2008 MAC Baseball Tournament preview
By Speakeasy Sports, Feature
May 20, 2008 | 6 p.m.
As the school year winds down, so does the college baseball season. But for the first time in five years, the Ohio Bobcats are still playing in late May, as they prepare for their first Mid-American Conference Tournament since 2003.
In honor of the Bobcats' success, Speakeasy Sports is bringing you coverage of all eight teams in the tournament, with their first MAC Baseball Tournament preview. This year marks the first year that the MAC Tournament includes eight teams, as in past years only six teams qualified.
The tournament is a double-elimination format, with two four-team pools. The winner of each pool then faces each other for a chance to go to the NCAA Baseball Tournament, with an automatic bid going to the winner. To see the complete bracket, visit mac-sports.com.
The tournament runs from Wednesday, May 21 until Saturday, May 24 at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio. Another new feature, the neutral location is the first time the tournament has not been held at a campus site since 1982.
Editor's note: Teams are listed in order of seeding.
Kent State Golden Flashes by Michael Weisman
MAC Record (Overall): 16-8 (33-20)
Tournament Seed: 1
First-round Opponent: No. 8 Central Michigan Chippewas
Coach: Scott Stricklin (4th season at Kent State)
Top pitchers: Starter Chris Carpenter (6-2) 3.82 ERA; Reliever Jon Pokorny (1-2) 2.23 ERA, 4 saves
Top hitters: Doug Sanders .371 batting average, 40 RBIs, 75 hits; Greg Rohan .353 batting average, 58 RBIs, 19 home runs
Kent State looks to repeat as MAC Tournament champions
Fresh off their ninth Mid-American Conference regular-season championship in school history, the Kent State Golden Flashes enter the 2008 MAC Tournament as the top seed. The Flashes are looking to win their fifth conference tournament in eight years and second in a row, after stealing the tournament from the Eastern Michigan Eagles a year ago on their home field.
Kent State has put together win streaks of 12 and seven games, respectively, earlier in the season but have stumbled a bit down the stretch, going 4-3 in their last seven games. The Flashes’ bats are led by senior infielder Doug Sanders who leads the team in hits (75) and batting average (.371), while junior infielder Chris Tremblay is second with 73 hits and a .365 average. Junior infielder Greg Rohan gives Kent State its power as he leads the conference with 19 home runs, is second in the MAC with 58 RBIs (18 more than anyone else on Kent State) and is second on the team with 16 doubles.
Taking the mound for the Flashes is a trio of starters who are a combined 17-9. Junior right-hander Chris Carpenter (6-2, 3.82 ERA) or sophomore right-hander Kyle Smith (8-1, 5.43 ERA) will likely get the start in the opening round, with sophomore right-hander Brad Stillings (3-7, 5.58 ERA) completing the rotation. Carpenter leads the MAC with 81 strikeouts. Senior right-hander Reid Lamport (3-3, 2.45 ERA) leads the bullpen with 6 saves.
Kent State battles the eighth-seeded Central Michigan Chippewas in the opening round at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21 at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio. The Flashes and Chippewas did not meet during the regular season.
Eastern Michigan Eagles by Britton Dove
MAC Record (Overall): 21-32 (15-8)
Tournament Seed: 2
First-round Opponent: No. 7 Western Michigan Broncos
Coach: Jake Boss (1st season at Eastern Michigan)
Top pitchers: Starter Matt Shoemaker (4-3) 4.58 ERA; Reliever Robert Wendzicki (3-5) 7.41 ERA, 8 saves
Top hitters: Steve Bradshaw .386 batting average, 48 RBIs, 4 home runs, 18 doubles; Zack Leonard .337 batting average, 40 RBIs, 7 home runs, 15 doubles
Eagles look to avenge loss in 2007 MAC Championship game
After Roger Coryell retired last fall from the head-coaching job at Eastern Michigan University, Jake Boss took over the reins nicely this season after departing from the University of Michigan. Boss led the Eagles to a second straight West Division crown by sweeping three Mid-American Conference teams throughout the season (Miami, Western Michigan and Toledo).
The Eagles ended up 15-8 in the MAC and will face Western Michigan in the first round of the eight-team, double-elimination tournament. Eastern Michigan faced the Broncos for only one series at home during the season and managed to pull off the three-game sweep (5-4, 12-9 and 6-5). The Eagles top hitter, Steve Bradshaw, had a nice series against the Broncos in mid-April, batting 3-10 with four RBIs on the weekend.
Should Eastern Michigan win, they will face the winner of No. 3 Bowling Green and No. 6 Ohio, and if they lose, they face the loser of the match-up.
Bowling Green Falcons by Zach Swartz
MAC Record (Overall): 16-8 (31-18)
Tournament Seed: 3
First-round Opponent: No. 6 Ohio Bobcats
Coach: Danny Schmitz (18th season at Bowling Green)
Top pitchers: Reliever Nick Cantrell (8-3) 4.58 ERA; Starter Frank Berry (6-1) 5.03 ERA
Top hitters: Ryan Shay .411 batting average, 35 RBIs, 5 home runs; Brian Hangbers .348 batting average, 46 RBIs, 13 home runs
After record-breaking turnaround, Falcons look to capitalize on first regular-season MAC Championship in six years
After finishing last season with an abysmal 7-20 Mid-American Conference record, the Bowling Green Falcons came back this year with the largest single-season conference turnaround in the school’s history by finishing 16-8 and tying Kent State for first place in the regular season MAC standings. It was the Falcons’ first regular-season title since 2002.
