FROM PRESS RELEASES

UNC 8 Kent State 1

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Sophomore right-hander Alex White went six strong innings, and second baseman Kyle Seager drove in a career-best three runs for the second straight day in No. 2 North Carolina’s 8-1 win over Kent State Friday at the Coca-Cola Classic at The Winthrop Ballpark. The Tar Heels (5-1) scored seven runs over the first two innings and have outscored the opposition, 14-2, over the last two days. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ACC, ACC Recap, Auburn, Big East, Boston College, CAA, Central Connecticut, Clemson, College of Charleston, Florida, FSU, GT, Hofstra, Kennesaw State, Kent State, Louisville, MAAC, MAC, Maryland, Miami (FL), Mount St. Mary's, NC State, Northeast Conference, Rutgers, SEC, Siena, Southern Conference, UNC, UVA, VT, Wake Forest

Eric Sorensen continues his season previews today for February 18th checking in on six conferences over the last two days. He checked in on the MEAC, MAC, Mountain West,  Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, and the Northeast conferences. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Akron, Austin Peay, Bethune Cookman, Bradley, BYU, Central Connecticut, Central Michigan, Creighton, CSTV, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Jacksonville State, Kent State, MAC, MEAC, Miami (OH), Missouri Valley, Mountain West, New Mexico, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, Northeast Conference, Northern Illinois, Ohio Valley Conference, Quinnipiac, Samford, San Diego State, Southern Illinois, TCU, Tennessee Tech, Wagner, Wichita State

The Midwest Baseball Magazine recently sat down and talked with Ben Klafcynski who is a current Freshmen on Kent State. He had a tremendous senior year where he hit .613 with 12 homers as he led Highland High School to their first regional final in the program’s history. The full article from Midwest Baseball Magazine is available here. The CBB included Ben as one of the top freshmen to watch in the 2008 season. Our article is available here.

Tags: 2008 Top Players, Kent State, MAC

CSTV editor Doug Kroll checks in with an article previewing the top freshmen in the country. He ranks Matt Harvey of North Carolina as the best freshmen entering the season. Harvey was rated as a first round pick before the 2007 MLB Draft but his stock slipped when his ties with Scott Boras came up. He ended up getting drafted in the third round by the Angels but decided to head to Chapel Hill to play with Mike Fox. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big West, Cal State Fullerton, CSTV, Doug Kroll, GT, Kent State, Miami (FL), Notre Dame, Oregon State, SEC, Tennessee, Texas, UNC

Kent State Athletic benefactor Hal Schoonover passed away this Saturday after a yearlong battle recovering from a fall. He attended Kent State where he played baseball from 1947-1949 while serving as the captain of the squad during his senior season. He was a fixture at all Golden Flashes sporting events according to Athletic Director Laing Kennedy. If he was not attending a game he would be ringing up the AD’s cell phone to get an update from the field. In 2003, Hal and his family made a substantial donation for the renovation of the Kent State baseball field. It was renamed for Hal and his wife Julie in 2005 honoring the commitment to the program. The full article from Akron Beacon Journal is available here. The CBB would like to send their condolences to the Schoonover family.

Photo is the courtesy of Kent State

Tags: Benefactor, Kent State, MAC

The CBB has been previewing some of the top players in the country for the 2008 season throughout this off-season. This week we check in on the top freshmen in the country.

Derek Dietrich SS/P (Georgia Tech)

Derek Dietrich is a 6′1 199 pound shortstop/pitcher out of Parma OH. He was a third round pick by the Houston Astros in 2007 but elected to enroll at Georgia Tech after failing to come to terms on a contract. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ACC, Arizona State, Big 12, Big East, GT, Kent State, LSU, MAC, Miami (OH), Mountain West, Notre Dame, Pac 10, SEC, Texas, UNC, UNLV

The College Baseball Blog tries their best to see every press release around the country but sometimes things slip through the cracks. We missed a few releases on 2009 recruits which are linked below.

Georgia Tech
Bethune-Cookman
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Arizona State
Ohio
Indiana
Wake Forest
Kent State

Tags: 2009 Recruits, ACC, Arizona State, Bethune Cookman, Big Ten, GT, Horizon League, Indiana, Kent State, MAC, MEAC, Ohio, Pac 10, Wake Forest, Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The College Baseball Blog recently had a chance to speak with Scott Stricklin. He is entering his fourth season at the helm of the Golden Flashes program. He led the team to the NCAA Tournament in 2007 and a conference championship game appearance in 2006.

1. In 2007, Kent State had a solid record of 33-26 with an outstanding record of 19-8 in the MAC. This season you return seven out of your nine starters from your MAC championship and NCAA participant squad. Who do you think has improved the most during fall practice from 2007?

