“The University of Akron men’s baseball team is preparing for a road trip in Champaign, Ill. against the University of Illinois this weekend. The Zips look to rebound after beginning the season with a 2-11 start in North Carolina and Florida. Coach Pat Bangston said, We upgraded our schedule and made it extremely tough so that we will be prepared for the conference.”
“
The University of Akron men’s baseball team is preparing for a road trip in Champaign, Ill. against the University of Illinois this weekend.
The Zips look to rebound after beginning the season with a 2-11 start in North Carolina and Florida.
Coach Pat Bangston said, We upgraded our schedule and made it extremely tough so that we will be prepared for the conference.
Bangston said his team will need to pitch well if they want to be successful against Illinois.
It should be a good challenge for us, he said. They beat LSU twice in a three game set at LSU.
The LSU Tigers fell from first to fourth in Baseball America’s Top 25 poll after the series loss to Illinois.
The Fighting Illini will enter the three-game series at Champaign with a record of 7-2.
Bangston will send out RHP Frank Turocy in the first game against the Illini on Friday.
Turocy, a senior, has struggled through three starts thus far with a record of 0-3 and a 10.95 ERA. At this time last year, Turocy was 2-1 with a 3.15 ERA.
In the doubleheader on Saturday, Bangston will throw RHP Tom Farmer in game 1 and RHP Benjamin Danzinger in game 2.
Farmer, another senior, has also struggled with a record of 1-1 and a 7.31 ERA.
Danzinger, a sophomore, has been the Zips most consistent pitcher with a record of 1-1 and an ERA of 3.18 in five appearances.
This will be Danzinger’s second start of the 2009 season.
Freshman RHP Andrew Brown will pitch for the Zips in the final game at Illinois on Sunday.
In two starts and three appearances, Brown is 1-1 with an ERA of 8.76.
Next week, UA will host the 2-8 Youngstown State University Penguins.
The Zips will play their first MAC series when they travel yo Muncie, Ind., for a three game series against the 6-5 Ball State Cardinals next weekend.
“