Flashes Grab Eight Baseball Post-Season Conference Accolades
6/2/2021 9:58:00 AM | Baseball
KENT, OHIO- Ben Carew and Cam Touchette were named First-Team All Mid-American Conference, highlighting a total of eight awards earned by the Golden Flashes.
Luke Albright, Collin Mathews, Michael McNamara and Justin Miknis were all named second-team all-conference. Carew and McNamara also were named to the MAC's All-Defensive Team.
Carew put together another strong season for the Golden Flashes. The senior hit .316 in 2021 and finished in the top-10 in the MAC in numerous offensive categories including: at-bats (206, T-1st), runs scored (48, 3rd), hits (65, 5th), triples (3, T-5th) and home runs (7, T-8th). Carew led the Golden Flashes in runs scored and was second to Touchette in hits. Carew was also recognized for his excellence in left field, handling all 68 of his chances this season for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
Touchette finished second in the Mid-American Conference in both hits (69) and batting average (.363). He was one of four players to record at least 50 hits in the 40 conference games and hit .379 in conference play. He had 15 multi-hit games in MAC play, highlighted by a 6-for-6 effort in a win over Ball State.
Luke Albright finished the 2021 season with a 6-4 record and 3.40 earned run average over 82 innings. He was one of five MAC pitchers to record 100 or more strikeouts in 2021, finishing with 102. In MAC play, Albright fanned 70 batters over 53 and a third innings. The righty held batters to a paltry .211 batting average this season. Â He had the signature win of the season for the Golden Flashes, going six innings and two thirds innings of one-run baseball in the victory over then-#2 Mississippi State.
Collin Mathews led the Golden Flashes in runs batted in (49), doubles (14) and steals (17) and rounded out the Flashes' all-conference outfield. The centerfielder was among the MAC best in several offensive categories: runs batted in (49, 2nd), steals (17, 3rd), doubles (14, T-6th), hits (64, 8th), batting average (.332, 9th) and slugging percentage (.508, 9th).
Michael McNamara had a standout freshman season for the Golden Flashes, securing a spot in the middle infield in 2021. He hit .303 on the season, a mark that jumped up to .310 in MAC play. His 39 runs driven in were second on the team and 10th in the Mid-American Conference. He had a knack for the big game, recording 10 multi-rbi games including three games with four runs driven in, including the win over Mississippi State. The Conference also recognized McNamara for his work at both shortstop and second base. The freshman finished third in the MAC with 114 assists on the season.
Justin Miknis thrived in his first season on the field with the Golden Flashes. After missing the abbreviated 2020 season with an injury, Miknis hit .349 on the year, good for second on the team and seventh in the MAC. His strong offensive season had him on the MAC leaderboard in five different categories. In addition to his average, his 14 doubles tied for the team lead and tied for sixth in the MAC. He was the Flashes most patient hitter, recording a team-best 27 walks. He led the team in slugging percentage at 527 and was second on the team with a .432 on-base percentage.
The Golden Flashes finished the year at 30-26, marking the 22nd straight full season of 30-plus wins.
