The University of Akron Athletics
Baseball to Host Kent State in Crucial MAC East Series
May 08 | Baseball
AKRON ZIPS (23-19, 7-8 MAC) vs. KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES (29-17, 12-6 MAC)
Lee Jackson Field (1,500) • Akron, Ohio
THE FIRST PITCH
The University of Akron baseball team (23-19, 5-7) will look to
make a move in the East Division when archrival Kent State comes to
Lee Jackson Field for a three-game series starting Friday at 3 p.m.
The third-place Zips trail the division-leading Flashes by just 3.5
games.
FRIDAY, MAY 9 – 3 P.M. (EST)
Probable Starting Pitchers:
UA RHP Frank Turocy (5-2, 3.46)
KSU LHP Brad Stillings (2-6, 5.31)
• Turocy picked up his career-high fifth win of the season at
Miami (5.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 4 SO, 1 BB) last Friday. The
right-hander is 2-1 in the first game of league series this season
with a 3.66 ERA in MAC play. Turocy, who is 10-11 with a 4.78 ERA
in 201.1 career innings pitched at Akron, is 1-1 with a 12.60 ERA
in a pair of starts (10.0 IP) against the Golden Flashes.
SATURDAY, MAY 10 – 1 P.M. (EST)
Probable Starting Pitchers:
UA LHP Zach Yike (4-3, 6.75)
KSU RHP Chris Carpenter (4-2, 4.22)
• Yike allowed four runs in the first two frames at Miami, but
shut out the RedHawks the rest of the way in a 6.0 inning victory
in his last start. Yike, who is 7-6 with an ERA of 6.17 in 108.0
career innings at Akron, is 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA in a pair of
outings against KSU, including one start.
SUNDAY, MAY 11 – 1 P.M. (EST)
Probable Starting Pitchers:
UA LHP Drew Turocy (4-2, 5.50)
KSU LHP Kyle Smith (7-1, 5.40)
• Drew Turocy, the younger brother of Frank,
allowed four runs in 6.0 innings in a no-decision in Oxford last
Sunday. The left-hander and true freshman has never faced Kent
State.
ON THE RADIO
The first two games of the series can be heard locally on
Sports Radio 1350 AM (WARF) while GoZips.com will stream all three
as part of the Zips Zone subscription package. Bill Morgan, who is
in his second season broadcasting Akron baseball, will have the
call.
SERIES NOTES
Akron trails the all-time series with the Golden Flashes,
44-87-1, including a 16-15 setback in the second annual Diamond
Classic for Kids last month at Canal Park ... The Zips defeated the
Flashes in the inaugural Diamond Classic, 3-1, last spring ... KSU
earned a season series split by taking two of three league games
from UA last season at Lee Jackson Field ... UA defeated KSU in
back-to-back league series from 2004-05 and has dropped a MAC
series from its rival just once since 2003.
ZIPS RESET
One week after picking up its first league road win of the
season in Buffalo, Akron notched its first league series victory on
the road since 2005 by taking two of three games from Miami in
Oxford last weekend.
Offense was abundance against the RedHawks as the Zips amassed 37
runs (12.3/game) and 51 hits (17.0/game) while moving into third
place in the East Division standings. UA nearly completed its
second league sweep of the year and its first of more than two
games on the road since the 1999 campaign, but the RedHawks held on
for an 8-7 victory in the series finale.
It was a tough setback for Akron, which stranded 16 runners and
left the bases loaded in the final five frames of the contest.
But the Zips bounced back in dramatic fashion in its second-to-last
non-league game of the spring by scoring seven runs in the ninth
inning to steal a 9-7 victory from Duquesne on the road Wednesday.
The big inning completed a comeback from a 7-0 deficit after four
innings, marking UA's largest come-from-behind win of the
season.
WHERE WE STAND
Akron (23-19, 7-8) enters the weekend in third place in
the MAC East and 3.5 games behind division-leading Kent State.
MAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN CHILLICOTHE
For the first time since 1982, and for only the second
time in league history, the MAC baseball tournament will be held at
a neutral site when this year's event is staged at VA Memorial
Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
The tournament field has also been expanded to eight teams for the
first time ever. The prior tournament field consisted of six teams
in a double-elimination tournament. The new format will feature a
bracket of two pools, with the winner of each double-elimination
pool meeting in a one-game, winner take all championship game. The
bracketing reflects the College World Series format as played in
Omaha.
The top three teams from each division will qualify for postseason
play. The two remaining bids will be granted to the teams with the
next-best winning percentages in league play regardless of
division.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
UA helped its postseason aspirations and kept within
striking distance of the MAC East title by taking two of three
games at Miami last weekend. As it stands, the Zips are just 3.5
games behind front-running Kent State and 1.5 games back of
second-place Bowling Green with six league games to go.
Moreover, the schedule is set up favorably for Akron, which will
host the Falcons to close out the regular season next weekend. On
the flip side, Kent State will close its season on the road at UA
and at MU; Bowling Green will host UB this weekend before coming to
Akron; and Ohio will host Miami before closing at Buffalo.
FLASHES SCOUTING REPORT
Kent State (29-17, 12-6 MAC) is the hottest team in the
league, having won its last seven games overall and 11 of its last
12 conference games, including a three-game sweep of Buffalo at
home last weekend.
