Kent State University
University of Iowa
Kent State Opens 2020 At Snowbird Classic
2/13/2020 1:57:00 PM | Baseball
KENT, OHIO- Kent State starts the 2020 season this weekend, heading to Port Charlotte, Florida for the 2020 Snowbird Classic.
The Snowbird Classic consists of teams across all three divisions of college baseball. The Flashes will play the University of Iowa on Friday, Indiana State on Saturday and wrap up the weekend with Saint Joe's on Sunday morning.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN FLASHES
Kent State returns seven key contributors from the 2019 lineup, a pair of starters as well as arms that missed last season due to injury. The Flashes went 30-24 last year, the 21st consecutive season with 30 or more wins. The Golden Flashes were picked second in the MAC in a split pre-season coaches poll and coaches agreed they were the odds-on favorite to win the MAC tournament.
Headlining the returners to the lineup are a pair of 2019 All Americans in Ben Carew and Justin Kirby. Carew hit .406 with 24 stolen bases last season. Carew led the MAC in batting average and ranked second in both on-base percentage (.474) and hits (89), third in both runs scored (60) and stolen bases (24) and tenth in slugging percentage (.525) earning third team All-America and All-Region accolades as a result.
Kirby was named the MAC Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American in 2019. The Georgia native hit .313 in his freshman campaign with seven homers, 11 doubles and 30 driven in. He became the first Kent State player since 2005 to hit three home runs in a game, doing so against Northern Illinois.
On the mound, the Flashes return a pair of starters in Luke Albright and Zach Schultz. Albright was named second team All-MAC last season and makes the transition into a full-time starter. In 51 innings last season as a freshman, Albright had a 2.81 ERA, striking out 54 and walking 23. Schultz threw 54 innings last year, Schultz had a 2.68 ERA, striking out 49 and walking 18. The Flashes also get a boost from the return of Collin Romel and Ryan Lane, who missed the 2019 season with injuries. Kent State also has solid bullpen arms Tyler Drabick (3 saves, 3.73 era) and Peyton Deats (3.77 era in 28.2 innings) returning as well.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
The Flashes will open the 2020 season with the Iowa Hawkeyes are 4 p.m. on Friday. Iowa is coming off a 31-24 record overall and 12-12 in the Big-10. Baseball America pegs the Hawkeyes as the fifth-best team in the Big-10. Iowa's offense is led by junior infielder Izaya Fullard who hit .305 last year and led Iowa in homers (5) and was second in runs batted in (31). Iowa averaged just over five runs a contest last season.
The Hawkeyes probable starter is left-hander Jack Dreyer. Dreyer missed most of last season with shoulder issues. He's listed as the 17th-best draft prospect by D1Baseball.com. In 2018, Dreyer was 3-1 with a 2.95 era as a starter.
Projected pitching match-up: Luke Albright (Kent State) vs Jack Dreyer (Iowa)
Game two of the weekend will see the Golden Flashes take on the Sycamores of Indiana State at noon on Saturday. Indiana State is coming off a 43-18 season where they won the Missouri Valley Tournament. The Sycamores went 2-2 in the Vanderbilt Regional. However, they return just 13 letter winners from that 2019 squad. Indiana State's biggest contributor returning is catcher Max Wright, who hit .296 last season with four homers and was third on the team with 36 runs driven in.
On the mound, the Flashes will face Tristan Weaver, who redshirted in 2019. In 2018, Weaver went 3-5 with a 4.75 earned run average, striking out 41 and walking 38 in 66 innings. He was an All-American at Lincoln Land CC prior to his time in Terre Haute, going 10-1 with a 2.00 earned run average.
Projected pitching matchup: Collin Romel (Kent State) vs Tristan Weaver (Indiana State)
The opening weekend concludes with a 10 a.m. first pitch against Saint Joseph's. The Hawks went 21-28 last season and 13-11 in the Atlantic-10 and return a veteran team in 2020. Saint Joes returns their second-leading hitter in Brendan Heuth, who was second team All-A-10 and hit .308 in 2019. Andrew Cossetti was a member of the A-10 All-Rookie team last season and led Saint Joe's with eight home runs and 42 runs batted in.
The Hawks also return seven of their top eight pitchers from 2019, and that doesn't include Sunday's projected starter in Lucas Rollins, who missed the last two seasons due to injury. In 2017, he went 2-1 with a 3.33 earned run average and was a member of the 2016 A-10 All-Rookie team.
Projected pitching match-up: Ryan Lane (Kent State) vs Lucas Rollins (Saint Joe's)
FOLLOW ALONG
This weekend's games will be streamed by Flo Baseball. Friday's game with Iowa will also air on the Hawkeye Radio Network.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Flashes continue their swing through the sunshine state on Wednesday when they take on the nationally ranked Miami (FL) Hurricanes. First pitch on Wednesday is set for 6 p.m. and will air on ACC Digital Network Extra, through the Watch ESPN app.
