Kent State 2008 Schedule announced

The Kent State Baseball program has announced their 2008 schedule. They will open the season on February 22nd when they take on UNC-Greensboro in the first game of a three game set. The Golden Flashes will spend the next weekend at the Winthrop Tournament where they will play four games in four days against the host Winthrop, St. John's, North Carolina and a placement game to end the weekend. The Golden Flashes final two weekend OOC series are at Washington State and Louisville. The conference schedule has trips to Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Akron, and Miami (OH) with home series against Ball State, Toledo, Ohio, and Buffalo. The full schedule is available here.

UNC releases 2008 Schedule

The North Carolina Tar Heels have released their 2008 schedule. They will be playing all home games in Cary NC as Boshamer Stadium is being renovated for the 2009 season. The Tar Heels open the season at Florida Atlantic for a three game set from February 22nd-24th. The next weekend they head to Rock Hill SC to take part in the Winthrop Tournament where they will face the hosts, Kent State, and a team to be determined. North Carolina will play a full 30 game ACC schedule which has Virginia Tech, NC State, Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Florida State all heading to Cary in conference series. UNC will visit Virginia, Clemson, Maryland, Duke, and Miami. The full schedule is available here.

2007 HS All-American Team

The College Baseball Blog recently came across the 2007 National High School Baseball Coaches Association All-American teams. The two teams are filled by tons of 2007 draft picks but two names stick out in Ben Klafczynski and Matt Harvey. Ben Klafczynski did not sign a pro contract out of high school and opted to attend Kent State University to play under Scott Stricklin. He is expected to make an immediate impact with the Flashers and should compete for Conference Rookie of the Year. Harvey will be attend the University of North Carolina in the fall after being drafted in the third round but could not come to terms with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He is expected to compete for a starting spot in the weekend rotation in 2008. The full list of All-Americans is available here.

Washington State releases 2008 schedule

The Washington State Cougars have released their 2008 schedule which is highlighted by 13 games against 2007 NCAA Tournament participants. They will open the season on February 22nd when the Creighton Blue Jays visit for a three game set. They will also host Kent State on March 7th-9th in a four game series and Arizona State on April 11th-13th. The full release is available here.

Columbia (MO) Regional Day 2 Recap

Miami 8 Kent State 7

The Kent State Golden Flashes season ended as they dropped a tough 8-7 decision to the Miami Hurricanes. The Canes started the game off with a home run from Blake Tekotte to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The Hurricanes dominated the game until the eighth inning when the Golden Flashes scored six runs in the inning to bring the deficit to one run but were unable to put any runs across in the bottom of the ninth to end the season with a 33-26 record. Miami advances to take on Louisville in an elimination game on Sunday.

Miami Recap
Kent State Recap

Missouri 7 Louisville 5

The Missouri Tigers advanced to the regional championship game by knocking off the Louisville Cardinals 7-5. Jacob Priday and Trevor Coleman hit back to back homers in the sixth inning. Priday also picked up another homer in the seventh inning. The Tigers advance to face the winner of the Miami/Louisville elimination game on Sunday.

Missouri Recap
Louisville Recap

REGIONAL PREVIEW: COLUMBIA, MO!

A late season surge has given Missouri the opportunity to host at least one weekend of NCAA postseason play. The Tigers will be welcoming second-seeded Miami, on a roll themselves, as well as both Louisville and Kent State. That survivor will then take on the winner from Fayetteville next weekend. Arkansas, the top seed at home and the seventh overall national seed, will see Creighton, Oklahoma State, and Albany make their way to town this weekend. Are the Tigers and Hogs on a collision course, or will someone else break up the party?

COLUMBIA, MO REGIONAL
vs Fayetteville Regional

The Field

(1) Missouri (40-16)

It’s been a great season for the Tigers, who finished a surprising second in the Big 12 at 19-8. Despite a 1-2 showing in the Big 12 tournament, they were still chosen to host a regional for the first time since 1965.

