Zips Baseball: Five Games at Skeeles Field This Week

Zips Baseball: Five Games at Skeeles Field This Week

Akron Hosts Midweek Contest Against Shawnee State Before Second #MACtion Weekend Series Against Bowling Green State Falcons

Shawnee State [13-10, 5-6 MSC] at Akron Zips [7-3, 2-2 MAC]
Wednesday, March 24 | 3 p.m. | Skeeles Field | Akron, OH

GAME COVERAGE
Wednesday, March 24 vs. Shawnee State | 3 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream

Friday, March 26 vs. Bowling Green | 3 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream
Saturday, March 27 vs. Bowling Green | Noon | Live Stats | No Stream
Saturday, March 27 vs. Bowling Green | 3 p.m. | Live Stats | No Stream
Sunday, March 28 vs. Bowling Green | 11 a.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream

WHAT'S AHEAD
The Akron baseball wraps-up its 15-game homestand against Shawnee State and Bowling Green this week. Akron welcomes the Shawnee State Bears for a 9-inning game on Wednesday, March 24 at 3 p.m. A couple days later, Akron is slated to open its second Mid-American Conference weekend series of the season against Bowling Green, Friday-Sunday, March 16-28 at Skeeles Field.

Fans can follow the action on Zips Digital Network Live Stream each day or via live stats on GoZips.com. Links are also available on the baseball schedule page.

Under the guidance of second-year head coach Chris Sabo, the Zips own a 7-3 overall record and split the weekend series with Eastern Michigan for a 2-2 league mark.

Justin Barr and Cameron Tilly lead the Zips offense with 16 and 12 hits, respectively. Barr owns a team-high .410 batting average on 16-of-39 hitting with three doubles, a triple and a homerun. He drove in 10 RBI and plated six runs, which is second best behind Tilly's 15 RBI and 12 runs scored. Tilly owns a .375 BA on 12-of-32, including a team-best four homeruns and four doubles. Jerry Reinhart (.333), Bryant Shellenbarger (.323), Roy Thurman (.294), Zac Granger (.278) and Connor Regan (.256) all contributed 10 hits each.

On the mound, Connor Steinbaugh and John Creel lead the Zips in innings pitched with 18.1 and 15.0 respectively. Steinbaugh is 1-1 with a 2.95 ERA with 22 strikeouts and no walks issued. He fanned 11 in his last outing against EMU and has allowed 12 hits and six earned runs. Creel is 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA. He has allowed six hits and four earned runs while issuing 11 free passes. Jackson Hickert also has 22 strikeouts with a 2.31 ERA in 11.2 innings of work. He also struck out 11 batters against EMU.

THE OPPONENTS
Shawnee State enters the game with a 13-10 overall mark with a 5-5 record on the road and 1-2 ledger in neutral site games. The Bears have outscored the opponent 162-139 this season.

Jacob Kline leads the offense with 32 hits in 88 at-bats with 23 runs scores. He owns a .364 batting average with 33 RBI and seven homeruns, five doubles and a triple. Levi Jones and Howie Rodriguez follow with 22 hits each. Jones hits .367with four doubles, one bomb and 11 RBI, while Rodriguez has four homeruns, four doubles and nine RBI en route to a .293 BA.

Bowling Green leads the all-time series 29-42 as the two teams last met in 2015. BGSU won 2-of-3 games, winning the opener 7-4, falling 6-4 in game two and taking the deciding game 9-2.

This season, the Falcons own a 5-9 overall record and 3-1 league mark. Bowling Green opened MAC play with a 3-1 edge over Ohio, dropping the first game 2-1before claiming three-straight games, 6-2, 5-2 and 11-5. The Falcons posted two wins over James Madison in a three-game series and dropped series against Middle Tennessee (0-3) and Western Kentucky (0-4).

Tyler Ross leads the Falcons in hits, scattering 18-of-54 for a .333 BA with 13 runs scored, seven RBI, three doubles and one homerun. Adam Furnas and Kyle Gurney follow with 17 hits each. Furnas owns a team-best .340 BA (17-of-50) with eight RBI and seven runs scored with three doubles, while Gurney is hitting .327 on 17-of-52 with 14 RBI, 14 runs scored, three homeruns and three doubles.

Andrew Abrahamowicz leads BGSU with 24.0 innings pitched, allowing 10 runs on 23 hits, 13 strike outs and seven walks for a 3.75 ERA. Rigo Ramos and Gage Schenk follow with 18.1 and 16.1 innings pitched. Ramos (3.93 ERA) has allowed 23 hits and eight runs with nine strikeouts and six walks, while Schenk has given up 20 hits and 11 runs with 13 K's and nine free passes.

ZIPS QUICK HITS

Zips swept the MAC doubleheader against EMU, marking the first two league wins for head coach Chris Sabo and the first MAC win since 2015 for the program.
Barr went 8-17 against EMU with 3 RBI a homerun and a double, including a 4-for-6 performance in the extra-inning setback.
Akron has 11 student-athletes on its roster from the state of Ohio.
Head coach Chris Sabo played third base for the Cincinnati Reds [1988-93, 1996-97].

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Akron opened its 118th season in 2021 after a four-year hiatus and a shortened 12-game season. With the resurrection of baseball for the 2020 season on the University of Akron campus came the renovation of its home field.

A part of the Lee R. Jackson Athletics Complex, Skeeles Field underwent major renovation in the Fall of 2019. Thanks to the generous gift from Bill '77 and Mary Skeeles, the new playing surface is 110,00 square feet of playing area covered with Sprinturf Ultra-blade, including the pitching mound, batter's box, and bullpens. A complete re-grading of the infield surface took place first before a drainage system was added. A 25-foot Daktronics inning-by-inning scoreboard will be installed in March 2020. Future additions include bleacher seating and a pressbox.

MAC PREDICTIONS
Central Michigan was selected to win the 2021 Mid-American Conference title in a preseason poll conducted by the league's 11 head coaches.

The Chippewas won both the MAC regular-season and tournament championships in 2019, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995.

It was Jordan Bischel's first season in charge of the program, and he was named the MAC Coach of the Year after leading his club to a program-record-tying 47 victories. CMU's .770 win percentage (47-14) was the fifth best in the nation and the Chippewas improved their win total by 18 games over the previous season.

The MAC baseball season begins on Friday, February 19, while conference play starts up Friday, March 19. For more information visit getsomemaction.com or follow the MAC on Twitter at @MACSports.

2021 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Central Michigan (4 first place votes) – 111 points
2. Kent State (5) – 110 points
T3. Miami (1) – 96 points
T3. Ball State – 96 points
5. Northern Illinois (1) – 72 points
6. Western Michigan – 63 points
7. Ohio – 56 points
8. Toledo – 45 points
9. Eastern Michigan – 36 points
10. Bowling Green – 28 points
11. Akron – 13 points

UP NEXT
Bowling Green travel to Akron for a four-game weekend series on Friday-Sunday, March 26-28 at Skeeles Field. The series opener on Friday is slated for 3 p.m. followed by a Noon doubleheader and closes with a 2 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. Fans can follow the action by Zips Digital Network live stream on via live stats on GoZips.com.

Zips Baseball: Five Games at Skeeles Field This Week

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Players Mentioned

Justin Barr

John Creel

Zac Granger

Jackson Hickert

Connor Regan

Jerry Reinhart

Bryant Shellenbarger

Roy Thurman

Cameron Tilly

The University of Akron Athletics