Kent State University
Youngstown State University
Baseball Back in Action with Midweek Contests
3/30/2015 3:15:00 PM | Baseball
Kent State (12-11) will look to keep momentum on its side when it plays two midweek games this week. The Golden Flashes will host Youngstown State (5-15) on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and travel to Penn State (8-14) on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. matchup.
COVERAGE
Tuesday Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/kent/baseball
Wednesday Live Stats: gopsusports.com
Audio: Golden Flashes iHeart Radio
PROBABLE PITCHING STARTERS
Tuesday, March 31
Kent State: #31 LHP Eli Kraus (0-0, 3.18 ERA, 5 SO, 2 BB, 1 GS, 5.2 IP)
YSU: #16 LHP Joe King (0-0, 4.41 ERA, 13 SO, 4 BB, 0 GS, 16.1 IP)
Wednesday, April 1
Kent State: #21 LHP Jared Skolnicki (2-2, 2.89ERA, 24 SO, 5 BB, 4 GS, 28.0 IP)
Penn State: #23 LHP Jordan Donmoyer (0-1, 3.86 ERA, 0 SO, 4 BB, 2 GS, 7.0 IP)
KENT STATE – YOUNGSTOWN STATE HISTORY
• Kent State is 64-18-1 all-time against Youngstown State
• Last season, the two teams split four meetings
• The Golden Flashes won the first at home 10-2 in six weather-shortened innings
• In a doubleheader at Niles, Kent State won the first game 11-7 then dropped the second 4-7
• The Penguins won the final meeting 4-5 in Kent
KENT STATE – PENN STATE HISTORY
• Kent State is 6-7 all-time against Penn State
• The Golden Flashes beat the Nittany Lions 4-1 at home last year and the road game was cancelled
• The teams split their two meetings in 2013 while Penn State swept both games in 2012. That second game loss was the last defeat Kent State had before going on a 21-game win streak en route to the College World Series
IT ALL STARTS FROM THE TOP
• Leadoff hitter Luke Burch is providing a big spark to the Kent State offense in his first year after transferring from Ashland University
• Burch is leading the team in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, total bases and stolen bases – all huge categories to excel in in the top of the lineup
• He currently is on an 11-game hitting streak and has a team-best 11 multi-hit games this season
• When not leading off, he still gets the job done. Burch is hitting .407 with runners in scoring position, is 1-for-1 with bases loaded and has a .605 success rate of advancing runners
MAC STATS
• Kent State is second in the conference in team batting average (.293) and first in team ERA (3.40)
• The Golden Flashes have three players ranked in the top ten in batting average: Burch (3rd), Zarley Zalewski (5th) and Sawyer Polen (8th)
• Eric Lauer's ERA ranks 6th while Nick Jensen-Clagg is 9th
• Burch is also 6th in hits, 5th in runs scored, 2nd in stolen bases and 2nd in on-base percentage
• Polen is 4th in triples
• Zalewski is 4th in walks and 5th in on-base percentage
• Jensen-Clagg is tied for 2nd in wins, 2nd in opposing batting average and leads the conference in strikeouts
• Lauer is 3rd in strikeouts
• Zach Willeman is tied for 8th in the conference in saves
