
Infielder Maddy Grimm has been among nation's top freshmen this season. Among first-year players, Grimm entered the week tied for third in home runs, third in slugging percentage and fourth in RBI, also ranking in the top 30 among all NCAA Division I players for all three statistics.
Grimm is hitting .354 and leads Kent State in nearly every offensive category. She has already hit nine home runs this season, which is two off the Flashes' freshman record (Lauren Grimes, 2010). Her 32 RBI are just three off the Kent State freshman record (Jessica Carmichael, 2008). Grimm needs just one more homer and two RBI to join the top 10 single-season lists for those categories, and conference play is just getting started.
Kent State has shown much more pop in its bat through the first 26 games of the season. The Flashes have already hit 21 home runs to surpass last season's total of 12. In addition to Grimm's six homers, Kim Kirkpatrick has three and Shelbi Tilton and Abbey Ledford have two blasts each.
One of the top freshmen in the Mid-American Conference, Grimm leads the Flashes in several offensive categories, including batting average (.317), hits (20), triples (2) and RBI (24). She ranks second in the conference in slugging percentage (.714) and RBI, third in home runs and 10th in on-base percentage (.434).
Kirkpatrick joins Grimm in scoring a team-best 21 runs on the season, which is third in the conference. She also leads the Flashes with seven doubles and is hitting .300 from the leadoff spot in the lineup.
Pitching Leaders
Kent State's pitching staff ranks second in the MAC with 156 strikeouts and third with a 2.69 team ERA and a .249 opponent batting average.
Emma Johnson (7-6) is the ace of the staff and has thrown seven complete games, which includes a pair of one-hit shutouts. Johnson leads Kent State with 81.1 innings pitched, 92 strikeouts and a 1.98 ERA.
Lauren McNeil (4-2) and Ronnie Ladines (3-3) have both thrown three complete games. McNeil, who also has two saves, has one shutout, 21 strikeouts and a 2.29 ERA on the season. Ladines has 40 strikeouts in 44.0 innings.
Opponents
Miami (11-15)
Ball State (18-11)
Series History vs. Opponents
Radio
For the first time this season, you can listen to Kent State softball on the Golden Flashes iHeart Radio channel. "The Voice of the Golden Flashes" Ty Linder will bring live play-by-play for all four of this weekend's games. The Flashes are scheduled to have 11 regular season games broadcast on the channel this season, with additional game coverage during the 2014 MAC Tournament.
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State play road games against MAC East foes Ohio and Akron next weekend. The Flashes will head to Athens on Friday a doubleheader before returning to Lee R. Jackson Field for single games against the Zips next Saturday and Sunday.
Audio
After making its way through a challenging non-conference schedule, Kent State will open Mid-American Conference play for the 2014 softball season this weekend with a pair of two-game series against Miami and Ball State. All four games have been moved to the University of Akron's Lee R. Jackson Field.
Recent winter weather conditions have caused the field at the Diamond at Dix to be unplayable, forcing the Golden Flashes (14-12) to delay their home opener. Kent State will remain as the home team throughout the weekend, which means it will bat second in all four games.
The Flashes begin the weekend with a doubleheader against Miami on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Flashes will then play 2013 MAC regular season champion Ball State at 2 p.m. on Saturday and again at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Weather Conditions Force Schedule Changes
Weather has not been kind to the Golden Flashes as of late, allowing them to play just twice since March 10. Last week's home doubleheader with Youngstown State, Tuesday's doubleheader at Virginia Tech, and both of Sunday's games at the Radford Invitational were all canceled due to inclement weather. If they are unable to play at home on Sunday, the Flashes will not play their first game at the Diamond at Dix until Wednesday, April 17.
Last Time Out
The Golden Flashes went 2-3 at the Kentucky Tournament in Lexington, Ky. this past weekend. The Flashes defeated Fairfield and Saint Francis (Pa.) while losing to Kansas and twice to No. 10/8 Kentucky. Kent State scored first, and led for the majority of, all three losses before being doomed by big innings in which they were outscored by a combined 16-0 mark. Over the other 32 innings, the Flashes outscored their opponents 21-6.
Freshman Maddy Grimm hit three home runs and had 8 RBI to earn her second consecutive, and third overall, Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week accolade. Grimm went 8-for-16 and also hit two doubles and scored eight runs.
Junior outfielders Kim Kirkpatrick and Dani Ramos both finished the weekend with four-game hitting streaks and five hits overall. Kirkpatrick hit two double and a home run with two RBI, Ramos hit her second triple of the season.
Senior Lauren McNeil threw a shutout in her only start of the weekend against Fairfield on Saturday. McNeil was in command the entire game, recording a season-high six strikeouts and allowing only three hits. She also made relief appearances in both of the Golden Flashes' games on Friday and finished the weekend with nine strikeouts in 8.1 innings and a 1.68 ERA.
