The University of Akron Athletics
Zips Open Divisional Play at BGSU Friday
April 19 | Baseball
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron
baseball team will open divisional play this weekend when it
travels to Bowling Green to open a three-game series starting
Friday at 3 p.m. The series continues Saturday and Sunday with 1
p.m. start times.
ON THE WEB
Live stats will be available for all three games this
weekend on GoZips.com.
WEDNESDAY'S RECAP
Freshman John Turk (Kirtland, Ohio/Kirtland) recorded
three hits and Kurt Davidson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) drove
in a pair as Akron survived a late rally in an 8-7 win over
Youngstown State Wednesday night at Eastwood Field. Jake
Plata (Parma, Ohio/Padua Franciscan), who relieved starter Zach
Yike (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering Fairmont) in the fourth inning,
picked up the first win of his career. The Zips jumped out to an
early lead and held on late as the Penguins scored four times in
the ninth inning to win their 13th non-conference game of the
season.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Bowling Green enters play having dropped five of its last
six conference games after losing two of three to Toledo last
weekend. The Falcons (15-19, 2-10) are ranked 10th in the MAC with
a team batting average of .266 and seventh with a collective ERA of
4.84. BGSU, which defeated Toledo 6-2 in a non-conference contest
Wednesday, entered the week with 58 errors in 33 games and is
ranked 10th in the league with a .955 fielding percentage.
ON THE HILL
• Fifth-year senior Billy
McKinney (1-3, 5.08 ERA) takes the mound Friday looking to get
back on track after a tough defeat in his previous start against
Central Michigan. The right-hander (Loveland, Ohio/Kings) allowed
four runs in seven innings while striking out four Chippewas in a
game UA lost 6-1. Overall, McKinney has struck out 28 batters and
walked just 10 in 39.0 innings, for a strikeouts-to-walks ratio of
nearly 3:1.
• Third-year sophomore Frank
Turocy (1-1, 4.56) leads all starters in ERA and owns the only
nine-inning shutout on the staff. The right-hander (Canfield,
Ohio/Canfield) received a no-decision in his last start against CMU
Saturday, a game the Zips rallied to win 7-6. Turocy leads the team
with 47.1 innings pitched.
• Redshirt freshman Steven Zemanek II (3-2, 6.26) took his
second loss of the season in his last start against the Chippewas
Saturday. The left-hander (Euclid, Ohio/Villa Angela-St. Joseph) is
second on the team with 41.2 innings pitched and owns a one of
three complete-game wins on the staff after going the distance at
Ball State on March 25.
WHO'S HOT
• Junior Kurt Davidson has hit safely in his last
four games and in 15 of his last 16 contests overall. He is hitting
.366 (26x71) during that time with five home runs and 23 RBI while
posting an on-base percentage of .410.
• Freshman catcher John Turk, who has hit safely in his last
five games, is 6-for-9 with three runs scored, a double and two RBI
in his last two. Overall, Turk leads all UA freshmen with a .343
batting average (23x67) and is batting .417 (10x24) with runners in
scoring position.
• Junior outfielder Scott Gunn (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de
Sales) has hit .435 (10x23) with five runs scored and seven RBI in
his last six contests after his first three-hit game of the season
Saturday in game two against Central Michigan and a pinch-hit, RBI
double at Youngstown State Wednesday.
• Freshman pitcher Zach Yike notched his first career win with
three scoreless innings of relief against CMU Saturday. He matched
that with three scoreless frames against the Penguins Wednesday and
has allowed just one earned run over his last 12 innings (0.75 ERA)
overall. The left-hander has struck out six while limiting the
opposition to a .214 batting average during that time.
• Sophomore reliever Jared
Patterson (Coshocton, Ohio/Coshocton) has allowed just two
earned runs over his past six appearances, spanning 7.1 innings
(2.45 ERA). The left-handed reliever is 1-1 with two saves during
that stretch after notching a scoreless inning at Youngstown State
Wednesday.
• Junior third baseman Vince
Chiera (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) brings a five-game hitting
streak into play this weekend. His is batting .381 (8x21) during
that time with two runs scored, three doubles and three RBI. With
just six strikeouts in 95 at-bats this season, Chiera is the
43rd-hardest player to punch out in the nation.
ZIPS NOTEBOOK
• Akron took two of three games from Bowling Green in
what turned out to be a pivotal series for the UA program at Lee
Jackson Field last season. Not only did first baseman Doug
McNulty (Homer City, Pa./Homer-Center) become the first Akron
player to hit for the cycle with a walk-off home run that snapped a
10-game losing streak in the first game of the series on Apr. 21,
the Zips rode the momentum of that come-from-behind victory to
close out the season with something to build on. Akron, which was
7-25 prior to that game, posted an 8-11 record the rest of the way
in 2006 and is 24-22 since that time.
