Baseball Hosts Youngstown State in Home Opener

March 23 | Baseball

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Youngstown State Penguins(4-11 overall, 1-5 HL)
at Akron Zips (10-10 overall, 2-1 MAC)

Lee R. Jackson Field • Akron, OH

Tuesday, March 24 • 3 p.m.
Youngstown State: Jr., LHP Jared Wight (4-1, 4.91 ERA)
Akron: So., RHP Josh Davis (2-1, 8.38 ERA)

Live Stats: GoZips.com
Webstream: GoZips.com

THIS WEEK
After 20 games on the road, Akron baseball will host Youngstown State in its home opener on Tuesday, March 24, at 3 p.m. at Lee R. Jackson Field. A live webstream will be available with David Suntup on play-by-play and former Zip James Sheltrown on color analysis.

The Zips travel to Ohio State on Wednesday, March 25, for a 5:05 p.m. tilt before returning home to host Toledo in its first home Mid-American Conference series on March 27-29. The game with the Buckeyes will be carried on BTN Plus.

SERIES ACTION

The Zips own a 96-62 record against Youngstown State since the teams first met in 1947. Last season at Lee R. Jackson Field, Akron swept YSU, 5-0, on April 22.
• Against Ohio State, the Zips trail 24-11 in series action since 1890. Last season in Columbus, Akron dropped a 6-5 decision to the Buckeyes in 11 innings of action.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Zips opened Mid-American Conference play on the road over the weekend, taking two of three games in the series.
• In the first win, junior starting pitcher John Valek III tossed a complete game, allowing just eight hits and two runs. In his sixth start of the season, Valek (3-1) walked one and struck out four after facing 32 batters en route to recording the fourth complete game of his collegiate career. Of his 100 total pitches, 67 were strikes.
• In game two, junior Daulton Mosbarger went perfect 4-for-4 performance at the plate, including an RBI double.
• In the 3-1 win to close out the series, the Zips' pitching staff allowed a season-low four hits while fanning a season-high 12 batters.

AKRON NOTES
• Akron (10-10 overall, 2-1 MAC) won two of its last three contests to open MAC play. In non-conference play, the Zips are on a season-long four game skid.
• As a team, the Zips are No. 2 in MAC batting for a combined .300. Sophomore Dom Iero is the top hitter in conference games with a .615 and eight hits.
• The Zips are averaging 4.95 runs per contest and have scored eight or more runs on five occasions.
• After recording 10 hit against Pittsburgh on March 18, Akron has now posted hits in double-figures in seven contests.
• Senior Joey Havrilak and junior Daulton Mosbarger are tied at three home runs apiece for second in the MAC.
• Havrilak is the top Zip batter with 25 hits and a .352 average.
• The Akron offense is advantageous at the plate, batting .488 (21-of-43) with runners on third and less than two out. The Zips have a .457 clip in successfully advancing runners with the help of 17 sacrifice hits.
• Akron ranks second in the MAC in fielding percentage at .970 as the team has posted five errorless games.
• The pitching staff owns a team ERA of 4.67 after opening MAC play.
• Junior J.T. Brubaker has posted a team-high 22 strikeouts to nine walks. The Zips have fanned 106 and walked 52 for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.04.
• Ten of Akron's 18 games have come down to one run as Akron owns a 4-6 record in games decided by a single run.
• Sophomore Dom Iero leads the team with 17 RBI, 10 of which came in the first six games of the season.
• Senior reliever Matt LaRocca recorded his fourth save this season against Eastern Michigan (March 22) to lead the Akron bullpen in saves. LaRocca has 10 strikeouts and two walks in 6.1 innings pitched. Mosbarger follows with two saves.
• UA has stolen 22 bases in 29 attempts this season, led by junior Kris Simonton and Havrilak with five apiece.
• Akron posted a .265 batting average in the Coastal Carolina Invitational against Coastal Carolina, Michigan State and Michigan. The team's season average now sits at .265.

SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE
• The Penguins are coming off three straight losses to Valparaiso in Horizon League play.
• YSU is coached by third-year skipper Steve Gillispie. In 2014, the Penguins earned the Horizon League's automatic berth in to the NCAA Tournament, working their way up the bracket as the No. 6 seed.
• The Penguins are batting .260 as a team while the pitching staff has a collective ERA of 6.53. Opponents are batting .298 against the pitching staff.
• Frank Califano leads the Penguins at the plate, batting .317 with 19 hits and 10 RBI in 14 starts.
• Alex Larivee (.302) is the only other player batting over .300. He has 16 hits, including four doubles and three home runs.
• On the mound, Jared Wight (4.91 ERA) stands 1-2 in four appearances. He has five strikeouts and a walk in 7.1 innings of action.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE
• The Buckeyes opened Big Ten play with a 2-1 home record against Michigan State
• OSU is coached by fifth-year mentor Greg Beals. In 2014, the Buckeyes finished with a 30-28 overall record and a 10-14 Big Ten mark.
• The Penguins are batting .2603as a team while the pitching staff has a collective ERA of 2.61. Opponents are batting .261 against the pitching staff.
• Craig Nennig leads the Buckeyes at the plate, batting .364 with 24 hits and 12 RBI while starting all 20 games.
• Connor Sabanosh(.313) follows with 21 hits, including three doubles and a triple, and eight runs.
• On the mound, Ryan Riga (0.94 ERA) stands 4-1 in 38.1 innings pitched. He's fanned 29 batters and walked eight.

