Kent State University
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Western Michigan University
Baseball Welcomes Western Michigan for First Home MAC Series
3/31/2016 3:17:00 PM | Baseball
The Golden Flashes (17-7, 2-1) will host their first conference series of the season when Western Michigan (7-15, 0-0) visits this weekend. Game times are scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
COVERAGE
• Live play-by-play will air on Golden Flashes iHeart Radio
• Live stats will be available at sidearmstats.com/kent/baseball
PROBABLE PITCHING STARTERS
Friday, April 21
Kent State: #10 LHP Eric Lauer (4-1, 1.16 ERA, 46 SO, 16 BB, 6 GS, 38.2 IP)
WMU: #9 LHP Keegan Akin (2-2, 0.96 ERA, 47 SO, 10 BB, 6 GS, 37.2 IP)
Saturday, April 2
Kent State: #35 RHP Andy Ravel (3-2, 5.18 ERA, 23 SO, 8 BB, 6 GS, 33.0 IP)
WMU: TBD
Sunday, April 3
Kent State: #31 LHP Eli Kraus (4-1, 2.36 ERA, 22 SO, 14 BB, 6 GS, 34.1 IP)
WMU: #24 RHP Pat Haynes (0-0, 4.91 ERA, 10 SO, 6 BB, 2 GS, 14.2 IP)
THE MATCHUP
• Kent State is 69-79 all-time against Western Michigan
• The Golden Flashes were shut out 5-0 by the Broncos in the first round of the MAC Tournament last year
• In 2014, Kent State took down WMU 12-2 in the MAC Tournament semifinals
• The last time the two teams met in a weekend series was in 2013 in Kalamazoo where the Flashes swept with wins of 3-0, 13-4 and 4-1
• Kent State also swept the series the year previous, in 2012, winning 16-5, 4-0 and 7-1 at home before beating the Broncos 12-3 in the MAC Tournament
• The Golden Flashes have swept the last four weekend series and had won 16-straight before last year's tournament loss
• The Broncos have not won a series against the Flashes since 1998
• Western Michigan is batting .256 as a team and posts a 5.28 team ERA
• They are the only MAC team yet to play a conference game
• They took four non-conference games against Bowling Green this season, winning 1-0 and 6-5 at home and 3-2 and 11-0 on the road
HOME SWEET HOME
• This Friday marks the start of a nine-game home stand for the Flashes
• After this weekend, the Golden Flashes will host two midweek games against Ohio State on Tuesday, April 5 at 6 p.m. and Wednesday, April 6 at 6 p.m. against Canisius
• Toledo will then come to town the weekend of April 8-10 for a conference series
• The home stretch will end with a 6 p.m. game versus Youngstown State on Wednesday, April 13
• Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the ticket office at 330-672-2244
MAC RANKINGS
• Through this past weekend's games, Kent State remains the MAC leader in wins, ERA, saves, runs allowed, earned runs allowed, runs scored and RBI
• Additionally, the team ranks in the top five in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, doubles, homeruns, total bases, sacrifices, opposing batting average, strikeouts, runners picked off, hits allowed and walks allowed
• Eric Lauer is 2nd in ERA, is tied for the lead in wins, leads in innings pitched and ranks 2nd in strikeouts
• Zarley Zalewski ranks 8th in the MAC in batting average, 4th in runs scored, tied for 5th in doubles, is 4th in RBI, 7th in on-base percentage
• Eli Kraus is 5th in ERA, tied for the lead in wins, 8th in innings pitched
• Dylan Rosa is tied for 4th in homeruns with five, tied for 5th in doubles, is 2nd in RBI, 7th in total bases
• Luke Burch ranks 9th in RBI, 2nd in stolen bases
• Zach Willeman is the conference leader in saves with seven
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