Kent State University
Seton Hall University
Kent State Set to Host Seton Hall in Three-Game Set
3/11/2021 5:00:00 PM | Baseball
KENT, OHIO- For the third time in as many weeks, the Golden Flashes' weekend plans have changed, with Seton Hall now coming to town for a three-game set starting on Friday.
The Pirates and Golden Flashes will face off on Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday will have a 1 p.m. start. Limited fan attendance will be permitted, in accordance with our Spring Semester Event Policy.
ABOUT THE FLASHES
The Flashes return home for the second time this season, having swept Tennessee Tech earlier this season. They are coming off of a weekend series at #2 Mississippi State, where they knocked off the Diamond Dogs, 9-5 on Saturday afternoon. Luke Albright pitched into the seventh, allowing just five hits and one earned run. He was named the Mid-American Conference's Scholar Athlete of the Week, an honor that goes to the in-season student-athlete that has at least a 3.0 grade-point average and stellar performance in their sport.
Offensively, Michael McNamara and Ben Carew had mutli-hit, multi-rbi games in the Saturday win over Mississippi State. The freshman McNamara along with Collin Mathews lead the team with eight runs driven in. Mathews, who homered against Mississippi State on Saturday, leads the team with two round trippers. Carew leads the team with a .400 average and 12 hits. The outfielder has five multi-hit games this season and 37 dating back to the start of the 2019 campaign.
ABOUT SETON HALL
This will be the first time the Pirates and Golden Flashes have met on the diamond. They come into the weekend at 2-6 after splitting a double header with the Albany Great Danes. The Pirates were picked third in the Big East, behind pre-season favorite UCONN as well as Creighton, but did pick up a first-place vote. Tyler Shedler-McAvoy was named the Big East Pre-Season Player of the Year and the outfielder is hitting .333 so far this year. First baseman Matt Toke was also a pre-season All-Big East player and leads the team with seven driven in.
On the mound, the Pirates have pitched to a 5.28 earned run average. Nick Payero earned the victory his last time out, throwing five shutout innings in the win over Albany.
Historically, the Pirates have been a strong program. They made the College World Series in 1964, 1971, 1974 and 1975. They last made a regional in 2011 and defeated Arizona in the region's opening game. Notable pros out of Seton Hall include Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, Mo Vaughn, John Valentin, Jason Grilli and Matt Morris.
FOLLOW ALONG
All three games of the weekend series will be streamed via Box Cast. Live Stats will also be provided. All links can be found on the baseball schedule page.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Golden Flashes begin Mid-American Conference play next weekend, playing host to the Northern Illinois Huskies. The MAC has scheduled four-game conference series this season. First pitch of the four-game series is set for Friday afternoon at three.
