Baseball Opens MAC Tournament on Wednesday against Central Michigan

May 19 | Baseball

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Akron vs. Central Michigan Game Notes (PDF)

MAC Tournament Central | MAC Tournament Bracket

AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron baseball team is set to make its second-straight Mid-American Conference Tournament appearance beginning on Wednesday, May 20 at 4:30 p.m. against Central Michigan. Each game of the tournament will be played at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio.

No. 1 Central Michigan vs. No. 8 Akron

Wednesday, May 20 • 4:30 p.m.

Central Michigan: Jr., RHP Sean Renzi (5-1, 2.17 ERA, 58.0 IP)

Akron: Jr., LHP John Valek III (6-6, 3.07 ERA, 93.2 IP)

FOLLOW ALONG

Live Stats: MAC-sports.com

Video: MAC-sports.com

TOURNAMENT INFO

Information regarding tickets, directions, game schedules and the MAC Tournament bracket can be found here.

REGULAR SEASON RECAP

Fourth-year head coach Rick Rembielak led the squad to a 25-28 overall record this season. The Zips went 13-14 in the MAC and 12-14 in non-conference action.
Akron won four MAC series, including a three-game sweep against Northern Illinois.
Rembielak led the Zips to their second-straight 20-win season. Prior to last season's 28-29 record under Rembielak, Akron had not recorded 20 wins since the 2010 season when the squad went 21-34.
This season, Akron eclipsed 12 wins in conference play for the first time since 1997 when the Zips went 14-17.

ZIPS IN THE POSTSEASON

This will be UA's second-straight appearance in the MAC Baseball Tournament and fifth overall. Last season's postseason appearance was the first for Akron since the 2005 campaign.
The Zips also made the tournament in 1995 and won it the following year in 1996.
Akron opened the 2014 MAC Tournament with a 9-6 victory over Central Michigan. The Zips went on to defeat Buffalo 7-1 and 5-4 in a pair of games before making its second MAC Championship appearance in program history. The Zips fell to rival Kent State, 3-0, in last year's championship game.

SERIES ACTION

The Chippewas lead the all-time series as Akron is 16-49 against CMU.
The Zips and CMU met in the first round of the MAC Tournament last year, with Akron claiming a 9-6 victory.
Under fourth-year head coach Rick Rembielak, Akron is 4-3 against the Chippewas with the last regular-season meeting coming in the 2013 season when Akron took a three-game series, 2-1.

LAST WEEK

UA played one game against Canisius and hosted Kent State for a three-game series last week.
The Zips fell to Canisius 3-5 despite a 7.0 inning outing from freshman starting pitcher Josh Lapiana where the lefty allowed just one earned run. Darius Washington led the Zips' offense with two hits and three RBI.
Akron opened the three-game set against Kent State with a 7-1 loss after the Zips struggled to answer back to the Golden Flashes' five-run third inning. Akron reliever Josh Davis twirled 3.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen and held the KSU offense to two hits while fanning a pair. Sophomore catcher Brian Lees picked up Akron's lone RBI after plating Matt Rembielak on an RBI single.
The Zips took one game off Kent State in the series, winning game two, 2-1, behind a strong combined pitching performance from JT Brubaker and Pat Dyer. Brubaker worked around three Akron errors and allowed just four hits and one run in 6.0 innings pitched. Dyer took over after Brubaker's exit and pitched 3.0 scoreless frames, serving up just one hit.
KSU won game three in dramatic fashion. The Flashes forced an Akron error on a single in the top of the 10th inning to score the game-winning run. Gerrad Rohan's two-run single highlighted Akron's offense in the contest, while redshirt senior starter Jon Pusateri twirled 7.0 innings and held KSU to two runs while fanning six.