Offensive Leaders
Infielder Maddy Grimm has been among nation's top freshmen this season. Among first-year players, Grimm entered the week tied for third in home runs, third in slugging percentage and fourth in RBI, also ranking in the top 30 among all NCAA Division I players for all three statistics.
Grimm is hitting .354 and leads Kent State in nearly every offensive category. She has already hit nine home runs this season, which is two off the Flashes' freshman record (Lauren Grimes, 2010). Her 32 RBI are just three off the Kent State freshman record (Jessica Carmichael, 2008). Grimm needs just one more homer and two RBI to join the top 10 single-season lists for those categories, and conference play is just getting started.
Kent State has shown much more pop in its bat through the first 26 games of the season. The Flashes have already hit 21 home runs to surpass last season's total of 12. In addition to Grimm's six homers, Kim Kirkpatrick has three and Shelbi Tilton and Abbey Ledford have two blasts each.
One of the top freshmen in the Mid-American Conference, Grimm leads the Flashes in several offensive categories, including batting average (.317), hits (20), triples (2) and RBI (24). She ranks second in the conference in slugging percentage (.714) and RBI, third in home runs and 10th in on-base percentage (.434).
Kirkpatrick joins Grimm in scoring a team-best 21 runs on the season, which is third in the conference. She also leads the Flashes with seven doubles and is hitting .300 from the leadoff spot in the lineup.
Pitching Leaders
Kent State's pitching staff ranks second in the MAC with 156 strikeouts and third with a 2.69 team ERA and a .249 opponent batting average.
Emma Johnson (7-6) is the ace of the staff and has thrown seven complete games, which includes a pair of one-hit shutouts. Johnson leads Kent State with 81.1 innings pitched, 92 strikeouts and a 1.98 ERA.
Lauren McNeil (4-2) and Ronnie Ladines (3-3) have both thrown three complete games. McNeil, who also has two saves, has one shutout, 21 strikeouts and a 2.29 ERA on the season. Ladines has 40 strikeouts in 44.0 innings.
Opponents
Miami (11-15)
- Miami lost to Marshall, 10-2, on Wednesday and has dropped 5 of its last 7 games overall.
- The RedHawks and Flashes played one mutual opponent, Kansas. The Jayhawks beat Miami 5-2 and Kent State 6-2.
- C Kayla Ledbetter is the lone Miami player hitting better than .300 on the season. Ledbetter is batting .326 and is second on the team with 5 doubles and 2 home runs.
- OF Bree Lipscomb is the top slugger for the RedHawks and leads them with 8 doubles, 7 home runs, 25 RBI and a .685 slugging percentage.
- P Amber Logemann (4-8) was named MAC East co-Pitcher of the Week after allowing just two runs to earn victories over Wright State and Robert Morris. Logemann leads Miami in several categories, including complete games (3), strikeouts (56), innings pitched (61.1) and ERA (3.20).
- P Paige Myers (5-4) leads the team in wins and has a 3.30 ERA in 53.0 innings.
Ball State (18-11)
- Ball State went 3-2 this past weekend and will open MAC play against the Flashes on Saturday due to Friday's doubleheader at Buffalo being canceled.
- The highlight of the season to-date was a 3-0 victory at No. 3 Arizona State on March 4.
- The Cardinals are 70th in the initial RPI rankings that were released this past week, which is only behind Kent State among MAC schools. They are 1-4 on the season against ranked opponents.
- Ball State has the best offense in the MAC this season and leads the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs and RBI. The Cardinals rank in the top 25 nationally in batting average (16th), home runs (21st), doubles/game (11th) and slugging percentage (8th).
- All-American OF Jennifer Gilbert ranks among the top 25 nationally in slugging percentage (18th), home runs (17th) and RBI/game (25th). Gilbert leads the MAC in home runs (10), RBI (35), runs (30) and slugging percentage (.831).
- OF Briana Evans is hitting a team-best .407 to rank second in the MAC and leads the conference with 4 triples.
- 1B Taylor Rager leads the MAC with 14 doubles and ranks fifth with 23 RBI.
- Ball State's pitching staff has struggled with a team ERA of 4.69. All three pitchers who have thrown more than 10 innings on the season own an ERA of more than 4.00 and an opponent batting average over .300.
- P Nicole Steinbach (7-5) was named MAC West co-Pitcher of the Week after posting a 3-1 record in the circle for the Cardinals last week. Steinbach thrown 65.2 innings and has 39 strikeouts on the season.
Series History vs. Opponents
- Miami: 48-49
- Ball State: 46-30
Radio
For the first time this season, you can listen to Kent State softball on the Golden Flashes iHeart Radio channel. "The Voice of the Golden Flashes" Ty Linder will bring live play-by-play for all four of this weekend's games. The Flashes are scheduled to have 11 regular season games broadcast on the channel this season, with additional game coverage during the 2014 MAC Tournament.
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State play road games against MAC East foes Ohio and Akron next weekend. The Flashes will head to Athens on Friday a doubleheader before returning to Lee R. Jackson Field for single games against the Zips next Saturday and Sunday.
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