(2) Miami (36-22)

Miami was penciled in as a potential title contender, but finished in the middle of the pack in the ACC. This is the second straight year the Hurricanes go to a Big 12 school for the postseason, having gone to Nebraska a year ago.

(3) Louisville (40-20)

The 2007 season has been a historic one for Louisville. The Cardinals, under first-year coach Dan McConnell, have won a school-record 40 games, and make only their second regional appearance in school history. The Cards finished third in the Big East with a 19-8 record, one game behind St. John‘s and Rutgers, and went 2-2 in the Big East tourney.

(4) Kent State (33-24)

The Golden Flashes captured the Mid-American‘s Eastern Division title with a 19-8 record, then won four in a row to win the automatic bid, knocking off #1 seed Eastern Michigan twice in the process. The Golden Flashes enter their first postseason appearance since 2004 on a hot streak, having won 16 of their last 17 games.

Missouri Tigers

Southerncollegesports

Columbia, Mo., Regional!

1. Missouri (40-16)	2. Miami (Fla.) (36-22)	3. Louisville (40-20)	4. Kent State (33-24)
The Favorite: Missouri When looking at Missouri from a statistical standpoint, it's easy to come away unimpressed. But a closer look at the Tigers reveals a team that always finds a way to win games. While sophomore right-hander Aaron Crow leads the charge on the mound, the Tigers are led at the plate by junior outfielder Evan Frey. He's hitting a team-leading .346 with four home runs and 33 RBIs. Jacob Priday is a power producer for the Tigers, while Brock Bond has shown consistency with his .319 batting average. The Tigers have a tough field with Miami and Louisville. But as they've shown, they're not a team that likes to be doubted.
Dark horse candidate: Miami, Fla. If you want to see consistency, look no further than the Miami baseball program. With a bid to the Columbia Regional, the Hurricanes are attending their 35th straight NCAA Regional. Color me impressed. While hometown Missouri is the favorite over the Hurricanes, that won't get this team down. The Hurricanes have an impressive offense with Yonder Alonso and freshman third baseman Mark Sobolewski leading the charge. Second baseman Jemile Weeks is another versatile player to watch, while Roger Tomas routinely makes opposing pitchers pay for their mistakes. The Canes can win this Regional.
Best hitter: Miami 1B Yonder Alonso In his second season with the Hurricanes, Alonso has blossomed into one of the top hitters in college baseball. The sophomore enters the Columbia Regional hitting a team-leading .378 with 18 home runs and 74 RBIs. He's also slugging .724 and has a .519 on-base percentage. In addition, Alonso has stolen 13 bases and has 12 doubles in 196 at bats.
Best pitcher: Missouri RHP Aaron Crow There are several talented pitchers in this Regional, but the guy that stands out to me the most is Missouri right-hander Aaron Crow. After losing Max Scherzer and Nathan Culp last season, many critics thought the Mizzou pitching staff would take a giant step back. That assumption was wrong. Crow enters the weekend with an 8-3 record and a 3.17 ERA in 108 innings. He has also struck out 81 batters.
Regional review Missouri has a tough opening round matchup with four-seed Kent State, but if they can hold off the Golden Flashes, it will likely shake off any potential postseason jitters. The Tigers have a good one-two punch in the weekend rotation, while Evan Frey and Jacob Priday lead the way at the plate. As the host team, it's important for the Tigers to keep the fans involved in the action … Miami might have a better chance of winning this Regional than some might think. The Hurricanes have the most talented team in the field of four and have the postseason experience necessary to make it to the College World Series. For Miami, the key to the weekend is consistency across the board … Louisville is another team that could surprise this weekend. Roger Williams has done a phenomenal job with the Cards pitching staff, while Logan Johnson, Isaiah Howes and Boomer Whiting provide the offensive fireworks … Kent State enters the tournament just 6-13 against teams in the top 100. Rivals.com

Southern Miss knocks off Kent State 5-2

Ryan Belanger pitched eight innings while only giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits to pick up his fourth victory of the year for Southern Miss in a 5-2 victory over Kent State. Southern Miss was led on offense by Trey Sutton who went 3-5 at the plate. Eagles closer Patrick Ezell pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his sixth save of the season. Kent State's offensive leader was Will Vazquez who went 2-4 with an RBI. The teams will be back in action Saturday at 1 pm with Evan Smith going for Kent State and Barry Bowden going for Southern Miss.

