Kent State University
Ball State University
MAC Play Begins This Weekend Between Division Favorites
3/23/2017 8:33:00 PM | Baseball
Mid-American Conference play is set to begin this weekend as MAC East favorite Kent State (12-6) makes the trip to Muncie for a three-game series with Ball State (11-10). Game times are scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday, 1 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
COVERAGE
• All games can be watched live at ballstatesports.com/watch
• Ty Linder will have the call for all three games on Golden Flashes iHeart Radio
• Live stats will be available at sidearmstats.com/ballstate/baseball
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, March 24
Kent State: #31 LHP Eli Kraus (3-2, 4.60 ERA, 21 SO, 9 BB, 5 GS, 29.1 IP)
Ball State: #22 RHP BJ Butler (2-2, 1.31 ERA, 28 SO, 11 BB, 5 GS, 34.1 IP)
Saturday, March 25
Kent State: #23 RHP Zach Willeman (3-2, 6.48 ERA, 23 SO, 11 BB, 5 GS, 25.0 IP)
Ball State: #18 LHP Kevin Marnon (2-3, 3.46 ERA, 23 SO, 19 BB, 5 GS, 26.0 IP)
Sunday, March 26
Kent State: #30 RHP Joey Murray (2-0, 1.75 ERA, 33 SO, 12 BB, 5 GS, 25.2 IP)
Ball State: #25 RHP John Baker (2-0, 0.47 ERA, 19 SO, 8 BB, 2 GS, 19.0 IP)
THE MATCHUP
• Kent State is 63-53 all-time against Ball State
• The teams met at a neutral site last season with the Flashes winning 8-3
• The last meeting for a weekend series was in Kent in 2015
• The Golden Flashes won 3-0 on Friday, dropped the middle game 4-2 then took the finale 11-7
• The Cardinals are batting .239 this season and have a team ERA of 3.26
• Ball State is coming off a 15-4 loss to Purdue
• The Flashes were picked as the top team in the East and the Cardinals as the top in the West in the 2017 MAC preseason coaches poll
• Kent State was the favorite overall to win the conference tournament come May
HOME SWEET HOME
• Kent State is coming off a 7-6 victory in the 2017 home opener at Schoonover Stadium held Tuesday night
• The game went back and forth before Dylan Rosa hit a three-run homerun that would eventually decide the game
• In his first career start, Robert Zeigler did not allow an earned run through 5.0 innings while striking out five
• Zach Spangler earned his fourth save of the season by pitching the ninth
• The team will return home next weekend to host its first MAC series
A GOOD GOING RATE
• The Golden Flashes are off to their best start since 2009 as they are 12-6 through the first 18 games of the season
• They current rank 33rd in the nation in RPI
• Statistically, the team ranks 35th in the country with a .307 batting average
• Also, the team ranks 28th in homeruns per game, 28th in slugging percentage, 39th in triples per game and 15th in shutouts
• Individually, Connor Wollersheim's 0.92 ranks 22nd in the nation and he is 39th in hits allowed per nine innings
• Luke Burch is 29th in hits per game