AKRON PITCHING NOTES

Akron ended the regular season with a collective ERA of 3.70. In conference play, Akron has posted a 3.00 ERA.
Batters are averaging .226 against UA.
Junior lefty John Valek III has twirled a team-high 93.2 innings, which currently stands as the eight-most innings recorded by an Akron pitcher in a single season, besting his mark of 91.0 last season. He is second in the MAC in innings pitched, trailing Ball State's Zach Plesac who has 94.1.
Junior right-hander JT Brubaker has tossed 84.2 innings and is 2.2 frames shy of joining Valek in the top-10 innings pitched in a single season by a UA pitcher.
Redshirt senior righty Jon Pusateri is fifth in the MAC in ERA at 2.77. He has posted a 2.53 ERA against conference opponents.
Following strong performances from Zips pitchers last weekend, Akron improved to 45th in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 2.48.
The Zips pitching staff has walked the fewest batters in the MAC at 139 while striking out the fifth-most at 344. They are led in strikeouts by Brubaker with 69. He has issued 28 walks.
In 31 of Akron's 53 contests, the pitching staff has combined to walk no more than two batters.
Akron averages 2.71 walks per nine innings, the 29th best mark in the NCAA.
Among MAC staffs, Akron pitchers have consistently ranked in the top five in multiple categories this season, including top-five stats in ERA (3.70), opposing batting average (.262), strikeouts (344), wins (25), saves (15), runs allowed (244), earned runs allowed (190), walks allowed (139) and home runs allowed (27).
The bullpen's 15 total saves stands at third in the MAC. Nine of those saves belong to senior reliever Matt LaRocca who has recorded the third-most in a single season in Akron program history.

AKRON BATTING NOTES

The Zips are batting .270 as a team, led by redshirt senior Joey Havrilak with a .340 clip. Havrilak is trailed by sophomore catcher Brian Lees at .301 and redshirt junior infielder Gerrad Rohan at .289.
Havrilak also leads Akron in slugging percentage (.507), on base percentage (.432), runs scored (43), extra-base hits (21), hits (69), stolen bases (16) and at bats (203). His .432 on base percentage is fifth in the MAC.
Sophomore infielder Dom Iero is Akron's RBI leader with 32 after recording eight multi-RBI games including four three-RBI showings.
Rohan is currently on a 12-game hit streak- the longest of any Zip this season. In that span, Rohan has batted .413 and has raked in 12 of his 24 total RBI this season. His average has improved from .230 to .289 in that span.
Similarly, Brian Lees has seen his batting average rise to .301 as he just saw a nine-game hit streak come to a close against Canisius, which included a double in five-straight games. He batted 18-of-33 (.545) in that span.
Joey Havrilak leads the team in plate appearances (245) and at bats (203), and has just the seventh-most strikeouts on the team with 27. He has walked more times than struck out, and stands second on the team in free passes with 29. Daulton Mosbarger has drawn a team-high 30 walks.
Nineteen of Akron's 53 games have come down to one run, accounting for 13 of Akron's 28 losses.
The Zips have recorded 46 sacrifice bunts, the 52nd-most in the NCAA.
Joey Havrilak and Dom Iero are the only Zips to appear in all 53 games this season. They have each started every contest.
Akron has recorded 10 or more hits in 22 games this season, including a season-high 19 hits against Toledo on March 29.

SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN

The Chippewas ended the regular season with a 35-20 overall record and finished first in the MAC at 20-7.
They lead the MAC with an average of seven runs per game and are out-scoring opponents 383-250.
CMU is batting a league-best .286 and are second in the MAC in ERA at 3.61. The Chippewas' .970 fielding percentage is also the strongest in the conference.
Pat MacKenzie is ninth in the MAC in batting average and leads the CMU offense with a .353 clip (71-of-201). MacKenzie has posted a .489 on base percentage with a team-high 49 walks.
Logan Regnier has far and away the most RBI on the squad with 45, good for second in the MAC. He has clubbed a league-best seven triples.
Tim Black leads the CMU bullpen with 11 saves and a 2.59 ERA. He has made 23 appearances and has allowed nine earned runs in 31.1 innings pitched.

