The University of Akron Athletics
Baseball Welcomes Ohio for Final Homestand of the Season
May 11 | Baseball
Akron (17-32, 10-11) vs. Ohio (23-25, 12-9)
Akron, Ohio | Lee R. Jackson Baseball Field
Friday, May 11, 3 p.m.
RHP Andrew Brown (6-6, 3.21) vs. LHP Brent Choban (6-4, 2.73)
Saturday, May 12, 1 p.m.
LHP Scott Foster (3-4, 2.16) vs. RHP Jason Moulton (4-3, 2.12)
Sunday, May 13, 1 p.m.
RHP Alex Loftin (3-2, 3.36) vs. RHP Seth Streich (3-5, 4.65)
Game Notes (PDF)
Ohio Visits Akron in Penultimate Series of the Regular Season
The Akron baseball team welcomes Ohio to Lee R. Jackson Baseball Field this weekend for the final homestand of the season.
A Look at Ohio
The Bobcats are 23-25 overall and 12-9 in conference play after getting swept by Kent State last weekend. OU is in second in the MAC East, two games up on Akron.
Ohio bats .285 has a team and is led by rookie Jake Madsen. Madsen is batting .357 with 30 RBI this season. Jenson Painter has belted 12 homers on the year and has driven in a team-high 39 runs. Ethan Newton has swiped 22 bases, while Tyler Wells is batting .335 with 11 doubles and four homers.
OU has a team ERA of just 3.77 but is allowing 5.2 runs per game overall. Brett Barber has a team-high five saves, while Shane Coal has made 22 appearances and has a 2.48 ERA.
In MAC play, Ohio is hitting .307 and has a team ERA of 3.88.
Storylines
• UA enters this weekend's series looking to further secure its positioning in the MAC Tournament field. The Zips have a magic number of four to secure a wild card play-off position. Akron has a two game lead on Bowling Green for the second and final wild card spot. Buffalo sits 2.5 games back, while Northern Illinois is three games behind.
• The Akron pitching staff has been excellent in MAC games this season, holding 3.10 ERA in 21 games this season. MAC opponents are batting just .254 against UA pitching this season.
• Eight Akron seniors will be playing in their final home series this weekend. The group will be honored prior to Saturday's game.
• Ohio won two of three from Akron in last year's meeting in Athens. The Zips won the opener 13-3, before dropping games two and three, 7-3 and 1-0, respectively. Ohio leads the all-time series 48-35.
• Andrew Brown had had gone 25.1 straight innings without allowing an earned run before Miami scored in the seventh of last Friday's game. Brown holds the league's lowest ERA in MAC play this season (1.26). MAC teams are hitting just .200 against the senior righty.
• Senior Sam Watkins is turning it on down the stretch of the 2012 season, batting .364 in his last ten games. Watkins is also hitting a club-best .348 at home this season.
• Senior Scott Foster has an outstanding 2.18 ERA in 50.0 innings this season. Foster has made 14 relief appearances and two starts.
The Series with Ohio
Ohio leads the all-time series 48-35 after taking two of three in 2011. OU has won the last three series, with Akron sweeping the Bobcats at Jackson Field in 2008. Kurt Gamby hit .375 with a grand slam against the Bobcats last season, while Sam Watkins batted .357 during the weekend.
Recapping Last Weekend's Action
Akron was swept for the first time in MAC play at Miami last weekend. The Zips lost a pair of 4-3 games on Friday and Sunday, and were shutout 6-0 on Saturday. Andrew Brown tossed his fifth complete game in Friday's loss.
Midweek Recap
UA dropped a pair of games in the middle of the week, losing at Pittsburgh on Tuesday and at West Virginia on Wednesday. Tyler Begun batted 3-for-4 in the WVU game, while Dan Becks turned in a 6.0-inning start and surrendered just two runs against the Mountaineers.
It's a Magic Number
The Zips have their first MAC Tournament berth since 2005 in their sights. With six scheduled games to go, UA owns a two game lead on Bowling Green for the second and final wild-card spot. That gives the Zips a magic number - the combined number of Akron wins and BGSU losses needed to clinch a tournament berth - of four. Buffalo - 2.5 games back - and Northern Illinois - 3 games behind - are also chasing Akron for the final spot.
A strong finish would not only secure Akron's spot in the tournament but improve its seeding as well. Just three games separate Akron in eighth and second-place Toledo.
Getting a Shave
The Akron baseball team will be shaving their heads on Monday as part of the Sixth Annual Diamond Classic for the Kids. The shaving will take place in the lobby of the Akron Children's Hospital at 3 p.m.
Brown on the Mound
Andrew Brown is 6-3 with a 1.14 ERA in his last nine starts on the mound. During that time the senior righty has limited opponents to a .203 batting average and has gone the distance five times. UA has completed shutouts in four of those nine games.
Streaking
Four Zips have had hitting streaks of 10-plus games this season, with Brady Stewart's 13-game streak being the longest. Tyler Begun has the longest reaching base streak of the year (27 games).
Record Watch
Career Innings Pitched
1. Andrew Brown 346.0
2. Ross Lierseman 334.0
4. Frank Turocy 278.0
5. Alex Loftin 274.0
Career Strikeouts
1. Dave Young 315
4. Jim Barton 254
5. Andrew Brown 244
9. Mike Birkbeck 209
10. Alex Loftin 193
Career Appearances
1. Benjamin Danziger 78
2. Scott Foster 75
Senior Day
Akron will celebrate senior day before Saturday's first pitch. Eight seniors - Ivory Alexander, Andrew Brown, Dan Burant, Danny Fawcett, Scott Foster, Kevin Gamble, Alex Loftin, and Sam Watkins - will all be playing their final home games this weekend.
Rembielak in the MAC
Akron first-year coach Rick Rembielak is making a return to the Mid-American Conference, where he went 200-100 (.667) in conference play in 11 seasons as the head coach at Kent State (1994-2004).
Up Next
The Zips take on rival Kent State in the final series of the season next weekend. The series opener is the Sixth Annual Diamond Classic for the Kids at Canal Park on Thursday at 6 p.m. Games two and three are at Kent on Friday and Saturday.