• Senior Charlie Lenhard, (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington)
who has been hit by a pitch six times in his last four games, leads
the nation in that category (0.6/game). Overall, the centerfielder
has been hit 16 times in 26 contests and is seven shy of the
school's single-season mark set last year by Brian Kimutis
(23).
• With the 64th appearance of his career Wednesday, senior Pat
Gliha tied UA's all-time mark also held by Joe Header
(1995-98).
• The Zips notched their 16th win of the season Wednesday to
eclipse last year's mark just 27 games into the season. The 2006
Zips were 15-36.
• Late-inning scoring has been a key to the Zips' success this
season. UA, which has out-scored its opponents 105-66 from the
sixth inning on, is averaging nearly four runs (3.89) in those
innings alone while averaging 6.52 for the entire game.
• Another key to Akron's season has been the team's ability to
bounce back from defeats. The Zips, which had two losing streaks of
10 or more games last season, have had stretches of consecutive
losses just twice in 2007 (two games from Apr. 10-13 and four games
from Mar. 16-24).
• Davidson, who leads the team with seven home runs and 33 RBI
in 27 games, has reached base in all but two contests this season.
He leads the league in RBI/game (1.19), total bases/game (2.69),
home runs/game (.27), and is in the top five in hits/game (2nd,
1.50), doubles/game (4th, .38) and slugging percentage (3rd,
.614).
• With a three-run homer in the sixth inning against Central
Michigan last Saturday, Davidson moved into third place on the
school's all-time home runs list with 26. He trails the all-time
mark of 28, shared by Mike Doerbecker (1996-99) and Dick Duncan
(1981-84), by just two (see Page 8 for more details).
• Lenhard was hit by a pitch twice last Friday and three
times, in three consecutive at-bats, in the first game versus CMU
Saturday. He is the first player in school history to have been hit
five times in two consecutive games and is believed to be the first
player in NCAA history to accomplish the dubious feat.
• Akron came-from-behind to win its seventh game in its final
at-bat (see Page 6) Saturday against CMU. The Zips, who were
trailing 6-0 heading into the sixth, scored five runs in the home
half and took its first lead of the game with two runs in the
bottom of the eighth. UA is 8-9 when trailing or tied after six
innings. Moreover, the Zips are a combined 8-4 when tied after the
six, seven and eighth innings.
• The Zips are third in the MAC with a team batting average of
.291 and eighth with a collective ERA of 5.03.
• Akron has committed the fewest errors in the league and is
ranked second overall (Miami, .972) with a team fielding percentage
of .971.
• UA's 14-inning loss to Pittsburgh (Apr. 10) was its longest
contest in 17 years. The Zips last played a 15-inning game against
West Virginia in 1990.
• Akron's 24 hits against Duquesne (Apr. 4) were the most
recorded by an Akron team in 10 seasons. The Zips posted 28 knocks
against the Virginia Military Institute in 1997.
• UA relievers have posted six saves in 2007. Akron recorded
just one save during the entire 2006 season (51 games).
• Turocy's complete-game, nine-inning shutout against Northern
Illinois (Mar. 31) was Akron's first of the season and the
program's first since Ross Liersemann accomplished the feat in a
10-0, nine-inning decision over Marshall on May 6, 2005.
• In all, Akron has posted two shutouts (McKinney vs. Eastern
Kentucky, 7 inns. on Mar. 3) in 2007 after recording zero in
2006.
UA, KSU VISIT AKRON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
The University of Akron baseball team partnered up with
conference-rival Kent State to visit patients at the Akron
Children's Hospital on April 9th in an effort to spread goodwill in
the community they compete in.
Players, coaches and mascots from both schools handed out
baseballs, T-shirts, posters and signed autographs for the
recovering patients ranging in age from infant to teen.
"(The) visit to the hospital was, most importantly, a great
opportunity for our guys to try to lift the spirits of kids who are
less fortunate than us," UA head coach Pat
Bangtson said. "But it was also a great experience for our
players. For as important baseball is to our guys, getting the
chance to meet with children in that type of situation certainly
puts things in perspective. Overall, it was a great experience and
was for a great cause."
Zippy, the UA mascot, was a particularly popular guest with the
youngsters.
The hospital visit was just the first step in a fund-raising
initiative between the Zips and Golden Flashes for the Akron
Children's Hospital. Akron and Kent State will play in the
inaugural Diamond Classic for Kids on April 24 at 6 p.m. at Canal
Park. Tickets for the exciting event are $10 for adults and $5 for
youths. Current UA and KSU students with valid ID may also purchase
tickets for $5. All proceeds will go to the hospital.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the UA ticket office in James
A. Rhodes Arena or by calling 1-888-99-AKRON.
