Kent State University
Ohio University
#MACtion Continues in Athens
4/25/2019 1:05:00 PM | Baseball
Game 1 (Friday, April 26): Live Stats
Game 2 (Saturday, April 27): Kent State Radio | Live Stats
Game 3 (Sunday, April 28): Kent State Radio | Live Stats
KENT, Ohio – Mid-American Conference play will continue this weekend as the Kent State University baseball team (19-19, 7-6 MAC) will visit Athens, Ohio for a three-game series at Ohio University (14-24, 8-7 MAC). The games will be played Friday through Sunday, April 26-28 at Bob Wren Stadium and are currently scheduled for 6:00, 3:00 and 1:00 p.m., respectively.
Both teams have a chance of jumping slots in the MAC standings as the Flashes currently stand in fourth place (7-6) while Ohio is lurking behind in fifth place with an 8-7 conference record.
Last time out, Kent State slammed the door on Canisius to split the regular season home-and-home matchup. The Flashes notched ten hits against the Griffs and senior Pavin Parks led the offense going 2-for-3 at the plate with a home run, two RBIs, two runs and a walk. Redshirt freshman Peyton Deats earned his third win of the season on the mound, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings of relief and striking out three.
On the season, the Kent State offense has a significant presence in the conference leaderboards. Redshirt sophomore Ben Carew ranks third in batting average (.388), fourth in hits (59), sixth in on-base percentage (.457) and seventh in runs scored (37) while he is also tied for third in stolen bases (18). O'Brien and Parks are tied for fourth in home runs ranks while O'Brien also ranks sixth in slugging percentage (.569) and Parks is fifth in walks (29).
In conference play, freshman Justin Kirby leads the MAC with a .923 slugging percentage while redshirt sophomore Alex Ronnebaum and O'Brien follow in the next two spots with a .909 and and .841 respectively. Kirby and Ronnebaum lead the conference with five home runs apiece while Kirby leads with eight doubles. Kirby also ranks second in the MAC in batting average (.442) and tenth in on-base percentage (.500), while he is also tied for sixth in runs scored with Carew (16) and tied for fourth in hits (23). O'Brien leads the MAC in RBIs (20), is tied for second in home runs (4) and is sixth in batting average (.409). Carew leads with seven stolen bases.
Nationally, Carew's .388 batting average is tied for 33rd and his 59 hits is tied for 37th in Division I.
Ohio
Ohio will enter the weekend on a four-game winning streak, earning a three-game sweep over Eastern Michigan last weekend and a 3-2 victory at Youngstown State Tuesday afternoon. The Bobcats have also earned series wins over Toledo and Bowling Green this season.
On the season, the Bobcats have notched nearly eight hits a game, but have only averaged just over five runs per game for a team batting average of .238. Ohio has notched 76 extra-base hits and drawn 140 walks this season. Senior Rudy Rott currently leads the MAC with eight home runs and is tied for fifth in doubles (13), ranking third with a .601 overall slugging percentage.
The Ohio pitching staff has posted a team ERA of 5.17 with 288 strikeouts, allowing 79 doubles, seven triples and 25 home runs this season. Friday night starter Eddie Kutt is sixth in the conference with an impressive 1.64 ERA in 49.1 innings pitched this season.
The two programs last met a year ago for a regular season conference series at Schoonover Stadium and will face off for the 184thtime Friday evening with the Bobcats leading the all-time series 101-81-1. The Flashes won last season's series 2-1 after dropping the first game of the weekend.
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.
