The University of Akron Athletics
Baseball Continues MAC Play with Weekend Series at Miami (Ohio)
May 03 | Baseball
Akron (17-27, 10-8) at Miami (22-23, 7-11)
Oxford, Ohio | McKie Field
Game Notes (PDF)
Live Stats (free)
Live Streaming (subscription needed)
Game Times & Pitching Match-ups
Friday, May 4, 6 p.m.
RHP Andrew Brown (6-5, 3.32) vs. LHP Shawn Marquardt (5-4, 4.01)
Saturday, May 5, 6 p.m.
LHP Pat Dyer (3-3, 4.19) vs. RHP Mac Thoreson (5-3, 6.03)
Sunday, May 6, 1 p.m.
RHP Alex Loftin (3-1, 3.04) vs. RHP Charles Zubrod (2-3, 3.04)
Huge Series at Miami Ahead for UA Baseball
The Akron baseball team can greatly boost its MAC Tournament chances when it faces Miami this weekend for a three game set in Oxford, Ohio.
A Look at Miami
The RedHawks are 22-23 overall and 7-11 in conference play after losing two of three at Buffalo last weekend. Miami stands tied for fourth in the MAC East, three games back of Akron.
Miami is a good offensive club, hitting .296 as a team this year and scoring 5.4 runs per game. Freshman Matt Honchel leads the team with a .383 average and has scored 35 runs. Kevin Bower has a club-high 42 RBI and is hitting .341. Bryce Redeker has driven in 34 and scored 39 times.
On the mound, Miami has a 4.98 team ERA and opponents are hitting .295. Matt Rosinski has five saves and a 2.28 ERA in 16 appearances out of the bullpen.
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 seven to secure a top-three spot in the MAC East.
• The Akron pitching staff has been excellent in MAC games this season, holding a league-low 2.90 ERA in 18 games this season. MAC opponents are batting just .248 against UA pitching this season.
• Senior Andrew Brown is now the UA leader in career innings pitched with 338.0. Brown passed former record holder Ross Liersemann in the fourth inning of Friday's win over Central Michigan. Brown is 4-2 with a 1.10 ERA in MAC play this year and 6-2 with a 1.00 ERA in his last eight starts. Brown has gone 19 straight innings without allowing an earned run.
• Miami swept the last set in the series, winning all three games by one run. Due to poor weather, 2.5 games of the series was played in one day. In all, the club's played 25.5 innings on Saturday. The RedHawks have won the last three series.
• Freshman Matt Rembielak is hitting .378 over the last ten games and has driven in nine runs. Rembielak batted .455 last weekend against Central Michigan.
• Andrew Brown's six wins are the most victories for an Akron pitcher since Frank Turocy won six games in 2008.
The Series with Miami
Miami leads the all-time series 44-24 and has won the last six meetings. Akron has not taken a series from the RedHawks since 2008. The RedHawks swept the series in Akron last season, winning all three games by one run. After having Friday's game suspended in the fourth inning by rain, the clubs played the remainder of the opener and then a double-header on Saturday to avoid a poor Sunday forecast. In all Saturday featured 25.5 innings of baseball.
Recapping Last Weekend's Action
Akron dropped two of three to Central Michigan last weekend at Lee R. Jackson Baseball Field. UA won the opener behind seven shutout innings from Andrew Brown, but dropped both games of a Sunday doubleheader.
It's a Magic Number
The Zips have their first Mid-American Conference Tournament berth since 2005 in their sights. With nine scheduled games to go, UA owns a three game lead on Miami and Bowling Green for third place in the MAC East. That gives the Zips a magic number (the combined number of Akron wins and Miami/BGSU losses needed to clinch a tournament berth) of seven to secure its spot in the tournament. The Zips are also strongly positioned to grab one of the two wild card spots.
Brown Breaks the Career Innings Record
By tossing seven innings in Friday's win over Central Michigan, senior Andrew Brown broke Ross Liersemann's UA career innings pitched record. Brown has now hurled 338.0 innings in his career.
More on Brown
Andrew Brown is 6-2 with a 1.00 ERA in his last eight starts on the mound. During that time the senior righty has limited opponents to a .198 batting average and has gone the distance four times. UA has completed shutouts in four of those eight games.
Record Watch
Career Innings Pitched
1. Andrew Brown 338.0
2. Ross Lierseman 334.0
4. Frank Turocy 278.0
5. Alex Loftin 268.1
Career Strikeouts
1. Dave Young 315
4. Jim Barton 254
5. Andrew Brown 242
9. Mike Birkbeck 209
10. Alex Loftin 185
Career Appearances
1. Benjamin Danziger 78
2. Scott Foster 73
Patrick Gliha 73
Streaking
Matt Rembielak owns UA's longest active hit streak at eight games. Rembielak is batting .433 with nine RBI during the streak.
The Stopper
Senior Scott Foster is putting together an excellent year out of the bullpen. The southpaw is 2-3 with two saves and a 1.77 ERA in 12 relief appearances. In league games, Foster is 2-2 with a 1.82 ERA in six appearances. Foster is five appearances away from tying Benjamin Danziger for the UA record for career pitching appearances.
On the Road
Jared Turocy is batting .354 in 16 true road games this season, a number that leads the club. Tyler Begun (.329) and Joey Havrilak (.321) are also both hitting over .300 on the road this season.
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 will play a pair of midweek games at Pittsburgh and West Virginia next week. UA hosts Ohio in its final home series of the season next weekend at Lee R. Jackson Baseball Field.
