Friday, April 25
DeKalb, IL
2:00 p.m.
Kent State University
at
Northern Illinois University
Erika Warren and Lauren Kesterson
Photo by: David Dermer
Softball Aims to Continue Winnings Ways on Weekend Road Trip
4/24/2014 5:56:00 PM | Softball
The Kent State softball team will leave the state of Ohio for the first time since beginning Mid-American Conference play on March 28 when it hits the road for cross-divisional game this weekend.
The Golden Flashes will begin the road trip with a doubleheader at Northern Illinois on Friday, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. The Flashes will then play single games at Western Michigan on Saturday and Sunday. Those games are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
Last Time Out
Kent State is coming off of perhaps its best weekend of the season after extending its winning streak to five games with sweeps of Toledo and Bowling Green at the Diamond at Dix. The Flashes outscored their opponents 32-4 on the weekend and received several standout hitting and pitching performances.
The Flashes hit .333 as a team and had five players collect four or more base hits. Freshman Maddy Grimm was the catalyst from the leadoff spot with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI. Grimm, who was walked five times, made the most of the pitches she saw and was 5-for-9 at the plate. Sophomore Erika Warren had a breakout performance with four hits and a team-best six RBI.
The junior outfielder trio of Ariele Patterson, Kim Kirkpatrick and Dani Ramos combined for 14 hits, 10 runs and seven RBI. Patterson went 6-for-13 from the plate, drove in four runs and hit her third home run of the season. Kirkpatrick doubled to bring home the only run in a 1-0 victory over Toledo on Friday.
Junior ace Emma Johnson tossed a no-hitter Friday against Toledo to highlight a weekend that resulted in her third MAC East Pitcher of the Week honor this season. Johnson threw shutouts in both of her starts and picked up a third victory in relief on Sunday. Overall, she allowed just three hits over 12.2 scoreless innings while striking out 18 and walking just three. Freshman Ronnie Ladines was also terrific on Friday and threw the first shutout of her collegiate career against Toledo.
Offensive Leaders
Freshman Maddy Grimm leads the Flashes in nearly every offensive category, and MAC opponents are beginning to take notice. Grimm, who is hitting .337 with 7 doubles, 12 home runs and 40 RBI, has been walked in 15 times of her last 29 plate appearances. Last weekend, she broke the Kent State freshman records for home runs and RBI.
Junior Kim Kirkpatrick leads the Flashes with 10 doubles and trails only Grimm in batting average (.298), runs (27), home runs (4) and RBI (13). Junior Dani Ramos is tied for the MAC lead with five triples. Junior Ariele Patterson has taken over the third outfield position as of late and is hitting a team-best .400 in MAC games.
Senior Abbey Ledford has seen her bat come alive in recent weeks. Ledford is hitting .290 in conference games and is second on the teams with and four home runs and 14 RBI.
Pitching Leaders
Junior Emma Johnson (12-7) has improved as the season has progressed and is among the leading candidates for MAC Pitcher of the Year, an award she won a year ago. Johnson has 128 strikeouts and a 2.21 ERA over 110.2 innings this season. She has thrown 10 complete games and now has four shutouts after throwing a pair of them last weekend.
Freshman Ronnie Ladines (5-5) has been terrific since the beginning of conference play. Despite a 2-2 record, Ladines has a 1.91 ERA in 29.1 innings against MAC competition. She also has 28 strikeouts and only two walks in those games.
KSU in the MAC Standings
Entering the weekend, Kent State is within a game of first-place Ohio (10-4) and tied with Ball State (7-3) for second place overall in the MAC. The Flashes will look for a strong finish to the regular season for the second consecutive season after winning seven of their final eight games a year ago.
Opponents
Northern Illinois (19-24, 7-7 MAC)
Western Michigan (16-27, 7-7 MAC)
Series History vs. Opponents
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State will concludes the regular season when Buffalo visits the Diamond at Dix on May 3-4. The Golden Flashes will recognize Jessacca Gironda, Caitie Kilbane, Abbey Ledford, Lauren McNeil and Kim Morgason during a Senior Day ceremony on Sunday May 4.
The Golden Flashes will begin the road trip with a doubleheader at Northern Illinois on Friday, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. The Flashes will then play single games at Western Michigan on Saturday and Sunday. Those games are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
Last Time Out
Kent State is coming off of perhaps its best weekend of the season after extending its winning streak to five games with sweeps of Toledo and Bowling Green at the Diamond at Dix. The Flashes outscored their opponents 32-4 on the weekend and received several standout hitting and pitching performances.
