Kent State University
University of Akron
Kent State Heads Down the Road for Wagon Wheel Series
4/28/2022 4:10:00 PM | Baseball
KENT, OHIO- The Golden Flashes make the quick trip down I-76 this weekend for a four-game Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel series with the Akron Zips in the Rubber City.
The teams will start the series on Friday with a 3 p.m. matinee start, Saturday's double header and Sunday's finale will have a noon first pitch.
The Flashes won their last two games of the series with the Miami RedHawks and sit at 15-20 on the season and 10-12 in MAC play. The offense put up 27 runs in the two victories including 17 in a runaway victory. Kent State blasted six homers in Sunday's victory, the first time the Flashes have hit at least a half dozen dingers in a game since 2017. The squad's 41 homers in conference play is easily the highest in the league.
On the mound, Kent State has been led by a pair of lefties in Eric Chalus and Ben Cruikshank. Both feature an earned run average south of 3.70 in conference play, good for top-10 in the MAC. Cruikshank is holding batters to a paltry .152 average while Chalus leads the MAC in walks per nine innings, allowing four free passes in 34 conference innings this year.
It will be the first trip for Kent State to Akron since 2015 when the Flashes took two out of three in the series. This year's installment of the Zips is 11-29 overall and 9-19 in MAC play. In MAC play, the offense has been paced by Nick Arrivo and Cameron Benson. Both are hitting .280 against MAC foes and have driven in a team-high 13 runs each.
Akron's pitching has been headlined by Taed Heydinger and Anthony Fett who each have six starts under their belt. A wild card to watch out for is Conor Steinbaugh, he's only made two starts for the Zips, but owns a 0.84 ERA and threw a complete game against the Flashes last season.
Friday's game and Sunday's game are scheduled to be streamed on the Zips' Digital Network and live stats will be provided for all four games, links are available on the baseball schedule page. The Flashes are back home on Wednesday, welcoming in Ohio State to Schoonover Stadium. First pitch against the Buckeyes is set for 6 p.m.