The Falcons, who won the MAC Tournament in 1999 as a No. 3 seed, ended the regular season on a tear, batting .337 and hitting 20 home runs as a team while going 11-0 in the month of May. On Wednesday, Bowling Green looks to continue its streak against the Ohio Bobcats (27-28, 14-13 MAC), whom the Falcons swept at the beginning of May. In that series, the Falcons hit .348 compared to the Bobcats’ .262 team batting average.
Fans should look for Bowling Green to depend on their skills at the plate to win, as the team led the MAC in hitting with a team batting average of .322, while finishing just sixth in pitching with a team ERA of over 5.5.
On the season, Bowling Green was driven by junior shortstop/third baseman Ryan Shay, who led the MAC in batting average by hitting .411 while also topping his team's charts in runs (50), on base percentage (.480), hits (81) and doubles (18). Redshirt junior slugger Brian Hangbers finished second in runs (49) and RBIs (46), he but led the team in home runs (13) and slugging percentage (.665).
Sophomore pitcher Frank Berry (6-1, 5.03 ERA) takes the mound Wednesday at 9 a.m. at VA Memorial Stadium opposing Ohio’s Zach Elmer (4-3, 3.68 ERA). In Berry’s last start against the Bobcats, in which he went 7.0 innings while allowing four earned runs on 10 hits, the Falcons swatted eight home runs to give Berry an 18-4 victory.
The Falcons or the Bobcats will take on the winner of No. 2 Eastern Michigan and No. 7 Western Michigan on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Northern Illinois Huskies by Will Strome
MAC Record (Overall): 16-10 (26-24)
Tournament Seed: 4
First-round Opponent: No. 5 Ball State Cardinals
Coach: Ed Mathey (6th season at Northern Illinois)
Top pitchers: Starter Trevor Feeney (5-4) 4.43 ERA, 3 complete games; Reliever Dan Atkenson (3-1) 1.76 ERA, 47 SO
Top hitters: Jordin Hood .314 batting average, 64 hits, 7 home runs; Jeff Thomas .352 batting average, .447 OBP, 63 hits
Huskies hope pitching holds up, while bats stay alive
The Huskies are heading into Mid-American Conference Tournament play with five wins in their last six contests. Consistency has been a major issue for Northern Illinois as the season progressed. After dropping seven of eight over a 12-day span in early March, the Huskies finished 23-14 including a 2-0 record against first-round opponent Ball State where the Cardinals were outscored 11-7.
The Huskies did avoid getting shut out in all of their 40 games but had trouble keeping a lead once they pounced on top. Reliver Dan Atkenson was the lone Huskie pitcher with under a 4.00 ERA. The top four starters in the rotation combined to have a 15-16 record. With little help from the rotation and bullpen, the Huskies relied on their bats with four players batting over .300 and with more than 60 hits a piece. Not a single Huskie batter, however, hit more than ten home runs.
Ball State Cardinals by Will Strome
MAC Record (Overall): 12-11 (27-23)
Tournament Seed: 5
First-round Opponent: No. 4 Northern Illinois Huskies
Coach: Greg Beals (6th season at Ball State)
Top pitchers: Reliever Kyle Heyne (3-3) 1.26 ERA, 8 saves; Starter Tom Mueller (5-0) 4.13 ERA
Top hitters: Wayne Bond .337 batting average, 13 home runs, 53 RBIs; Dean Anna .325 batting average, 11 home runs, 60 runs
Ball State looks to bounce back after disappointing finish in regular season
With far from the top bullpen and rotation in the Mid-American Conference, Ball State has survived solely off the tremendous play of their hitters. With six everyday players batting over .295, it has come to no one's surprise that the Cardinals can put up big numbers. Ball State has tallied ten runs or more in 18 games where they post an impressive 14-4 record. With three batters hitting more than ten home runs a piece, the Cardinal offense is not one to be taken lightly during the tournament.
As if dropping six of their last seven games to finish the regular season is not bad enough, to make matters worse, the Cardinals were swept in a two-game series against first-round opponent Northern Illinois only 11 days prior to their opening tournament game. The Cardinals and Huskies will take the field at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
Ohio Bobcats by Zach Swartz
MAC Record (Overall): 14-13 (27-28)
Tournament Seed: 6
First-round Opponent: No. 3 Bowling Green Falcons
Coach: Joe Carbone (20th season at Ohio)
Top pitchers: Starter Zach Elmer (4-3) 3.68 ERA; Reliever Adam Goodpasture (5-2) 3.72 ERA
Top hitters: Matt Stiffler .358 batting average, 56 RBIs, 16 home runs; Brandon Besl .378 batting average, 45 RBIs, 9 home runs
Bobcats make run down stretch to make first MAC Tournament in five years
It was April 16, and the Ohio Bobcats had just defeated Youngstown State University 14-6. The offense was starting to come together, the team had just come off a three-game winning streak and, most importantly, they were 8-4 in the Mid-American Conference. Their first MAC Tournament appearance since 2003 seemed to be right in their grasp.