The Flashes hit .333 as a team and had five players collect four or more base hits. Freshman Maddy Grimm was the catalyst from the leadoff spot with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI. Grimm, who was walked five times, made the most of the pitches she saw and was 5-for-9 at the plate. Sophomore Erika Warren had a breakout performance with four hits and a team-best six RBI.
The junior outfielder trio of Ariele Patterson, Kim Kirkpatrick and Dani Ramos combined for 14 hits, 10 runs and seven RBI. Patterson went 6-for-13 from the plate, drove in four runs and hit her third home run of the season. Kirkpatrick doubled to bring home the only run in a 1-0 victory over Toledo on Friday.
Junior ace Emma Johnson tossed a no-hitter Friday against Toledo to highlight a weekend that resulted in her third MAC East Pitcher of the Week honor this season. Johnson threw shutouts in both of her starts and picked up a third victory in relief on Sunday. Overall, she allowed just three hits over 12.2 scoreless innings while striking out 18 and walking just three. Freshman Ronnie Ladines was also terrific on Friday and threw the first shutout of her collegiate career against Toledo.
Offensive Leaders
Freshman Maddy Grimm leads the Flashes in nearly every offensive category, and MAC opponents are beginning to take notice. Grimm, who is hitting .337 with 7 doubles, 12 home runs and 40 RBI, has been walked in 15 times of her last 29 plate appearances. Last weekend, she broke the Kent State freshman records for home runs and RBI.
Junior Kim Kirkpatrick leads the Flashes with 10 doubles and trails only Grimm in batting average (.298), runs (27), home runs (4) and RBI (13). Junior Dani Ramos is tied for the MAC lead with five triples. Junior Ariele Patterson has taken over the third outfield position as of late and is hitting a team-best .400 in MAC games.
Senior Abbey Ledford has seen her bat come alive in recent weeks. Ledford is hitting .290 in conference games and is second on the teams with and four home runs and 14 RBI.
Pitching Leaders
Junior Emma Johnson (12-7) has improved as the season has progressed and is among the leading candidates for MAC Pitcher of the Year, an award she won a year ago. Johnson has 128 strikeouts and a 2.21 ERA over 110.2 innings this season. She has thrown 10 complete games and now has four shutouts after throwing a pair of them last weekend.
Freshman Ronnie Ladines (5-5) has been terrific since the beginning of conference play. Despite a 2-2 record, Ladines has a 1.91 ERA in 29.1 innings against MAC competition. She also has 28 strikeouts and only two walks in those games.
KSU in the MAC Standings
Entering the weekend, Kent State is within a game of first-place Ohio (10-4) and tied with Ball State (7-3) for second place overall in the MAC. The Flashes will look for a strong finish to the regular season for the second consecutive season after winning seven of their final eight games a year ago.
Opponents
Northern Illinois (19-24, 7-7 MAC)
- Northern Illinois has lost three straight games by a single run with two of the games going to extra innings.
- Eastern Michigan earned its first MAC win of the year with a 4-3 win over NIU in 8 innings Sunday.
- C/IF Kayti Grable is the top hitter in the Huskies' lineup with a .395 batting average, 20 runs scored, 9 doubles, 8 home runs and 26 RBI.
- C/UTL Emily Naegele leads NIU with 35 RBI and 12 RBI on the season. Naegele is hitting .351 and had 4 home runs.
- P Jessica Sturm (13-12) is the ace of the NIU pitching staff. Sturm in all pitching categories, including ERA (2.48), strikeouts (44), innings pitched (132.2), complete games (10) and shutouts (2).
Western Michigan (16-27, 7-7 MAC)
- Western Michigan is coming off of its first 3-1 MAC weekend of the season after sweeping Eastern Michigan and splitting with Central Michigan.
- The Broncos have hit a conference-best 5 grand slams on the season.
- P Alyson Kus (13-14) was named MAC West Pitcher of the Week after going 3-0 and finishing with a 0.39 ERA over 18 innings. Kus has thrown 21 complete games, including 4 shutouts, and has 91 strikeouts on the season. She owns a 3.59 ERA and opponents are hitting .304 against her.
- OF Melissa Palmer leads the Broncos with a .357 batting average and 50 hits.
- SS Sabrina Gamboa provides power in the lineup with team-bests 5 home runs, 5 doubles and .429 slugging percentage.
Series History vs. Opponents
- Northern Illinois: 18-26
- Western Michigan: 44-31
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State will concludes the regular season when Buffalo visits the Diamond at Dix on May 3-4. The Golden Flashes will recognize Jessacca Gironda, Caitie Kilbane, Abbey Ledford, Lauren McNeil and Kim Morgason during a Senior Day ceremony on Sunday May 4.
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