Baseball Heads to Coastal Carolina Invitational This Weekend

March 05 | Baseball

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Coastal Carolina Invitational Game Notes

AKRON, Ohio – The Zips will travel to South Carolina to take on Coastal Carolina, Michigan and Michigan State in the Coastal Carolina Invitational this weekend.

Akron opens the invitational on Friday with a 3 p.m. game against Coastal Carolina at Springs Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C. The game was originally scheduled for a 4 p.m. start time.

The Zips will then play the remaining two games in Myrtle Beach, S.C. at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark, beginning with an 11 a.m. contest on Saturday against Michigan State. The weekend will conclude with an 11 a.m. game on Sunday against Michigan where the Zips will be the home team.

Gameday Information

Friday, March 6 • 3 p.m. at Coastal Carolina - Audio | Live Stats

Akron: Jr., LHP John Valek III (1-0, 3.38 ERA)

Coastal Carolina: RSo., RHP Alex Cunningham (2-0, 2.89 ERA)

Saturday, March 7 • 11 a.m. vs. Michigan State - Live Stats

Akron: Jr., RHP JT Brubaker (0-1, 3.38 ERA)

Michigan State: RSo., LHP Walter Vieaux (0-2, 2.12 ERA)

Saturday, March 8 • 11 a.m. vs. Michigan - Live Stats

Michigan: So., RHP Keith Lehmann (1-1, 2.13 ERA)

Akron: Sr., LHP Pat Dyer (1-0, 3.27 ERA)

LAST WEEKEND

• The Zips last competed when they traveled to take on Mercer, Belmont and Notre Dame in the 2015 Mercer Baseball Classic and posted a 1-2 weekend record.

• The Mercer Bears snapped a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat the Zips, 6-5. Senior Matt LaRocca parked a three-run homer over the left field wall in the second frame for a 3-0 Akron lead before the Bears would manage four runs, split between the fourth and fifth innings. The Zips responded with a two-run top of the sixth, but a Mercer solo homer put the Bears ahead 6-5 in the eighth and stuck for the win.

• On Saturday, the Zips romped to defeat Belmont 8-3 by posting a six-run second inning off four hits and a Bruins fielding error. The win went to redshirt senior Jon Pusateri, who provided long relief, pitching the final 5.0 innings, allowing just three hits and one run while walking one striking out one.

• The tournament concluded on Saturday evening with a 5-4 loss in the final inning against Notre Dame. Junior Daulton Mosbarger clubbed a two-run double as the Zips got out to a 4-3 lead in the seventh. Reliever Matt LaRocca then took to the mound and spent an impressive 1.1 inning on the mound, striking out four batters. However, Notre Dame would go on to post a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to come from behind and defeat the Zips.

SCOUTING COASTAL CAROLINA

• This is the first meeting between the Zips and the Chanticleers.

• CCU's starter against Akron, RHP Alex Cunningham, has pitched a team-high 18.2 innings, striking out 17 in that span and walking five. Cunningham has held opponents to a .185 batting average to pick up two wins in three starts so far this season.

• The pitching staff as a whole owns a 2.61 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

• Offensively, the Chanticleers have 33 extra-base hits on the season with 10 home runs and are led by junior infielder Connor Owings with 14 hits, 10 RBI and a .341 batting average.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE

• The Zips own an 0-1 record against Michigan State after losing 5-1 in 2011 in the teams' only meeting.

• The Spartans are coming off a three-game skid after dropping a series to No. 8 UCLA.

• Michigan State's starter LHP Walter Vieaux has posted a team-leading 17.0 innings pitched with a team-best 15 strikeouts. The MSU pitching staff has struck out eight or more batters in five games for a total of 61 strikeouts and a team ERA of 4.21. In both of his losses, he was given one run or less in run support.

• Junior outfielder Cam Gibson has started in all nine of the Spartans' games this season and owns a .273 batting average with nine hits, two runs and two RBI.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

• The Wolverines hold a 2-0 record against the Zips, with the most recent meeting coming in 2013 when Akron suffered a narrow 2-3 defeat.

• Michigan is on a five-game win streak after taking four games against Siena and one against Stetson.

• The Wolverines will start RHP Keith Lehmann on the mound who has a 2.13 ERA with 13 strikeouts, five walks across 12.2 innings pitched.

