Kent State University
Ohio
First Place Flashes Host Bobcats
4/19/2018 12:28:00 PM | Baseball
Surging KSU looks for eighth straight win Friday vs. OU
KENT STATE STATS
KENT STATE GAME NOTES
KENT, OHIO – After shutting out one group of felines on Wednesday, Kent State prepares to welcome in another this weekend when the Ohio Bobcats come to Schoonover Stadium for a three-game Mid-American Conference series.
Having won seven in a row, KSU – which picked up its third shutout of 2018 on Wednesday against the Pitt Panthers – will put its one-game league lead on the line Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. against OU. The Series continues Saturday at 4 and Sunday at 1. Kent State is slated to throw reigning MAC Pitcher of the Week Joey Murray on Friday, followed by Connor Wollersheim and Eli Kraus on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Kent State – which leads Miami by one game in the league race with 44 percent of the conference schedule completed – has outscored the opposition 66-18 in its current seven-game surge. The team earned run average has dropped to a season-low 3.88 while the team batting average is a healthy .281. Three hitters have an average of above .300.
Ohio is 17-19, having lost three straight. But the Bobcats are the defending MAC Tournament Champions and won four of five against Kent a year ago en route to the title. They dropped two of three at home last weekend to Eastern Michigan and are making their first trip to Schoonover Stadium since April of 2015.
DIAMOND DIALOGUE
- Kent State returns to league play after sweeping NIU last weekend and shutting out Pitt on Wednesday, 2-0.
- KSU is on its longest winning streak of the season, having won seven straight and the Golden Flashes are the only MAC team to sweep a series this year.
- With the 4-1 and 2-0 wins over Pitt, Kent State now boasts four wins (three on the road) over Power Five conference teams – Arkansas (10-4) and Notre Dame (4-1).
- KSU is jumping on teams early and late in 2018. The Flashes have outscored the opposition 33-7 in the first inning and 31-14 in the ninth inning or later so far in the 2018 season.
- Freshman Nick Elsen delivered both RBI hits against Pitt Wednesday with a single and a homer. He has seven hits in his last seven at bats.
- Mason Mamarella is KSU's leading hitter with a .371 average. He also has 24 steals.
- The Golden Flashes have won either the Mid-American Conference regular season or tournament championship in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
- KSU has been tabbed the pre-season league favorite in both the regular and post-season.
- The Golden Flashes will take aim at their 20th consecutive season with at least 30 victories. KSU has had one sub-.500 season since 1981.
SLAMMIN' GOOD TIMES
Kent State has hit four grand slams in 2018. Josh Hollander hit the first on opening night in Texas and Tim DalPorto hit his the next week at Middle Tennessee. Patrick Ferguson and Pavin Parks each cleared the bases with one swing last weekend vs. NIU.
FLASHES PARTY EARLY AND LATE
In a trend that started on opening night, Kent State is bookending teams to death in 2018. KSU has outscored the opposition 33-7 in the first inning this year and is also outscoring the opponent 29-14 in the ninth. This season, 40 percent of the Flashes' runs have come in the seventh inning or later.
