Kent State University
Western Carolina University
Another Road Series Awaits Kent State this Weekend
3/16/2017 12:18:00 PM | Baseball
The Golden Flashes (9-5) will travel to Western Carolina (7-8) this weekend for a three-game series. The action is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams will then play at 4 p.m. on Saturday and conclude on Sunday in a 1 p.m. game.
COVERAGE
• Live stats for all three games will be available at catamountsports.com
Friday live stats
Saturday live stats
Sunday live stats
• Western Carolina will provide radio play-by-play for Friday and Saturday's games
• Sunday's game will have a live video feed via the SoCon Digital Network
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, March 17
Kent State: #31 LHP Eli Kraus (3-1, 3.70 ERA, 20 SO, 8 BB, 4 GS, 24.1 IP)
WCU: #32 LHP Bryan Sammons (3-0, 2.60 ERA, 28 SO, 12 BB, 4 GS, 27.2 IP)
Saturday, March 18
Kent State: #23 RHP Zach Willeman (2-2, 6.75 ERA, 19 SO, 9 BB, 4 GS, 20.0 IP)
WCU: #30 LHP Tristan Baker (1-1, 2.70 ERA, 9 SO, 7 BB, 3 GS, 20.0 IP)
Sunday, March 19
Kent State: #30 RHP Joey Murray (1-0, 1.86 ERA, 26 SO, 9 BB, 4 GS, 19.1 IP)
WCU: #44 LHP Brendan Nail (1-3, 14.24 ERA, 22 SO, 14 BB, 4 GS, 18.1 IP)
THE MATCHUP
• Kent State is 4-3 all-time against Western Carolina
• The Flashes played host to end the regular season and took two games, winning 5-4 and 3-1
• Prior to that, the two teams met at a neutral site in 2005 with the Catamounts winning 4-1 on March 5
• Kent State opened the 2001 season against Western Carolina, losing 9-5
• Before that, the Flashes logged a win on the road in 1996 in a 9-4 game
• In 1993, the Flashes met the Catamounts in a NCAA regional game, winning 8-5
• The two teams also met at NCAA Regionals in 1992, with Western Carolina taking that game 14-1
• WCU took two out of three games at Nebraska last weekend
• They are slated to play Kennesaw State at home on Thursday before hosting the Flashes
• The team is batting .274 while holding a combined ERA of 6.96
MAC WEEKLY HONOREES
• Kent State swept the MAC East awards this past week as Luke Burch was named Player of the Week and Joey Murray Pitcher of the Week for their success in the series at College of Charleston
• Burch raised his average nearly 80 points to .390 in a monster weekend
• He went 2-for-4 on Friday with a double, two walks and two RBI; 4-for-5 with a homerun and two doubles on Saturday; and finished 3-for-5 with another double on Sunday
• Burch was also perfect defensively and added in an outfield assist and stolen base
• Murray went 5.0 shutout innings on Sunday in the start while allowing just two hits. He only allowed three base runners in the game as the Cougars hit just .118 against him
• He finished with nine strikeouts and was awarded with his first win of the season
SUPER SOPHOMORES
• Kent State's sophomore class has started off the 2017 with strong performances
• Connor Wollersheim holds one of the teams lowest ERAs, a 1.04, as he has thrown 17.1 innings with two starts in four appearances
• Joey Murray has the best ERA among the three regular weekend starters with a 1.86 and leads the team with 26 strikeouts
• At the plate, Josh Hollander is among the teams best offensive weapons as he is hitting .326 while getting as many free passes (walks and hit batters) as strikeouts
• Fellow sophomore Pete Schuler is batting .296 and is second on the team with ten RBI
• He leads the team with 112 putouts while playing first and catching and is errorless so far this year
