Kent State University
Ohio
Doubleheader Showdown Against Ohio on tap for Wednesday
4/10/2018 12:20:00 PM | Softball
The Kent State softball team (19-14, 5-4 MAC) hosts Mid-American Conference East Division rival Ohio (20-13, 8-1 MAC) in a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday, April 11 at 1 p.m. at the Diamond at Dix. The Golden Flashes and Bobcats will meet for the first time since last season's MAC Tournament Championship. This is the only regular season meeting between the teams, as last week's doubleheader at Ohio was postponed due to rain. Ohio will be the home team in the first game, since one of the two games from last week will not be made up. Both games can be heard live on the Golden Flashes iHeart Radio Channel.
Media Information
Golden Flashes iHeart Radio
Live Stats
Game Notes (pdf)
Last Time Out
The Golden Flashes took their last MAC series on the road at Ball State, winning the first game and the rubber match to go above .500 in league play. KSU won the first meeting 5-2 and was aided at the plate by Carlee Selle's two-run dinger. After dropping the second game, the Flashes took the third matchup, 4-1, and pitcher Madi Huck allowed just three hits.
Huck threw her best weekend of conference action, dealing two complete game victories and only allowing three runs. Huck took the sting out of the Cardinals' bats and held them to a .204 batting average which was well below their season average of .303.
Bailey Brownfield paced the offense going 6-for-11 with a double and three RBIs. In both of Kent State's victories she plated the Flashes' first run of the game with RBI hits. Maria Cegledy and Kaitlyn Miller both hit .500 in the series with a double and three RBIs.
The Golden Flashes improved to 6-2 in the rubber match of a three-game conference series since the MAC moved to its current scheduling format in 2016.
#FlashFacts
- KSU is above .500 in the MAC nine games in and is second in the MAC East Division.
- The Golden Flashes are one of the top-hitting teams in the country, with the 29th-best team batting average at .309.
- Holly Speers leads the country in batting average (.506), on-base percentage (.667) and walks per game (1.25). She is sixth in slugging percentage (.975). Speers has 40 career home runs which is second in school history and seventh in MAC history.
- Kennadie Goth is 12th in the nation in batting average (.459) and has the second-highest average for a freshman behind UCLA's Aaliyah Jordan (.486).
- Kent State has won six weekly awards this season. Holly Speers was named MAC East Player of the Week three times, Emily Dobbin and Bailey Brownfield once and Madi Huck MAC East Pitcher of the Week once.
- Maria Cegledy leads the team in batting average (.462) in conference-only games. She also has the second most RBIs with eight.
- Kaitlyn Miller and Bailey Brownfield are both currently riding nine-game hitting streaks. Holly Speers (14) and Emily Dobbin (10) both had hitting streaks of 10 or more games this season.
- Kent State has four walk-off wins this season. KSU came back from trailing by five entering the sixth last week against Western Michigan and came back to beat Toledo. Both were the first game of the series. The Flashes are 15-5 when scoring first and are 2-1 in extra innings.
Kent State Selected to win MAC East and MAC Tournament
The Golden Flashes were picked in the MAC's preseason coaches' poll to win the MAC East Division and MAC Tournament. Kent State was picked to win the MAC East Division in back-to-back seasons. KSU has won a MAC championship in three straight years with two regular season crowns in 2015 and 2016 and a tournament title a season ago.
Success in the MAC
Kent State has a 61-29 record in MAC play over the last four seasons with three championships. The Golden Flashes are also one of only two schools to win the tournament multiple times in the last decade. Under head coach Eric Oakley, Kent State has a 7-3 record in the MAC Tournament.
Series History / Scouting Ohio
Kent State leads the all-time series against Ohio 65-50 and will meet for the 115th time on Tuesday afternoon. The two met six times last season and three times in the MAC Tournament and twice in the championship. Kent State came back to win three games in the same day and came out of the loser's bracket to win the tournament championship. The Golden Flashes have won four of the last five meetings against the Bobcats.
Ohio sits atop the MAC standings with an 8-1 conference record. The Bobcats have won 11 of their last 12 with the only blemish being a series-opening 15-5 setback on the road to Northern Illinois last weekend. The Bobcats took the series from the Huskies and also swept Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan in league action. During the stretch Ohio also defeated power conference school Pitt and reigning CAA Champion James Madison.
Senior Danielle Stiene is the ace of the staff with a 13-5 record and an ERA of 2.37 in 114 innings of work. She was named MAC East Pitcher of the Week and did not allow a run in 9.2 innings against Northern Illinois. Freshman Madi McCrady has also bolstered the staff and is 5-5 with a 4.40 ERA. Outfielder Mikayla Cooper leads the squad with a .365 batting average, seven home runs and 24 RBIs. Like Stiene, she garnered conference recognition for her 5-for-10 hitting week with five RBIs and was named MAC East Player of the Week.
Last Year's MAC Championship|
The Golden Flashes were forced to play from the loser's bracket after Ohio defeated KSU, 2-0 in the semifinals. Kent State defeated Northern Illinois, 9-3, to advance to the championship round with one loss.
Head coach Eric Oakley called up freshman pitcher Madi Huck in the first championship game and she answered the call with the best start of her career. She controlled the Ohio lineup from the first pitch and scattered five hits. The game went to extras and in the eighth inning Holly Speers doubled to score Maddy Grimm for the only run of the contest.
Kent State had all the momentum going into the next game and blasted two first inning home runs off the bats of Hunter Brancifort and Ronnie Ladines. Ohio only had three hits in the second game as Kent State pitching shut out the Bobcats in 15 innings of action. Emily Dobbin made one of the most pivotal and impressive catches in program history, robbing a home run in left to secure the game for the Flashes. It was only the third time in the tournament history that a team came out of the loser's bracket to win the championship.
Up Next
Kent State returns back to the road for a three-game series at Miami on Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14. The Flashes and RedHawks will play a single game at 3 p.m. on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