Southern Miss Recap
Kent State Recap

Southern Miss welcomes Kent State

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles will welcome the Kent State Golden Flashes for a three game set starting on Friday. The Golden Eagles enter the series with a 12-6 record and on a two game losing streak. They lost to Southeastern Louisiana and South Alabama in mid-week games and hope to get back on the right track this weekend. The Golden Flashes enter the series with a 5-8 record. They recorded two wins at the Louisville Invitational last weekend over Indiana State and hosts Louisville. The Golden Flashes have been kept off the scoreboard in three games already this season and hope to get their bats hot this weekend. Scott Stricklin took some time earlier this year to talk to the College Baseball Blog which can be read here.

Probable Pitchers
Friday: Ryan Belanger (3-1, 1.59 ERA) vs John Pacella (1-2, 5.03 ERA)
Saturday: Barry Bowden (1-2, 6.41 ERA) vs Evan Smith (1-0, 0.64 ERA)
Sunday: David Clark (2-1, 3.33 ERA) vs Kyle Smith (2-1, 3.63 ERA)

Kent State Game Notes
Southern Miss Game Notes

The Citadel knock off Kent State

The Citadel picked up a 13-9 victory over Kent State on Saturday night in Rock Hill, SC. Chris Swauger led The Citadel by going 4-6 at the plate while picking up 6 RBI's in the game. Justin Smith of The Citadel provided excellent relief work by going 5.1 innings while only allowing 3 walks for the only base runners which gave the Bulldogs to rally for the victory. Jared Bartholomew led Kent with a 2-4 evening while driving in four runs and scoring two runs. Kent State will play Temple on Sunday at 11am while The Citadel will play Columbia this upcoming weekend.

The Citadel Recap
Kent State Recap

Kent State Q and A

We recently had a chance to have a Question and Answer session with Kent State Head Coach Scott Stricklin. He is entering his third season with the Golden Flashes. He has also been an assistant coach with Georgia Tech under former Kent State Head Coach Danny Hall for the 1998 and 1999 season as a volunteer assistant coach before moving to Vanderbilt where he worked as the pitching coach for two seasons. He then went back to Georgia Tech in July of 2001 where he stayed until July of 2004 when moved on to become the Head Coach at Kent State.

1. Andrew Davis had a great year batting .376 in 56 games last season but Kent State lost most of their position players. What players have stepped up to fill these holes?

We lost a lot of offense off of last year's club. There is no question that losing Emmanuel Burriss, Joe Tucker, Drew Saylor, Kurt Eichorn, and Todd Balduf will raise some serious questions about our offensive capabilities. However, we had several freshman that got significant playing time last year. We expect Brad Winter, Chris Tremblay, Ryan Mitchell and Jason Patton to all step up and be leaders. Greg Rohan sat out last year due to an injury and he should hit in the middle of our order. Junior college transfer Doug Sanders will hit near the top of the order and we expect big things from him as well. Andrew Davis is the back bone of our team and he will hit in the three hole. Will Vazquez is our only other senior position player and he will be our everyday catcher. Freshmen Jared Bartholomew, Brandon White, and Anthony Gallas should contribute as well.

2. Kent State returns most of the pitching staff from last year including starters Alan Morrison and John Pacella. They also return a solid closer in Ryan Davis who had 14 saves in 2006. Are there any players expected to compete for a weekend spot in the rotation?

