The University of Akron Athletics
Zips Begin MAC East Play by Hosting Miami
April 21 | Baseball
Friday, April 22, 2011 | 3:00 p.m.
Andrew
Brown (3-4, 2.48) vs. Mac Thoreson (3-2, 1.63)
Saturday, April 23, 2011 | 1:00 p.m.
Alex
Loftin (1-7, 6.22) vs. Tyler Melling (5-1, 3.75)
Sunday, April 24, 2011 | 1:00 p.m.
TBA vs. TBA
Venue: Lee R. Jackson Baseball Field
Dimensions: 330 LL-370 LC-400 CF-370 RC-330 RL
Radio: 1350 AM WARF - Sunday's game only. Bill Morgan (play-by-play)
Webcast: GoZips.com - Webcasts are free of charge. Bill Morgan (play-by-play)
Live Video: GoZips.com - Saturday's game only. Free of charge.
Live Stats: GoZips.com - Live Stats are free of charge.
Looking Back...
• Akron defeated Malone on Wednesday, 9-3, to win their third
game in four outings. The win gave Akron the season sweep of the
Pioneers.
• Freshman Jon
Pusateri picked up his second win of the season, throwing 4.0
scoreless innings and allowing just 3 hits. Pusateri struck out six
in the outing.
• Junior Drew
Turocy and sophomore Samuel
Trecaso had three hits each, with Turocy coming a triple short
of the cycle. Turocy's solo homer in the fifth was his fifth of the
season. Sophomore Jared
Turocy drove in a pair with a triple in the third.
• Veteran relievers Benjamin
Danziger and Chris
Bassitt each throw a hitless ining of relief. Danziger struck
out a pair in the seventh to give him 11 K's in his last
7.0-innings pitched.
A Look at the RedHawks...
• Miami enters the series at 7-5 in the MAC and 19-18
overall. The RedHawks won 2-of-3 from Western Michigan last weekend
in a Oxford.
• Kyle Wheldon (.333, 30 RBI, 7 HR) is Miami's top offensive
threat. Marcus Makuch (.324), Bryce Redeker (.319, 33 RBI), and
Adam Weisenburger (.317) are the RedHawk's other top batters.
• Sophomore Mac Thoreson (3-2, 1.63 ERA) and senior Tyler
Melling (5-1, 3.75) will start the first two games of the series.
Sunday's pitching matchup is TBA.
• Miami boasts a 3.10 team ERA with Brandon Adkins (2.05 ERA,
18 App.) and Sam Dawes (3.38 ERA, 17 App.) seeing the most action
out of the bullpen.
• Miami is the most aggressive team on the basepaths in MAC
and average 2 stolen bases per game. Ryan Brenner is a remarkable
30-35 on steal attempts this season.
Danziger Finding his Groove...
• Senior reliever Benjamin
Danziger has been finding his groove at just thre right time of
the seaosn. The former starter made the move to the bullpen this
year and has shined in his last three outings.
• The senior from Cleveland Heights, struck 1 in a scoreless
inning of relief against Ohio State on 4/13 and K'ed a pair in an
inning of relief in Wednesday win over Malone
• In between the two midweek appearances, Danziger picked up
his first win of the season on Saturday, throwing 5.0 scoreless
innings out of the bullpen and striking out 8 in Akron's 14-7 win
over Eastern Michigan.
• Danziger has struck out 11 and allowed just six hits in his
last 7.0 innings pitched.
• Junior Andrew
Brown has been lights out in his last three starts, and had
pitched 19.0 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run
until Eastern Michigan scored in the first inning of Friday's
game.
• Brown picked up the win in Friday's game, allowing just two
runs over 8.0 innings and striking out six.
• Brown pitched 10.0 innings of shutout ball against Toledo
on 4/1 and then allowed 3 unearned runs in last Saturday's game
against Central Michigan
• Against North Dakota State on 3/16, Brown through a
five-hit complete-game shutout to lead the Zips to a 1-0 win over
the Bison. Brown needed just 104 pitches in the outing,
• Brown was named Mid-American Conference East Pitcher of the
Week on 3/21 for his efforts.
• Brown is 3-4 over 9 starts and holds an ERA of 2.48 in a
MAC-high 69.0 IP. Opposing batters are hitting just .200 against
the right-hander.
Backend Bassitt...
• The Akron bullpen is highlighted by junior closer Chris
Bassitt. The hard throwing right-hander has picked up a 6 saves
in 6 opportunities and appeared in 13 non-save opportunities.
• Over 23.0 IP, the Curtice, Ohio native has struck out 33 -
compared to just 13 walks.
• The hard-throwing righty has an ERA of 1.96 this season and
is limiting batters to an average of just .195.
• Bassitt was named the MAC East Pitcher of the Week on
Monday after picking a pair of saves in Akron's two wins in
Ypsilanti. Bassitt struck out the side with 13 pitches in Friday's
win and then picked up a six-out save, striking out four in
Saturday's victory.
White Hot...
• Senior left fielder Brandon
White has rounded into shape since the beginning of MAC
play.
• White currently leads the Zips in conference-only batting
with a .370 average and 9 RBIs.
• Since MAC play begin on March 25, White has driven up his
overall average over .100 point and has hit safely in 15 of 16
games.
Begun, Turocy Step Up...
• Since entering the lineup full time a little over a week
ago, redshirt freshman Tyler
Begun and sophomore Jared
Turocy have stepped up big at the plate.
• Begun, who has started the last 7 games at second, has hit
safely in 5 straight, driven in 4, scored 4 times and walked 4
times.
• Turocy has been the starting designated hitter the last 4
games and hit safely in six straight. He has driven in 5 and scored
4 times during that span.
Career Record Watch...
• With 13 appearances this year, senior Benjamin
Danziger has moved into sole possesion of 3rd on Akron's
all-time appearance list. His 69 appearances are 1 behind
second-place Tom Farmer. Patrick Gliha holds the record with 73
appearances from 2004-07.
• Danziger has also moved into eighth on the career innings
pitched list with 244.1. Dave Young is seventh with 246.0 IP.
• Junior Drew
Turocy's career batting average entering the season of .343
ties him for ninth on the all-time list. Turocy has driven up his
career mark to .347 this season which would move him into ninth on
the career list. Turocy is also 4th on the career triples list with
12.
Looking Ahead...
• Akron travels to Morgantown, W.Va. for the first of two
games against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Tuesday. First
pitch is at 7:05 p.m. and the game will be an internet-only
broadcast on GoZips.com.
• Next weekend the Zips travel north to Buffalo for a 3-game
MAC East series. First pitch on Friday is at 3:00 p.m. with
Saturday and Sunday's games beginning at 1:00 p.m. Friday's game
can be heard live on 1350 WARF, while the final two games of the
series are internet-only broadcasts.
