Glad you asked!
This should be a big year for the Flashes. We are loaded top to bottom. Our website adds in some details:
Baseball Ranked 18th to Begin 2009 Season
Quote:Kent State will begin the 2009 campaign ranked 18th in the country according to a Baseball America poll released Tuesday (Jan. 20). It is the second time the Golden Flashes have been ranked in the preseason (24th in 1994) and seventh time overall.
It is the highest ranking Kent State baseball has ever received.
“We’re honored to be recognized by Baseball America in the Top 25,” Kent State head coach Scott Stricklin said. “It is certainly nice because the coaches and players have put in a lot of work with this program.
“When we came on board, we said we had a five-year plan of where we wanted to be and this is about where we thought we would be. The stadium is just about complete, our recruiting classes have been very good every single year and continue to get better. We now have a team full of veterans with a lot of depth and talent on the pitcher’s mound,” Stricklin added.
For 2009, Kent State is returning all but one position and pitching starter from a squad that went 36-21 and was Mid-American Conference regular season champions last year. Fifth-year senior Greg Rohan returns from a ‘08 campaign where he led the team with 20 home runs, 61 RBI and was third with a .355 batting average. He also became the 13th KSU baseball player to be named an All-American.
This season, Rohan was named to the preseason “Wallace Watch” list, which lists 200 baseball players in Division I who could potentially win Player of the Year honors.
Also named to the “Wallace Watch” list is sophomore outfielder Ben Klafczynski. Last season, Klafczynski was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and was third on the team in home runs (11) and fourth in RBI (35) and batting average (.339).
Junior right-handed pitchers Kyle Smith and Brad Stillings return to the starting rotation for ‘09. Smith, who finished ’08 with a team-best record of 9-1, was named the 51st best college prospect by Baseball America. Stillings was tabbed as the 21st best college prospect and the 55th best overall prospect.
Other returners include senior infielder Chris Tremblay and junior outfielder Anthony Gallas, who were both second-team All-MAC honorees last season. Gallas was second on the team in ’08 with 12 home runs. Tremblay’s .359 batting average last season leads all returning players from last season. He is also fourth in KSU history with 438 career assists, 151 behind leader Jim Givens.
Kent State, along with Oregon State are the northern-most schools in the Top 25.
The Golden Flashes will begin the season when they travel to North Carolina for a three-game series with North Carolina-Greensboro beginning Feb. 20.
The next couple of seasons look very promising. We've had some great recruiting classes. One class was ranked 17th and are now juniors.
Kent State has recruited very well over the past couple of years. Their pitching staff should be lights out, and they are also a good offensive team. Unfortunately is will be tough to gauge how good they really are because they have few test on their schedule. Marshall is the only team they play from what people usually consider the power baseball conferences (Big 12, ACC, Pac 10, SEC, Big West, C-USA), and Marshall is middle of C-USA.
It's good to see some a MAC team being recognized in college baseball. Good luck to your team this season, axeme.
(01-21-2009 08:48 PM)tcufrog86 Wrote: [ -> ]Kent State has recruited very well over the past couple of years. Their pitching staff should be lights out, and they are also a good offensive team. Unfortunately is will be tough to gauge how good they really are because they have few test on their schedule. Marshall is the only team they play from what people usually consider the power baseball conferences (Big 12, ACC, Pac 10, SEC, Big West, C-USA), and Marshall is middle of C-USA.
Listen, our Men's basketball team has been shooting lights out (or is that like no lights?) At any rate, just hope the Baseball brothers do better than their Basketball brethern. Looking forward to March for a different reason this year.