Kent State University
Ohio University
Kent State to Host First MAC East Foe at Home This Weekend
4/16/2015 12:36:00 PM | Baseball
Kent State (20-13, 8-4) will welcome Ohio (20-14, 6-6) to Schoonover Stadium for the Golden Flashes' first Mid-American Conference East Division matchup of the season. Game times are set for Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
COVERAGE
• Live stats will be available at sidearmstats.com/kent/baseball
• All three games will be aired live on Golden Flashes iHeart Radio
PROBABLE PITCHING STARTERS
Friday, April 17
Kent State: #32 RHP Nick Jensen-Clagg (6-3, 2.63 ERA, 66 SO, 25 BB, 9 GS, 54.2 IP)
Ohio: #18 RHP Jake Miller (2-2, 2.91 ERA, 36 SO, 10 BB, 2 GS, 34.0 IP)
Saturday, April 18
Kent State: #10 LHP Eric Lauer (2-3, 2.12 ERA, 60 SO, 14 BB, 7 GS, 46.2 IP)
Ohio: # 31 RHP Connor Sitz (4-1, 4.97 ERA, 37 SO, 19 BB, 10 GS, 41.2 IP)
Sunday, April 19
Kent State: #35 RHP Andy Ravel (5-1, 2.72 ERA, 37 SO, 10 BB, 8 GS, 46.1 IP)
Ohio: TBD
KENT STATE – OHIO HISTORY
• Kent State is 75-93-1 all-time against Ohio
• Last season the Golden Flashes swept the Bobcats in Athens, outscoring them 34-6
• Ohio has not won a series versus KSU since 1998 when they took three out of four games
• In MAC play this year, the Bobcats won their series against Buffalo and have not been swept in a three-game set
NATIONAL RANKINGS
• Through Tuesday's games, Kent State ranks 41st in doubles per game, 39th in ERA, 28th in hits allowed per nine innings, 47th in shutouts, 30th in strikeout to walk ratio, 6th in strikeouts per nine innings and 34th in WHIP
• Individually, Tommy Monnot is 45th in doubles and 4th in doubles per game
• Sawyer Polen is 39th in hit by pitch per game and 44th in hit by pitch
• Conner Simonetti is 11th in the nation in slugging percentage
• Luke Burch is 38th in runs per game, 30th in stolen bases and 10th in stolen bases per game
• Zach Willeman is 47th in saves
• Nick Jensen-Clagg is 27th in strikeouts, 39th in strikeouts per nine innings and 25th in victories
• Eric Lauer ranks 49th in strikeouts nationally and 19th in strikeouts per nine innings
CHASING RECORDS
• Sawyer Polen currently has 505 career assists, which is 5th all-time at Kent State. He needs 30 more to tie for 4th place
• The pitching staff is on a good pace to land in the top three of single season strikeouts
• Currently, the team has 309 strikeouts in 295.1 innings, which breaks down to 1.05 strikeouts per inning
• The record for strikeouts in a season is 543 set in 2012. That staff averaged .89 strikeouts per inning
POWER SURGE
• The team already has 20 homeruns this season, five short of the 2014 total and one more than the team total in 2013
• That does not count the three hit during the cancelled Ohio State game
AWESOME ARMS
• Kent State's team ERA current sits at 3.11 entering the weekend
• The Golden Flashes pitching staff has not had a team ERA under 3.50 since the 2011 season, when they finished at 2.66. That stands as the lowest ERA and the only under 3.50 in the past 20 seasons, dating back through 1994
• All three weekend starters have ERAs sub-2.75 with a combined 163:49 strikeout to walk ratio
• Not one of the three starters is allowing an opposing batting average over .237
