Kent State University
Winthrop University
No. 30 Kent State Opens Season This Weekend at Winthrop
2/12/2015 11:48:00 AM | Baseball
No. 30 Kent State will begin the season in a four-game set at Winthrop beginning Friday, Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. and the series finale is set to take place Sunday at 1 p.m.
COVERAGE
• Live stats are available at winthropeagles.com
• Winthrop's radio broadcast can be accessed online here
PROBABLE PITCHING STARTERS
Friday, February 13
Kent State: #32 RHP Nick Jensen-Clagg
Winthrop: TBA
Saturday, February 14 Game One
Kent State: #35 RHP Andy Ravel
Winthrop: TBA
Saturday, February 14 Game Two
TBA
Sunday, February 15
TBA
KENT STATE – WINTHROP HISTORY
• Kent State is 19-12 all-time against Winthrop
• The Golden Flashes won both meetings last season
• In the first 8-5 win, Alex Miklos was 3-for-4 with a sacrifice, RBI and stolen base while the team erupted for 17 hits
• Kent State the second game 9-4 with Jensen-Clagg getting the start and Dan Kopcak earning the win
• The Golden Flashes again had 17 hits in the game with Miklos grabbing three more on three doubles. Tommy Monnot also had a three-hit day
EARLY SEASON ACCOLADES
• Kent State enters the season with a No. 30 national ranking in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll
• They were picked to make the NCAA Tournament this season by D1Baseball and Baseball America, among numerous other publications
• The 12 head coaches from the Mid-American Conference selected the Golden Flashes as the MAC favorite for the fifth-straight year
• Individually, Perfect Game named Miklos, Zalewski, Sawyer Polen, and Eric Lauer to its preseason All-MAC Team and Zach Willeman as preseason Freshman of the Year
• College Sports Madness gave Miklos preseason Field Player of the Year honors, Coach of the Year to Jeff Duncan and Freshman of the Year to Willeman
PERENNIAL POWERHOUSE
• Kent State has become nearly untouchable when it comes to winning MAC championships
• The Golden Flashes have won either the regular season or the tournament title in 14 of the last 15 seasons
• They have boasted a conference winning percentage over .500 in 24 of the last 25 years
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES CLASS AT AN END
• This year's seniors are the last batch of Kent State players that appeared in the College World Series during the program's remarkable run in 2012
• Sawyer Polen and Alex Miklos both started all three CWS games as freshman
• Polen led the team with a .400 batting average in Omaha
• Josh Pierce was the third current player to log time. He picked up the save when Kent State beat the No. 1 seed Florida to stay alive in the tournament
FOCUS IS KEY
• It's always the goal of the team to reach Omaha, but Kent State is setting its sights on a smaller scale
• The key to this season is focus and taking one pitch at a time
• Instead of looking ahead to the conference tournament and NCAA postseason play and the College World Series, Coach Duncan is reminding his players to stay in the moment and take one game and one pitch at a time