PITCHING MATCHUP

Akron's John Valek III (6-6) has twirled a team-high 93.2 innings and will be making his 15th start of the season. He has allowed 32 earned runs and 79 hits en route to posting a 3.07 ERA. The left-hander has thrown 66.1 innings against MAC opponents and has allowed 16 earned runs for a 2.17 ERA in conference play. Valek has struck out 57 and walked 25. He has thrown at least 7.0 innings in seven starts against MAC opponents this season and has allowed no more than one earned run in five of those outings. Valek is coming off a 6.0-inning outing against Kent State where he allowed three earned runs and fanned five.
CMU Starter, RHP Sean Renzi (5-1), owns a team-best 2.17 ERA including a 1.42 ERA against MAC opponents. Renzi is slated to make his seventh start and 17th appearance. He has the third-best ERA in the conference and has held opponents to a .174 clip across 58.1 innings. Renzi has not allowed a home run this season and has allowed 14 earned runs and 34 hits. Renzi leads the team in strikeouts with 56 and has walked 30.

TWO WINS AWAY

After leading the Zips to 28 victories last season, fourth-year head coach Rick Rembielak started this year's campaign 27 wins shy of reaching 600 in his career. At the conclusion of the regular-season, Rembielak is just two wins from 600. He stands at 85-132 at Akron and 598-525-1 in his 20th season overall as a head coach.

HEATING UP AT THE RIGHT TIME

Redshirt junior infielder Gerrad Rohan is currently on a 12-game hit streak and has batted .413 in that span, raking in 12 of his 24 total RBI. His streak includes five multi-hit games, three doubles and four walks.
Rohan has stepped up in the clean-up position, where he has started in the last nine games. In the Buffalo series, he went 4-for-9 (.444) with five RBI. Against Kent State, Rohan batted in three of Akron's five total runs on the weekend.
Similarly, sophomore catcher Brian Lees has batted .400 (14-of-35) in Akron's last three MAC series. He has also posted a .571 slugging percentage. He saw a nine-game hit streak come to a close last week against Canisius, which included six multi-hit games. Additionally, Lees had hit a double in five-straight MAC games prior to game one against KSU.

IERO AND SIMONTON ON THE ROAD

Sophomore infielder Dom Iero has shined on opponents' turf this season, batting .355 (38-of-107). Twenty-four of his 32 RBI have come in away games as he has also posted a team-high .427 on base percentage in 29 games on the road.
Junior outfielder Kris Simonton owns a .306 average on the road after going 33-of-108 and raking in 17 of his 22 total RBI.
The MAC Tournament opener will serve as the Zips' first road game since May 3. Akron just wrapped up a seven-game homestand.

RECORD WATCH

Junior lefty John Valek III has twirled a team-high 93.2 innings, which currently stands as the eight-most innings recorded by an Akron pitcher in a single season, besting his mark of 91.0 last season. Upping his total to 95.1 will put him in a tie for the sixth-most. Ross Liersemann set the record after throwing 112.0 innings in the 2006 season.
Additionally, Valek has tossed 271.1 innings in his three-year career. His mark is good for sixth overall in Akron program history. Valek trails Frank Turocy who tossed 278.0 innings from 2005-09. The category is led by Andrew Brown (2009-12) with 360.2.
Joining Valek in record-setting is closer Matt LaRocca. LaRocca has nine saves so far this season, good for the third-most in a single season in Akron program history. LaRocca passed up Chris Bassitt (2011) with seven. His career total stands at 18, good for the second-most in Akron history. Derek Stanfield (2004-05) leads the category with 26.

BRIGHT FUTURE

The Zips have two freshman who have contributed to the season's success. Redshirt freshman Mason Mamarella has made 35 starts in center field for the Zips. The speedy outfielder is second on the team with 14 stolen bases on 17 attempts. At the dish, Mamarella has 32 hits, six RBI, nine walks and a .338 on base percentage. His season has been highlighted by a six-game hit streak beginning against Eastern Michigan in Akron's first MAC series of the season. Mamarella went 13-for-20 with two RBI and five multi-hit games in his six-game hit streak.
True freshman pitcher and midweek starter, Josh Lapiana, saw his first collegiate starts against ACC foe Pittsburgh and Big-Ten opponent Ohio State early this season. In each of his last five outings, including four starts, Lapiana has not allowed more than one earned run. The left-hander has allowed just four earned runs total in his last 28.1 innings, which included a pair of victories against Western Michigan and Youngstown State. He twirled a career-high 7.0 frames against Canisius on Tuesday, allowing just one earned run to bring his ERA to 4.22.