There is no question that our strength will be our pitching staff. We did lose Chad Wagler who was our number one starter a year ago but we feel like we have a lot more depth in year's past. Our weekend rotation is still question because we are waiting to see how Chris Carpenter and Evan Smith come back from injury. Carpenter was a 7th round draft choice out of high school and looks like he is returning to that form. Evan Smith has been in and out of our rotation for the last three years. Steven Ross has been impressive early on and will be our number one starter to begin the season and I see no reason why that will change. JJ Pacella has been very consistent for us and he will be in the mix as well. We also have Morrison, Dominique Rodgers, Steven Davis, and freshman Kyle Smith competing for a weekend starting role. Should be interesting to see who steps up the next couple of weeks.

Our bull pen will be very strong as we return all of our key components from last year. Ryan Davis was outstanding for us in the closer's role and Reid Lamport, Jason Seelman, and Rodgers are all back as set-up guys. When you add freshman Robert Sabo, Jon Pokorny, and Brad Stillings to that mix, we feel very good about what our pitching staff can accomplish this season. Another pleasant surprise has been Ryan Steele. He is a converted catcher who has dominating stuff. he just needs to gain some more experience on the mound.

3. Scott, What do you think is the biggest difference between coaching at Kent State when compared to other schools you have been at like Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt?

The are certainly some differences between Kent State and Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. The biggest difference is probably on the recruiting side. At Tech and Vandy, we recruited on a national scale while at Kent State, we focus on the talent in the state of Ohio. There is also the weather factor. We practice in our indoor fieldhouse until we can get outside. The ACC and SEC schools are outside when they begin practice in January. Obviously, the ACC and SEC are tougher conferences than the MAC. However, the programs in the Mid-American Conference have all made increased commitments to baseball and I think there is no doubt that we are improving as a whole. We have new stadiums at Central Michigan, Ohio University, Miami of Ohio, and Kent State. Look for the MAC to get two teams in the NCAA tournament very soon. When we get that accomplished, we need to find a way to get to a super regional. That will go a long way toward earning more respect for our conference nation wide.

4. The uniform start date goes into effect next season, How will that affect your team in the future? In 2007, you will not have a home game until March 20th which is over a month into your season.

The start date really will not affect us much. This year we started practice on January 23rd indoors. Next year we will begin February 1st. We move our opening weekend back one week. What many northern schools are looking to do in the future is to play four game series or tournaments on early season weekends. I think you will find the southern schools receptive to this because they will have to add a lot of mid week games to their schedules if they do not. Currently, most southern schools like to spread their games out so they are only playing one mid week game. It really puts a lot of strain on your pitching staff when you consistently are playing five games per week. The big difference is that mid-week games do not happen up north until mid March at the earliest. The southern schools can get some mid week games in right away.

5. What team in the MAC will provide the biggest challenge for your team this season?

The MAC is a toss up this year. There are several teams that will contend for the title. Central Michigan returns the most form last year and is the pre season favorite. Miami (OH) has a couple of very good arms in their starting rotation that are capable of beating anyone. Eastern Michigan has the reigning pitcher of the year in Jeff Fischer pitching for them on Fridays and Western Michigan has freshman All American, Ethan Hollingsworth, returning to the mound for them. Ball State is in the same position as us. We both lost a lot of offense and we need some young guys to step up.

6. What player or coach have you enjoyed working with the most?

That's a tough one. It's difficult to single out one individual in particular. However, one player that really stands out is Jonathan Douillard from Vanderbilt. He was catcher that was actually the first commitment I ever received as a recruiting coordinator. He was the type of player who always worked hard and was a tremendous team leader. It was no surprise to see him behind the plate when Vanderbilt broke through and made the regionals a few years ago. The program took huge strides in the four years he was there and he was a big reason for it. He made everyone around him better and he never took a day off. I just really loved coaching the kid and had a lot of respect for him.

The College Baseball Blog would like to thank Steve for taking the time to help out the site by answering some questions. We are trying to set up some more interviews with some more head coaches to talk about the upcoming season. If anyone has any questions or comments about the site feel free to contact me.