Kent State University
Northern Illinois University
Flashes Head to DeKalb for Weekend Road Series Against Northern Illinois
4/18/2019 2:29:00 PM | Baseball
Game 1 (Friday, April 19): Kent State Radio | Video | Live Stats
Game 2 (Saturday, April 20): Kent State Radio | Video | Live Stats
Game 3 (Sunday, April 21): Kent State Radio | Video | Live Stats
KENT, Ohio – The Golden Flashes baseball team (16-18, 5-5 MAC) will hit the road to DeKalb, Ill. to continue the Mid-American Conference slate with a three-game series against Northern Illinois (11-25, 7-5 MAC). The Flashes will look to improve in the conference standings, currently sitting right behind the Huskies in fifth place. The games will be played Friday through Sunday, April 19-21 at Ralph McKinzie Field and are currently scheduled for 4:00, 2:00 and 1:00 p.m. EST respectively.
Kent State is coming off a walk-off win over Pitt on Wednesday night and will look to win its third straight game Friday afternoon. Senior Pavin Parks did it all for the Flashes in the midweek matchup, earning the win on the mound in addition to going 4-for-5 at the plate with the winning hit and a home run on the night.
On the season, redshirt sophomore Ben Carew is leading the Kent State offense and is currently ranked fourth in the MAC in overall batting average (.371), seventh in hits (49) and fifth in stolen bases (16). Parks ranks eighth in the conference in walks (24), ninth in home runs (5) and tenth in RBIs (28). As a team, the Flashes lead the conference with 31 long balls and have posted a .413 slugging percentage on the year.
Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois will enter the weekend 11-25 overall and 7-5 in the MAC, currently fourth in the conference. The Huskies have swept MAC series against Eastern Michigan and Ohio University on the season.
Last time out, the Huskies dropped a midweek Big Ten matchup 8-6 at Iowa on Tuesday. Despite the loss, Northern Illinois racked up 13 hits and saw multi-hit games from four players.
The Huskies are 0-6 against Power Five opponents this season, falling to Kansas in a three-game series, Kansas State in two games and Iowa on Tuesday.
On the season, the Northern Illinois offense has averaged five runs and more than eight hits per game while posting a .258 team batting average. However, just 65 of the Huskies' 308 total hits have been for extra-bases for a team slugging percentage of .342. The Huskies have been patient at the plate, drawing 130 walks and 30 hit batters.
The Husky pitching staff has struggled in 2019, allowing an opponent batting average of .306 with nearly a third of the hits allowed going for extra bases. The battery has fanned 249 batters while walking 147 and has combined for a 5.85 earned run average.
The programs last met a year ago for a regular season conference series at Schoonover Stadium and will face off for the 60thtime on Friday with the Flashes leading the all-time series 40-19. The Flashes swept the series with scores of 7-1, 7-2 and 14-0 respectively.
The 2019 Kent State Baseball Season is brought to you by Hometown Bank. Hometown Bank and Kent State Baseball – A Winning Team. There's no place like home.
