Matthew Balsinger

The University of Akron baseball team fell to Xavier University 11-3 Wednesday evening at Canal Park. With the loss, Akron moves to 8-27 on the season, and remains at the bottom of the conference. Xavier is a non-conference opponent, so the loss does not affect Akron’s conference record which sits at 4-8.

The Zips were able to hold Xavier to five scoreless innings, but were unable to catch the large lead that Xavier had already assembled. By the end of the fourth inning the Musketeers had an 11-3 lead and they never looked back.

The Musketeers outmatched the Zips in every stat for the evening, assembling 14 hits on 39 at bats and nine runs batted in (RBI). Akron accumulated only six hits on 33 at bats with three RBI.

Akron’s top performer on offense for the evening was sophomore third-baseman Matt LaRocca, who accumulated two hits on four at-bats and one run. The Zips had trouble finding consistency as they placed seven different pitchers on the mound throughout the evening. Sophomore Jon Pusateri pitched 2.2 innings, the most on the evening.

The Zips have been struggling all season to find consistency on both offensive and defensive sides of the ball, which has contributed to their 8-27 season. Akron will next face conference opponent Bowling Green this weekend for a triple-header, where they will be looking to salvage what’s left of the season by finding the consistency needed.

Across the Conference

Though the Zips have been having a lack-luster season this year, Akron’s arch nemesis The Kent State Golden Flashes have also been having a disappointing season as well.

Kent State made the NCAA World Series last year and became one of the most well known Cinderella stories of last year. Many expected the Flashes to be just as exciting this year, however they have failed to show the flash that they had last season.

The Flashes are currently sitting at 9-3 in the conference and 17-16 overall, with few notable wins on the season.

Kent State started off with a 1-7 record in the Month of February and have been fighting back from the defecit ever since. The Flashes would not be able to break even on the season until they began facing conference opponents.

Notable losses of the Flashes this season are losses to San Diego, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Northern Illinois.

The Golden Flashes are currently tied with Northern Illinois for first place in the conference, with Buffalo closely behind at 8-4.