The University of Akron Athletics
Akron, Kent State to Play at Canal Park Tuesday
April 24 | Baseball
The University of Akron baseball team will host the Kent State
Golden Flashes in the inaugural Diamond Classic for Kids Tuesdayat
Canal Park. First pitch for the charity game is scheduled for 6
p.m. All proceeds from tonight's non-conference match-up will
benefit the Akron Children's Hospital.
ON THE WEB
Live stats will be available on GoZips.com.
WEEK NINE RECAP
After an 8-7 win over Youngstown State Wednesday night, the Zips
went 1-2 at Bowling Green last weekend. UA was shut out for the
first time this season in a 3-0 decision Friday before bouncing
back for a 7-6 victory the following day. Akron rallied all the way
back from deficits of 7-0 and 14-5 Sunday and tied the game with 10
runs over the final two frames only to fall 16-15 on a two-out
single in the bottom of the ninth.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Kent State (17-22, 8-7 Mid-American Conference) enters play tonight
having won its past two MAC series after taking two of three from
Ball State (Apr. 13-15) and East Division-leader Miami (Ohio) last
weekend. First baseman Greg Rohan has been hot with seven hits in
his last 16 at-bats (.438) while slugging .813. Anthony Gallas'
.341 batting average and seven home runs pace the Golden Flashes,
who are hitting .260 as a team (11 of 12 in the league). The
strength of the team is its pitching staff, which boasts a team ERA
of 3.91 (2nd). KSU is in the middle of the pack with a collective
fielding percentage of .958 (7th).
ON THE HILL
• True freshman Zach Yike
(1-1, 3.29 ERA), who will be making his fifth start in an Akron
uniform, gets the nod tonight after allowing just four earned runs
in his last 14.2 innings (2.45 ERA). Yike (Kettering,
Ohio/Kettering Fairmont) picked up his first college win with three
shutout innings of relief in a 7-6 UA win over Central Michigan on
Apr. 14. Overall, the left-hander is the top freshman hurler on the
staff and leads all first-year players with 27.1 innings pitched
and eight appearances. Yike owns a 1-1 record with a 4.76 ERA in
three appearances, including one start, against conference
opponents (11.1 IP).
WHO'S HOT
• Senior Charlie Lenhard (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington)
hit a pair of homers and drove in a career-high seven runs Sunday
at Bowling Green. It was the highest RBI total in a single game at
Akron since Mark Malaska (an eighth-round draft pick of the Tampa
Bay Devil Rays in 2000) drove in 10 against the University of
Maryland Eastern Shore in 1999. He has scored six times in his past
two games.
• Junior Kurt Davidson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) has hit
safely in his last seven games and 18 of his last 19 overall. The
second team All-MAC selection in 2006 has recorded at least one hit
in all but four contests in 2007 and has reached base in all but
two. Davidson leads the team with seven home runs and 33 RBI in 30
games.
• Junior Doug McNulty (Homer City, Pa./Homer-Center) hit
.545 (6x11) with a run scored and one RBI in three games at Bowling
Green last weekend. The first baseman recorded his first four-hit
game of the season last Saturday against the Falcons in his debut
in the third spot of the batting lineup.
• Freshman catcher John Turk (Kirtland, Ohio/Kirtland) brings
a team-high eight-game hitting streak into play Tuesday night after
batting .308 (4x13) at BGSU last weekend. Turk, who leads all UA
freshmen with a .338 batting average (27x80) is batting .393
(11x28) with runners in scoring position.
• Sophomore Brett Savage (Massillon, Ohio/Perry) has hit
safely in his last five contests, including a pair of multi-hit
games in his last two. He is batting .421 (8x19) with runners in
scoring position.
• Sophomore reliever Jared Patterson (Coshocton, Ohio/Coshocton)
has allowed just two earned runs over his past seven appearances,
spanning 9.0 innings (2.00 ERA). The left-handed reliever is 1-1
with two saves during that stretch after notching 1.2 scoreless
innings at Bowling Green Saturday.
ZIPS NOTEBOOK
• With the 65th appearance of his career Sunday,
senior Pat Gliha (Euclid, Ohio/Villa Angela-St. Joseph)
became UA's all-time leader, surpassing Joe Header, who had 64
appearances from 1995-98.
• The Zips notched their 16th win of 2007 at Youngstown State
on Apr. 18 to eclipse their win total from a year ago with 18
regular-season games remaining. The 2006 Zips were 15-36.
• Late-inning scoring has been a key to the Zips' success this
season. UA, which has posted seven last-at-bat wins this season
(see Page 6), has scored 117 of its 198 total runs (59 percent)
from the sixth inning on and is outscoring its opponents 96-57 from
the seventh inning on.
• 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 is ranked in the top five in several offensive
categories, including hits/game (t-2nd/1.47), home runs/game
(2nd/.23), doubles/game (2nd/.40), RBI/game (1st/1.10), total
bases/game (1st/2.57), slugging percentage (4th/.588).
• With a three-run homer in the sixth inning against Central
Michigan on Apr. 14, 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).
• The Zips posted their seventh final at-bat victory of the
year against Central Michigan on Apr. 14. Trailing 6-0 heading into
the sixth, Akron 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 8-11 when trailing or tied after six innings. Moreover, the
Zips are a combined 8-4 when tied after the six, seven and eighth
innings.
• Akron is 3-1 in night games this season, including a pair of
extra-inning victories against Missouri (8-5, 13 inns., Feb. 23)
and Georgetown (7-6, 10 inns., Mar. 9).
• Junior Vince Chiera (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) has
struck out just once in his last 39 at-bats and has been retired on
strikes six times in 108 at-bats this season. For his career,
Chiera has struck out 20 times in 444 at-bats (.045).
• Akron's 10 walks against Bowling Green last Sunday was a
season high.
• Senior Charlie Lenhard, 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).
• Lenhard was hit by a pitch twice against CMU on Apr. 13th
and three times, in three consecutive at-bats, in the very next
game. 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.
• The Zips are third in the MAC with a team batting average of
.289 and eighth with a collective ERA of 5.25.
• Akron has committed the second-fewest errors in the league
(37) and is ranked second overall (Miami, .973) with a team
fielding percentage of .969.
• 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 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 last Monday 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."
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 play in the inaugural
Diamond Classic for Kids tonight 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 1-888-99AKRON.
