The University of Akron Athletics
Akron Baseball Resumes Play in Florida
March 03 | Baseball
AKRON, Ohio - With the Jacksonville
Invitational over, Akron heads back to Florida to compete in the
Palm Beach Challenge as the Zips are scheduled to play six games in
five days this week. Akron will face familiar competition in the
Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Wednesday, Mar. 4 at 1:00 pm before taking
on the N.C. State Wolfpack at 5:00 pm for the first time in school
history. N.C. State will mark the second Atlantic Coast Conference
member Akron has faced in the 2009 season. On Thursday, Mar. 5 at
2:30 pm the Zips face with the first Big East Conference member,
taking on the Wildcats of Villanova. Akron plays St. Bonaventure
Friday, Mar. 6 at 6:30 pm, before playing a game against Big Ten
member Penn State on Saturday, Mar. 7 at 7:30 pm. The final game of
the Palm Beach Challenge pits the Zips against the Pittsburgh
Panthers of the Big East on Sunday, Mar. 8 at 10:30 am. Live stats
and complete game recaps will be available via www.GoZips.com.
The Zips' challenging 2009 schedule continued last weekend as Akron
faced off against Jacksonville University, the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Michigan. Despite
dropping three contests, the Zips dropped a pair of games by just
two runs while losing the third by three. Akron's weekend in the
Sunshine State was highlighted by several strong performances at
the plate in addition to a pair of dominant performances on the
mound.
Senior centerfielder Matt Roberts highlighted the Akron offense.
Roberts batted .545 over the weekend in addition to clubbing a pair
of doubles and homers while driving in four runs on six hits.
Senior Phil Bednar batted a .455 clip, knocking five
hits in 11 at-bats, including a double, a home run and two RBI.
Junior Kyle Hallett rounded out the top-three UA batters
as he batted .444 over the weekend. Hallett went 4-for-9 with a RBI
and run scored.
On the mound, the young pitching staff showed its potential as
Akron saw strong mid-relief performances from sophomore Benjamin
Danziger and Andrew Brown. Danziger went 5.1 innings, allowing
an earned run and fanning seven batters while Brown threw 5.0
innings, registered six strikeouts and allowed just two earned
runs. Brown and Danziger pace the Zips' pitching staff with eight
strikeouts each, accounting for more than two thirds of the staff's
strikeouts over the weekend (22).
Scouting Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks enter the contest 3-5 on the season.
Lehigh opened the season with a 0-3 skid against Southern Miss
before bouncing back to steal a two-game set away from
Maryland-Eastern Shore. Lehigh also picked up a win over George
Washington last weekend before dropping a pair of games-including a
weather-shortened contest, to the Colonials. Senior
pitcher/infielder Geoff Campbell leads the Mountain Hawks
offensively with a .483 clip. Campbell has knocked 14 hits
including a home run, two triples and one double while driving in
eight. As a team, Lehigh is hitting .226 while the pitching staff
stands with a 10.23 ERA and has surrendered 103 hits across 63.1
innings pitched. Lehigh holds the 1-0 advantage dating back to 1998
when the Mountain Hawks picked up the 7-3 win over Akron, also in
Florida.
N.C. State Wolfpack Watch
Akron adds a game with the Wolfpack following a severe storm which
washed away N.C. State's tournament schedule last week. The
Wolfpack are 5-2 heading into the week and are led by freshman
infielder/pitcher Pratt Maynard. Maynard boasts a .423 batting
average in addition to 11 hits, including three homers and nine
runs batted in. On the mound, N.C. State pitchers hold a 3.86
collective ERA and have allowed 62 hits in seven games.
Villanova At a Glance
The Wildcats (2-4) picked up their first two wins last weekend,
downing NY Tech (13-1) and Mount Saint Mary's (7-5). Matt Szczur, a
sophomore outfielder paces Villanova's offensive lineup. Szczur is
currently hitting .389 with seven hits and two RBI. Senior
centerfielder Joe Cotter who's batting .238 with five hits, leads
the team with five RBI. The Wildcats' pitching staff which
surrendered 61 hits in six games, registered a collective 6.71 ERA
in 51.0 innings pitched.
Scouting St. Bonaventure
Saint Bonaventure opened the season 2-1 also picking up
wins over Mount Saint Mary's (10-6) and New York Tech (11-5) while
falling to Indiana State (12-0). The Zips are 8-4 in the all-time
series against Lehigh, picking up 5-4 and 10-4 wins over the
Bonnies in 1992 when they last met.
Penn State Outlook
The Nittany Lions (2-4) will look for offensive output from senior
first baseman Cory Wine who currently leads the team with a .444
batting average and has notched eight hits including a pair of
doubles, a triple and team-high four RBI on the young season. The
Penn State pitching staff holds a 4.04 ERA and has allowed 48 hits
and 22 earned runs in 49.0 innings of work.
Pittsburgh Perspective
Akron faces Pittsburgh in their final game at the Palm Beach
Challenge. The Panthers opened the season 1-2 before having a slate
of games rained out in North Carolina this past weekend. Pitt
dropped a pair of games to Navy (3-1) and Bradley (9-8) before
picking up a win against Bradley (10-9) in their opening weekend.
Junior infielder Chris Sedon paces the Pittsburgh lineup with a
.417 clip with five hits including a homer and three RBI. The
Panther bullpen threw a combined ERA of 5.33 and allowed 32 hits in
27 innings pitched. Akron currently holds the all-time series lead
22-16, dating back to 1980.
Live stats and complete game recaps will be available via
www.GoZips.com for this weekend's games. Following the team's
return from Florida, the Zips embark on a three game stint at The
University of Illinois, Friday, Mar. 13-15.