• Cody Bruder leads the team with 12 RBI while Jackson Glines has a team-leading .489 average after going 23-of-47 with nine RBI.

• UM has a team batting average of .291 and has racked up 28 doubles throughout its first 12 games.

AKRON NOTES

• Sophomore infielder Dom Iero is second in the Mid-American Conference in RBI with 11, 10 of which came in the first six games of the season. Iero (11) and Mosbarger (8) combine for 19 of the Zips' 42 RBI.

• Mosbarger has finished five of the Zips' nine games and has two saves, coming in back-to-back days against Charlotte where he set down the final three batters in order to preserve Akron's one-run lead.

• Akron has accrued a team ERA of 3.64, which ranks third in the MAC. The pitching staff has held opponents to a .223 batting average to tie for second in the conference.

• The UA pitchers have fanned at least seven batters in five of the Zips' nine games so far this season. They have posted 59 strikeouts to just 21 walks.

• Brubaker posted a season-high five strikeouts in 5.0 innings against Mercer while LaRocca fanned four of the seven Notre Dame batters he faced in the Zips' last game.

• Junior Kris Simonton leads the Zips in four categories, with 36 at bats, seven runs, 12 hits and three stolen bases.

• Akron is batting .500 (13-of-26) with runners on third with less than two outs. Iero is 5-of-7 (.714) in that situation.

• UA has stolen 11 bases in 15 attempts this season and is led by Simonton and Joey Havrilak, both with three apiece.

• The Zips have eight sacrifice bunts and four sacrifice flies on the season, both good for the second-most in the MAC. They have a mark of .437 in successfully advancing runners.

• Akron is a veteran team, made up of eight returning seniors and eight returning juniors, while the starting rotation from last year remains intact.

• Last season, Valek pitched the eight-most innings in Akron baseball history at 91.0.

THE ROTATION

• Valek(1-0) is coming off an uncharacteristic outing against Belmont, where he pitched 4.0 innings, allowing four hits and two runs while walking four and tossing two wild pitches. On the season, the southpaw has seen 16.0 innings on the mound including a win against Charlotte where he twirled 7.0 innings, allowed one run and struck out a career-high six batters.

• Brubaker (0-1) is tied with Valek for the most innings pitched with 16.0. He will make the start against Michigan State. In his last outing, he pitched 5.0 innings and allowed four runs off six hits while fanning five and walking two against Mercer for his first walks of the season. He leads Akron with 11 strikeouts and has a complete seven-inning game under his belt.

• Dyer (1-0) will start on the mound against Michigan. He has posted 11.0 innings pitched and averages 8.18 strikeouts per game with 10 total on the season to go with three walks. His win came against Furman when the right-hander threw 6.0 innings and allowed three hits, two runs, while striking out six and walking one.

STEPPING UP

• Iero is replacing James Sheltrown at second base this season, who was lost to graduation after a stellar season for the Zips. Iero was recently named Zips' Student-Athlete of the week on Feb. 23 for his performances against Charlotte after collecting four of the team's six total RBI in the series. The sophomore has now collected a team-leading 11 RBI, eclipsing his 2014 season total of 10. On the season, Iero leads in RBI with 11 and holds two second-best marks on the team with a .313 batting average and .406 slugging percentage.

HEATING UP

• After a slow start to the season, Havrilak posted a .462 batting average after going 6-of-13 with four RBI and 10 total bases at the 2015 Mercer Baseball Classic. His weekend performance included a 3-for-4 showing with two RBI against Notre Dame and a 2-for-4 game with a solo home run, two RBI and a run scored in an 8-3 victory over Belmont.

STREAKING

• Havrilak has now reached base safely in all nine of the Zips' games to open the season after drawing seven walks and posting nine hits. Senior Matt Rembielak has reached safely in seven-straight games.

• After opening the season on a seven-game hit streak just eight games into the year, Brian Lees saw his streak snap against Notre Dame. The sophmore catcher went 4-for-9 (.444) throughout the Charlotte series including a game-winning RBI single. He is now tied for second on the team with 10 hits and owns a .286 batting average.

UP NEXT

The Zips will take on Marshall on Tuesday, March 10 at 3 p.m. in its first midweek game of the 2015 slate.