The University of Akron Athletics
Making Progress Through The Rebuilding Process
June 01 | Baseball
AKRON, Ohio - The 2006 Zips baseball season can easily be described as a rebuilding year with the hiring of a new coaching staff headed by first time head coach Pat Bangtson.
Bangtson, who is a graduate of Kent State, came from a very successful program at Ohio State where he was assistant head coach and pitching coach for the previous 13 years.
Akron not only entered the season with a new skipper, but with the losses of UA's all-time save leader Derek Stanfield, All-Mid-American Conference first-team shortstop Doug Kruthaupt and outfielder Andy Capraruolo, the Zips headed into the season with many new faces in many new places.
Akron found the potential needed in the rebuilding process with the additions of freshmen infielders Ryne Romick (Hannibal, Ohio/Hannibal) and Ryan Frazee (Gahanna, Ohio/Westerville), mixed with pitcher's Jeremy Goldizen (Perry, Ohio/Perry) and Frank Turocy (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield). The two infielders made 60 starts, while the two pitcher's combined to make 32 pitching appearances, including five starts by Turocy.
With the Zips starting the season on the road for their first 17 games, UA started the campaign with a 7-2 win at Arkansas State and went 5-1 over its first six contests, including a three-game sweep at Morehead State.
However, like a young and inexperienced team, the Zips began a
streak in which they just could not get a break as Akron lost its
next 11-games until it opened its home schedule and its MAC season
with a 3-2 win over eventual conference champion Ball State.
During the losing streak, the Zips out-hit their opponents five times and lost four of the games by two or less runs, including three by one run.
Following the victory, Akron lost 13 of its next 14 games to fall to 7-25 on the season. In the 13 losses, the Zips once again out-hit their opponents six times and lost five games by two or less runs.
With only 19 games left in the season, Akron was finally able to find a way to come through and win some games in the late innings. Following the losing streak, the Zips won four of their next six games and won eight games in the final 19 after winning just seven of their first 32.
Though the team did not experience the success they wanted in regards to wins and losses, Bangtson was happy with the effort toward the end of the season as this team improved throughout the year and finished strong.
"We made great strides this season," Bangtson said. "Progress is not always measured in wins and losses. The coaching staff learned from the players and the players learned from the coaches. I was encouraged by our progress and hope that the returning players will help speed up the learning curve for our incoming freshman next season."
Individually, Akron had much success, led by senior Ross Liersemann (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) and sophomore Kurt Davidson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover). Both were named to the All-MAC second team.
Liersemann, who was named MAC Pitcher of the Week three times this season and six times in his career, led the Zips pitching staff with a 3.78 earned run average, six wins, seven complete games and held opponents to a .246 batting average. He was listed on the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll twice and was also on the watch list for the Roger Clemens Award.
The senior right-hander not only led the team in innings pitched, but established two new records in 2006. His 112 innings pitched top the previous single-season record of 95 1/3 innings that he owned and shared with Tim Dobos. Also, he completed his career at Akron throwing in 334 innings, which surpassed the previous career record of 279 2/3 innings.
Liersemann led the team with a career-high 95 strike out's on the season, which ranks as the third-best total in a single season. In 2005, he struck out 81 batters, which ranks in a tie for seventh. His career total of 256 strikeouts ranks third all-time, just two behind Tim Dobos for second.
Davidson, who started 26 games at catcher, 14 at first base and 11 as the designated hitter, was named MAC Player of the Week twice this season. He led the team in almost every offensive category, including batting average (.338), slugging percentage (.565), on-base percentage (.418) and fielding percentage (.988).
In just his second season with Akron, Davidson hit a career-high 12 home runs, which ties him for second on the single-season chart. He currently has 19 career home runs, which ranks 11th all-time and with a season equal to his 2006 campaign, Davidson should take over the top spot (28 home runs) some time next season.
Davidson also led the squad with 70 hits, 23 extra-base hits, 117 total bases and 47 RBIs. He ranked second with 26 walks, third with 11 doubles and fourth with 37 runs scored. He recorded a team-high 22 multi-hit games, including three hits in a game eight times. He also had eight multi-RBI games and had a season-best 10-game hit streak from April 29 - May 13. During that span, he hit four home runs, including two game-winning grand slams, and had 17 RBIs.
Bangtson looks at his squad and feels good about the future of this program. The Zips lose just five players and will have just four seniors next season. They will be returning their top six hitters, including all three players, two sophomores and a freshman, that hit over .300.
"Next season we will stress day-to-day consistency for both position players and pitchers," Bangtson said. "We will go into the season expecting to compete with the best in the conference and put ourselves in a position to win the conference title. Which will be the first step in reaching our primary goal of advancing to an NCAA super regional."
Mixed with the Zips largest and arguably their most talented recruiting class in years, Akron should cruise through the rebuilding process and return to the top of the conference standings, fighting for its second MAC title in program history.