MAC PLAY
The Zips began 2015 Mid-American Conference play at Eastern Michigan. This season, UA hosts MAC teams Toledo (March 27-29), Northern Illinois (April 10-12), and Miami (Ohio) (April 17-19) before it closes out the 2015 slate with its longest homestand of the season as it takes on Buffalo (May 8-10) and defending MAC champion Kent State (May 14-16). The top eight teams in the conference will compete in the 2015 MAC Tournament May 20-23 at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio.

THE ROTATION
• Valek is this week's MAC Pitcher of the Week. Against Eastern Michigan, he faced 32 batters and threw 100 pitches, 67 for strikes. It was the fourth complete game of his collegiate career. Overall, Valek (4.46 ERA) has made six starts for Akron and has pitched a team-high 36.1 innings.
• Brubaker has thrown 34.1 innings in six starts. In his time on the bump, the junior struck out 22 and walked nine. His 3.15 ERA leads all Akron starters as he has given up 36 hits and 12 earned runs.
• Pusateri is slated to make just his third start of the season after senior LHP Pat Dyer, who has started in four Sunday games this season, left after taking a line drive to the head in his last start at Davidson. Pusateri provided long relief following Dyer's exit, throwing 5.1 innings and allowing six hits and three runs. The right-hander has pitched 27.1 innings, fanning 19 and walking seven.

CLEANING UP NICELY
• Simonton has started at cleanup in 19 of the Zips' 20 games so far. The junior has posted six multi-hit games, including three three-hit performances. The junior has collected 10 RBI.

ROOKIE ZIPS GET A STARTING NOD
• In Akron's midweek game against Pittsburgh, two freshmen posted their first collegiate start. Left-handed pitcher Josh Lapiana started on the mound and pitched 4.0 innings, allowing eight runs, six earned while walking three and striking out one.
• Infielder Alex Dirienzo also started in the game and launched a triple to right-center field on his first picth. He went 2-for-4 with a run scored in his debut.

SEEING DOUBLE
• After a home run against West Virginia and a triple at Pittsburgh, Havrilak has a team-best eight extra-base hits. In a three-game series at Davidson, the outfielder hit for the cycle. His extra base hits have helped Havrilak more than double his RBI count in the last six games, as he added nine RBI for a season total of 14. Havrilak has posted 40 total bases and owns a team-best .563 slugging percentage.

COMING IN HOT
• Junior Gerrad Rohan started in his first game of the season on Feb. 28 against Belmont. The junior infielder has now received the starting nod in every game since and has hit safely in seven of his ten games with two multi-RBI performances and two two-hit performances.

OFF TO A SCORING START
• The Zips have scored in the first inning in seven of the ten games, accounting for 15 of Akron's 49 runs in that span. Each contest of the three-game Davidson series featured a solo homer in the top of the first inning. As the leadoff hitter, Mosbarger clubbed a solo homer in the first at-bat of each game of the Davdison doubleheader on March 14. One homer came off the first pitch of the game. The next day against the Wildcats, Havrilak knocked a solo bomb in the top of the first.

MAC WEEKLY HONORS
• OF Joey Havrilak was named the MAC East Player of the Week on March 23. Havrilak posted four multi-hit games and a pair of multi-RBI performances as he batted .500 (10-for-20) on the week, while registering eight RBI, and a .750 slugging percentage. The outfielder's strongest performance came on March 17 at West Virginia where he went 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI, one run scored, a walk and two stolen bases. Three of his four RBI came from a one-out, three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning.
He followed up the performance the next day at Pittsburgh with a two-hit game, highlighted by a stand-up RBI triple in the second inning. He raked in a pair of RBI in the 13-7 loss and crossed the plate twice for Akron. Against EMU, Havrilak went 5-for-11 with two RBI, one run scored and two walks. His week increased his team-leading on-base percentage to .472.
• RHP John Valek was named the MAC East Pitcher of the Week on March 23 after twirling a complete game in the series opener against Eastern Michigan to lead the Zips to a 6-2 victory on Friday to open Mid-American Conference play. The left-hander held the Eagles to eight hits and allowed just two runs, while walking one and striking out four. While Akron held a 5-2 lead through six full, Valek allowed just one EMU hit throughout the final three frames to seal the UA victory. Valek set the Eagles down in order three times as he faced 32 batters and threw 100 pitches, 67 for strikes. It was the fourth complete game of his collegiate career.
• LHP Pat Dyer was named the MAC East Pitcher of the Week on March 11 for his eight shutout innings against Michigan in the Zips' 2-0 victory. The Columbus, Ohio, native allowed five hits while walking three and striking out two. He faced 31 batters and only allowed a runner to advance into scoring position on three occasions. He gave up one extra-base hit, a two-out double, and struck out the next batter to end the scoring threat. He is currently eighth in the MAC in ERA at 1.89 over 19.0 innings pitched.

LIGHTS OUT
• In the Coastal Carolina Invitational, the Zips held a pair of Big Ten opponents to a .190 batting average. Michigan State entered the contest batting .211 while Michigan held a .291 clip. The defense posted three double plays against Michigan State and fielded a season-high 17 ground balls against Michigan to back up Akron's starters.

NEARING 600
• After leading the Zips to 28 victories last season, head coach Rick Rembielak started the season 27 wins shy of reaching 600 in his career.

ON DECK
• The Zips travel to take on Ohio State on Wednesday for a 5:05 p.m. first pitch at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. Akron returns home to host Toledo in MAC action on March 27-29 at Lee R. Jackson Field.