We had several guys make jumps this fall for us. Doug Sanders, our second baseman, came back in great shape and worked very hard to become more athletic. Conor Egan saw limited time in the outfield last season but has really improved and will be pushing guys for more at bats. Jason Patton was the MVP of the MAC tournament last spring and he has added some strength and is ready to have a great junior year. On the mound, Kyle Smith and Jon Pokorny really impressed us this fall. Both guys gained strength over the summer and they now have one college season under their belt. Steven Ross has come back from injury and looks like he is going to be ready to make a push for a lot of innings.

2. Chris Carpenter entered the 2007 season as your top starter in terms of talent. He had an up and down season where he went 4-1 with a 4.50 ERA. I heard that he had some issues in the Cape Cod League on his surgically repaired right arm. Is he going to be ready to hold down your Number 1 starter role when play kicks off on February 22nd against UNC-Greensboro?

When you look only at Chris’ numbers from last year, they do appear average. However, when he pitched his way back into our rotation, we started winning. We won 16 of our last 17 games going into the regionals and Chris was a big reason why. He is our best prospect in terms of a professional player but he is also our hardest worker. Our kids really look up to him and he makes everyone around him better. He established himself as our number one starter this fall and is much more comfortable on the mound. When he was pitching last season, he was coming off almost a two year break due to Tommy John surgery. He has found the command for his fastball and his breaking ball has really sharpened up. We are all looking forward to watching him finally be able to pitch at 100% every Friday this spring.

3. You lost your top catcher in Will Vazquez who started 56 games last season. You have four catchers on your roster including Cory Hindel who is transferring from Wake Forest. Has any of the four put a hold onto the position heading into Spring practice?

Losing a leader like Will Vazquez is always difficult but I’m very optimistic about our catching situation. Cory Hindel came in and had a great fall for us and established himself as our starting catcher. However, Tyler Martin also had a good fall and has worked extremely hard. Those two will be pushing each other for the majority of innings behind the plate.

4. How will the new rules with the way the scholarships can be split on the team affect your program? Do you think it is a good change for college baseball?

I don’t think too many coaches are excited about having a minimum scholarship put into effect. We are already short-handed with 11.7 scholarships and now we are being told how to spend that money. The roster limit of 35 will not affect us because we are operating with a 32 man roster right now but I know that it will impact a lot of other schools and players on those rosters. The other dynamic that will be difficult to handle on a yearly basis is the rule that stipulates that only 27 players on the roster can receive athletic scholarships. The uncertainty of the pro draft will make this a tough issue for sure.

5. Has any of your incoming freshman impressed you during Fall Workouts? Do you see any of them breaking into the starting lineup this season?

We were very happy with our freshman this fall and feel like several of them will make an impact for us. Ben Klafczynski had a very solid fall with the bat and made some strides defensively in the outfield. Brett Weibley came into the fall injured but was able to practice at the end of the fall. He showed a lot of athletic ability at 3rd base and is going to hit for a lot of power. We feel that both Ben and Brett have a chance to be a great players here. The two freshman pitchers that performed well were Justin Gill and Kyle Hallock. Both showed that they can locate their fastballs and have command of their secondary stuff. Cory Martin, another one of our left handed freshman, has really made some improvements this off season and we feel that he is going to get some quality innings.

6. What is your biggest challenge on and off the field in dealing with young men from 18-23?

There are always challenges when you are dealing with 32 different individuals on a daily basis. It’s certainly never boring around here! I think as a coach you can limit those challenges if you recruit the right type of kids. Talented players are great, but if they are going to give you constant headaches off the field, it’s just not worth it. Our kids are required to go to class and we check to make sure they do. They are all required to do at least five hours of community service to make sure they are giving something back. If my kids are busy doing the right things, they don’t have much time to do the wrong things.

The College Baseball Blog would like to thank Scott for checking in with us for the second straight year. If any more coaches are interested in doing a similar interview feel free to email us by clicking here.

Tags: CBB Column, CBB Interview, Interviews with Coaches, Kent State, MAC

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.

Tags: Kent State, MAC

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.

Tags: ACC, FAU, Kent State, UNC, Winthrop

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.

Tags: 2008 Recruits, ACC, Kent State, MLB Draft, UNC

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.

Tags: Creighton, Kent State, Washington State

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

 

Tags: Kent State, Louisville, Miami (FL), Missouri, NCAA Tourney

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

Tags: Big 12, Big East, Kent State, Louisville, Missouri

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

 

Tags: Big 12, Kent State, Louisville, Missouri