Kent State University
Pitt
Golden Flashes Head to Pitt for Final MAC Tune-Up Wednesday
3/21/2017 10:21:00 PM | Softball
Kent State will travel to Pitt for a mid-week contest on Wednesday. First pitch at Vartabedian Field is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on the ACC Digital Network, while Jacob Pavilack has the call on Golden Flashes iHeart Radio.
The Golden Flashes (8-13) look to end a five-game skid, all against ranked teams, in which they have been outscored 23-4. Kent State has played seven ranked opponents overall with four games being decided by two runs or fewer, including a 4-3 loss to the only remaining undefeated team in Division I, No. 3 Oregon.
Kent State has outscored its opponents, 83-82, on the season. The Flashes have displayed excellent patience at the plate and drawn 77 walks, which is nearly twice as many as their opponents, and have a .340 on-base percentage despite only hitting .229 as a team.
Last Time Out
Kent State was swept by No. 17 Michigan in a three-game series in Ann Arbor over the weekend. The Golden Flashes collected just six hits while striking out 40 times and being outscored 16-3 by the host Wolverines.
Senior Ronnie Ladines gave Kent State an opportunity to steal a game in both of her starts, but All-American Megan Betsa allowed just one hit in 2-0 and 3-0 victories. Ladines went the distance in both games and allowed jus three earned runs for a 1.75 ERA. She held the prolific Michigan offense to a .190 batting average.
Senior Maddy Grimm was responsible for half of the Flashes' hits and contributed to all of their runs in the series. In Sunday's first game, Grimm hit a two-run home run, a double and single while scoring two runs for her second 3-for-3 performance at Alumni Field in the past three seasons.
Scouting Pitt (14-11)
• Pitt has lost six straight games and nine of its last 11 overall.
• The Panthers won their first nine games of the season and earned a top-25 ranking for the first time in program history, coming in at No. 19 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll and No. 20 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Collegiate Poll.
• Pitt is off to a 0-6 start to the ACC season.
• The Panthers' offense ranks in the bottom three in the ACC in batting average (.273), slugging percentage (.381), runs scored (108) and strikeouts (139).
• They rank ninth in the country with a .978 fielding percentage.
• Alexis Solak is the team's top hitter with a .358 batting average, 19 RBIs and a .493 slugging percentage.
• Hannah Edwards has a .318 batting average and is tied for the team lead with eight stolen bases
• Olivia Gray is among the ACC leaders with nine doubles and has a team-high .422 on-base percentage.
• Pittsburgh has a team ERA of 3.60 staff and the Panthers' pitching staff has just one more strikeout (71) than walk (70).
• P Kayla Harris (6-5) owns a 3.14 ERA and has 36 strikeouts in 73.2 innings. Harris has thrown seven complete games and one shutout.
• P Brittany Knight (8-5) has a 4.08 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 84.0 innings. Knight thrown has four 4 complete games.
Series History vs. Pitt
• Kent State is 14-10 all-time vs. the Panthers.
• Pitt has won three straight in the series and has won seven of the last nine matchups with five shutouts.
• The Panthers are 4-1 since this year's senior class entered college, but the Golden Flashes own an 8-7 advantage in scoring in those games with Pitt scoring one run four times.
• Last season, the Pitt escaped the Diamond at Dix with a pair of one-run victories, 1-0 and 2-3, to sweep a doubleheader.
• The teams played three times during the 2012 season, which is the last time they met in Pittsburgh. Each team won a game of the doubleheader, but the Panthers won a matchup earlier in the season in Raleigh, N.C. to take the season series.
• Ronnie Ladines held Pitt to one run on five hits in a complete game effort in the circle and went 3-for-5 at the plate with one RBI.
• Maddy Grimm and Shelbi Tilton had two hits each. Grimm hit a double and Tilton drove in a run.
• Pitt was led offensively by Olivia Gray, who hit two doubles and went 3-for-6.
• Kayla Harris threw a three-hit shutout with five strikeouts and three walks.
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State will begin its 10-day, 9-game Spring Break trip on Friday at Eastern Michigan in the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams. The Flashes and Eagles are scheduled for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Friday with the final game of the series at a to-be-determined time on Saturday. Kent State will then head to No. 9 Alabama for a single game and stop at Evansville for a doubleheader on the way back up to Central Michigan for a series the following weekend.