But then it happened. The Bobcats were defeated in 11 of their next 13 games, including eight MAC losses, culminating by being swept for just the second time all season by none other than their first-round opponent, the Bowling Green Falcons (31-18, 16-8 MAC). They were on the verge New-York-Mets-ing it, collapsing at the end of the season, when they finally decided it was time to turn it around. The Bobcats finished the season 8-1, good enough to earn a No. 6 seed in the tournament.
The Bobcats were piloted by outstanding senior outfielder Matt Stiffler, who led the team in runs (69), hits (86), RBIs (56), home runs (16), triples (6) and slugging percentage (.658), along with placing second in batting average (.358) and on base percentage (.450). Junior third baseman Brandon Besl followed closely behind, batting .378 to lead the team and to place fifth in the MAC. The Bobcat pitching was up and down all season, but game one starter Zach Elmer was stellar, leading the team in ERA (3.68) and opposing batting average (.229), and placing second with 45 strikeouts. Junior relievers Adam Goodpasture and Chris Rigo provided consistency in the bullpen as Goodpasture put up a team-high five wins. Chris Rigo, who took home his second MAC Pitcher of the Week award this past week, dominated the team with 70 strikeouts.
Ohio’s Elmer will take the mound Wednesday at 9 a.m. at VA Memorial Stadium against Bowling Green’s Frank Berry (6-1, 5.03 ERA), who allowed ten hits and four earned runs in 7.0 innings on May 2 against the Bobcats.
Despite losing all three games against the Falcons this season, the Bobcats lead the all-time series 79-56-1.
The Bobcats or the Falcons will take on the winner of No. 2 Eastern Michigan and No. 7 Western Michigan on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Western Michigan Broncos by Britton Dove
MAC Record (Overall): 12-12 (29-21-1)
Tournament Seed: 7
First-round Opponent: No. 2 Eastern Michigan Eagles
Coach: Randy Ford (2nd season at Western Michigan)
Top pitchers: Starter Ethan Hollingsworth (5-5) 3.56 ERA; Reliever Derek Mosher (1-2) 5.13 ERA, 4 saves
Top hitters: Chris Lewis .394 batting average, 48 RBIs, 8 home runs, 13 doubles; Matthew Abro .357 batting average, 41 RBIs, 8 home runs, 9 doubles
Broncos hope bullpen woes don’t continue in MAC Tournament
Randy Ford and company need to find some way to get a win against the Eastern Michigan Eagles for the first time this year if they want to advance in the Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament. Their answer may rest in the box scores.
The Western Michigan Broncos batted an impressive .417 in the regular-season series against the Eagles but managed to lose all three games that weekend. The Broncos were outscored 23-18, but had the bullpen not blown leads in the eighth inning of the final two games of the series, the outcome may have been different.
The Broncos’ bullpen has struggled to exist having only six saves on the entire season (four from Derek Mosher), yet they managed to clinch the better of the two wild-card spots in the tournament by winning the tiebreaker over the Central Michigan Chippewas, with a sweep of them earlier in the season.
Central Michigan Chippewas by Michael Weisman
MAC Record (Overall): 13-13 (29-25)
Tournament Seed: 8
First-round Opponent: No. 1 Kent State Golden Flashes
Coach: Steve Jaksa (5th season at Central Michigan)
Top pitchers: Starter Steve Teno (7-4) 3.98 ERA; Reliever/starter Jesse Hernandez (6-4) 2.93 ERA
Top hitters: Tyler Stovall .330 batting average, 46 RBIs, 70 hits; Sean Hoorelbeke .301 batting average, 52 RBIs, 14 home runs
Chippewas lean on speed, pitching entering MAC Tournament
The Central Michigan Chippewas won their final two games of the regular season over the Eastern Michigan Eagles, just enough to qualify for the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Now they will look to win their first MAC Tournament since 1995.
Although the Chippewas’ three-man rotation has a mere combined record of 13-14, the pitching staff for Central Michigan leads the MAC with a 4.61 ERA. Sophomore right-hander Jesse Hernandez (6-4) has only started five games for the Chippewas, but he has made 14 relief appearances and leads the MAC with a 2.93 ERA.
As for the Central Michigan offense, senior Sean Hoorelbeke leads the attack with a MAC-best 59 RBIs and is tied for second in the conference with 16 home runs. What the Chippewas lack with their bats, they make up for with their speed, as seniors Tyler Stovall and Jeff Helps are first and second in the MAC in bases stolen with 25 and 21, respectively. As a team, Central Michigan has stolen 77 bases on the season, second in the conference. However, the team is ranked 11 of 12 in fielding percentage with a .951 average.
Central Michigan battles the top-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes in the opening round at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21 at VA Memorial Stadium. The Chippewas and Flashes did not meet during the regular season.
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