The Golden Flashes are fourth in the league in hitting (.308),
third in the league in pitching (5.13 ERA) and second in fielding
percentage (.964).
KSU, the defending MAC champions, were the favorites to repeat in
the coaches' preseason poll.
SERIES STORYLINES
• Third-year UA head coach Pat
Bangtson was a star pitcher and two-time team captain for the
Golden Flashes during his playing days from 1984-87. Bangtson is
the program's all-time leader in wins (26), is second in innings
pitched (313.2) and fifth in strikeouts (212).
• Kent State associate head coach Mike Birkbeck, who is in his
12th season with the Flashes, was a four-year letterwinning pitcher
with the Zips from 1980-83 and remains UA's only All-American,
earning Third Team status in 1982. Birkbeck is the Zips' all-time
wins leader (24) and is ranked highly in a number of other
categories, including ERA (5th/3.00), strikeouts (7th/209) and
pitching appearances (7th/56).
• The Zips and Golden Flashes combined for 31 runs and 35 hits
in their first meeting of the year in the second annual Diamond
Classic for Kids at Canal Park on Apr. 16. More than $10,000 was
raised for the Akron Children's Hospital as part of the non-league
contest.
In the contest, UA senior Doug McNulty (.325, 10, 35) set a school
record with three home runs in his first four at-bats en route to
earning Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week
honors. But the Zips couldn't hold on to leads of 8-4 and 13-7 as
the Flashes broke a 15-all tie in the bottom of the ninth inning on
a game-winning base hit by Doug Sanders following a triple by Chris
Tremblay.
• McNulty has hit exceptionally well against Kent State
throughout his career. In 36 career at-bats against the Golden
Flashes, the senior has batted .389 (14-for-36) with five home
runs, 11 runs scored and 10 RBI spanning 10 games. McNulty is
slugging a robust .944 against the cross-town rivals and has walked
six times and been hit by three pitches for a lofty on-base
percentage of .511.
WHO'S HOT
• Senior Kurt Davidson (.311, 8, 39), the league's
reigning East Division Player of the Week, has hit safely in his
last 10 games and is batting .429 (18-for-42) with three homers and
15 RBI during that time. The slugger also had recorded at least one
RBI in nine straight contests until falling short in UA's
non-league game at Duquesne Wednesday. Davidson has seen his
batting average, which stood at .240 on Apr. 13, climb 71 points in
about three and a half weeks.
• McNulty brings a nine-game hitting streak to the fold this
weekend and is batting .472 (17-for-36) during that time.
• Senior Vince Chiera (.298, 1, 28) has driven at least
one run in each of his last four games and is batting .421
(8-for-19) during that stretch.
• Leadoff hitter Kevin Haas (.371, 1, 25) has scored 15
times (1.7/game) in Akron's last nine contests while hitting at a
.357 (15-for-42) clip.
• Redshirt freshman Brandon White (.371) is hitting .417
(10-for-24) with eight RBI and eight runs scored in his last five
games. The catcher/outfielder drove in a career-high five RBI in
the Zips' series-opening victory at Miami last Friday.
PLAYER NOTEBOOK
• Senior Kurt Davidson added to his list of
individual accomplishments last weekend by becoming the school's
all-time leader for at-bats (775), RBI (174) and total bases
(405).
• With another hot week at the plate, Davidson, who broke UA's
all-time home runs record last spring, also made moves on a couple
more record-breaking milestones. With eight more hits, Davidson
moved into fourth place on the school's career hits chart with 241
and stands 25 short of Steve Sada's (1985-88) mark of 266. Also,
with three more doubles, the all-conference catcher moved into
third place with 51, 10 short of Brian Petrucci's (1994-97)
standard.
• Kevin Haas (.371, 1, 25) has hit safely in all
but three games this year and has reached base in all 42. Haas
entered the week ranked seventh in the league in batting, second in
hits per game and third in runs scored.
• With just five strikeouts in 145 at-bats, senior Vince
Chiera (.297, 1, 30) is the 5th-toughest player to strike out
in the nation.
• For his career, Chiera has struck out just 34 times in 649
at-bats, or 5.2 percent of the time.
• Frank Turocy, who is scheduled to take the hill
Friday and Sunday starter Drew
Turocy, are one of just four sets of brothers pitching in the
weekend rotation in the nation at the Division I level. The others
are Dartmouth's Robert and Russell Young, Temple's Mike and Matt
Mongiaridni and Monmouth's Brad and Brett Brach.
TEAM NOTEBOOK
• UA fielders are ranked eighth in the nation with 50
double plays turned in 42 games (1.19 per contest).
• Since Apr. 13, the Akron offense is averaging better than
nine runs (9.1) and nearly 13 hits (12.9) per game, spanning 17
contests.
• Zips' pinch hitters are batting .455 (10-for-22) with five
RBI this season.
• Akron will be looking to post its second straight league
series victory this weekend and its third overall for the season,
which would be a high under third-year head coach Pat
Bangtson.
• The Zips are ranked third in the MAC in batting (.311),
seventh in pitching (5.81 ERA) and eighth in fielding (.955).
• UA has posted 13 saves in 42 games this spring after
recording a total of nine saves over the past two years (98
games).