SMALL BALL

The Zips own a .462 clip in successfully advancing runners with the help of 46 sacrifice bunts.
Since an April 4 contest at Ball State, Akron has posted 24 sacrifice bunts. The runner that advanced on a sacrifice bunt has gone on to score 16 times in that span.
Akron registered five sacrifice bunts in the series finale against Buffalo. All four of Akron's runs scored came from base runners that advanced on a sacrifice bunt earlier in the inning. Against Kent State, the Zips recorded four sac bunts with two resulting in a run.
Mason Mamarella leads the squad with nine sacrifice hits.

ZIPS' STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

Junior left-handed pitcher John Valek III (Parkland, Fla.) was named the Zips' Student-Athlete of the Month for April.
Throughout the month of April, Valek made four starts against Mid-American Conference opponents, totaling 30.2 innings on the mound. Valek held opponents to just 18 hits and eight runs, six earned, to post a 1.76 ERA on the month. He fanned 19 total batters and issued eight walks.
Valek tossed at least 7.0 innings in each start and allowed a single earned run in three of his four outings. Additionally, Valek allowed no more than five hits in three out of four starts. At the conclusion of the month, Valek was second in the MAC in innings pitched and batting average against, as he had held opponents to a .204 clip.

LaROCCA NAMED TO OLERUD AWARD WATCH LIST

Redshirt senior infielder and right-handed pitcher Matt LaRocca (Stony Brook, N.Y.) is one of 36 players named to the watch list for the 2015 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, presented by the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.
On the mound, LaRocca leads the bullpen with a 3.18 ERA and nine saves, the third-most in the MAC and 37th-most in the NCAA. He has made 16 appearances out of the bullpen and has tossed 17.0 innings. He has has fanned 23 batters while issuing just three walks.
LaRocca, the only Mid-American Conference player on the Olerud Award watch list, has started 22 games at first base, eight at the hot corner and four as the designated hitter. Offensively, the redshirt senior is batting .227 with 17 runs scored and 14 RBI.

ALL BUT THREE

Joey Havrilak has reached base safely in all but three of the Zips' 53 contests for a team-high .432 on base percentage. He has started in each game this season. Havrilak opened the season on an 18-game hit streak and rode a season-best 23 game streak from March 22 to April 28. Havrilak has also hit safely in 42 games, including a team-leading 18 multi-hit games. He has reached base off 69 hits, six hit by pitches and 29 walks.

RUNNING WILD

Akron is currently ranked 61st in the NCAA with 69 stolen bases and 1.30 steals per game. The Zips' 69 stolen bases ranks fifth in the MAC. Three Zips have double figures in stolen bases led by redshirt senior outfielder Joey Havrilak, who is 16-of-19 in steal attempts. Junior outfielder Kris Simonton (13-of-16) and redshirt freshman outfielder Mason Mamarella (14-of-17) follow.

PLAYING THE FIELD

After starting at second base in each of the first 13 games this season, sophomore infielder Dom Iero moved to third base where he started in 13 then moved to shortstop for 17 games to cover for injured Zips. In Akron's last three weeks, Iero has moved back to third base to bring his total to 23 at the hot corner. Iero has far and away the most assists on the team with 151, the fifth-most in the conference.

DYER RETURNS

After exiting a March 15 contest against Davidson due to a concussion sustained after being struck by a line drive, right-handed pitcher Pat Dyer made his first appearance back on the mound in a game against Northern Illinois on April 12. Dyer pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win. He allowed three hits and struck out three to improve to 3-0.
In his first four appearances back on the mound, Dyer pitched 12.1 innings, allowing four earned runs and 12 hits.

LOOKING AHEAD

With a win, the Zips will return to action at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 21 at All Pro Freight Stadium. Akron will play the winner of the No. 4 Toledo and No. 5 Ball State matchup.
With a loss, Akron will play at 1 p.m. on Thursday against the loser of the Toledo vs. Ball State game.