Five Things to Know: Baseball Heads Down I-90 to Kent State

Canisius (19-18) at Kent State (18-19)
Date: Wednesday, April 24
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium | Kent, Ohio
Live Stats: SIDEARM Sports

Twitter: @GriffsBaseball l #Griffs |#MAACBaseball

Five Things to Know as Canisius travels to Kent State for the second half of a home-and-home series:

1) Mid-Week Success
• The Griffs enter Wednesday's game with a 3-2 record in mid-week games this season. All three wins have had a run differential of nine-or-more while both losses have been one-run contests.
• Canisius' first mid-week matchup ended with currently-No. 17 West Virginia walking off to a 5-4 win despite a three-hit day by senior Mark McKenna.
• The Blue and Gold then split a two-game series at Kansas State, roaring out to a 15-3 win off of five RBI from redshirt-junior William Krull before failing to plate the tying and winning runs on base in a 6-5 loss to the Wildcats.
• Freshman Andrew Fron then tossed a pair of five-inning starts at Niagara and versus Kent State, securing the winning decision in both victories.
• Wednesday's contest at Kent State will feature senior Andrew Kneussle starting against Kent State's Zach Schultz, who started the Golden Flashes' other matchup with Canisius this season.

2) Tripling Up The Competition
• Canisius enters play with 21 triples, leading the MAAC and ranking fourth in the nation.
• Junior Stephen Bennett paces the team in triples at five, good for second in the conference and 11th in Division I. Fellow junior Jake Burlingame follows him with four triples, tied for third in the league and sitting 27th among the country's best.
• McKenna has also tallied three triples, while four other Griffs have notched two triples each.
• The 21 triples are the most by a Canisius team since both the 2014 and 2015 squads had 25 triples. The 2013 Canisius team set the program record with 26 triples during their MAAC-Championship campaign.

3) Among the MAAC's Best
• Besides triples, the Griffs also pace the conference in hit-by-pitches (48), on-base percentage (.366) and saves (12).
• Individually, senior Conner Morro is tied for the MAAC lead with 28 walks, while senior Nolan Hunt is one of four pitchers with a league-high five wins and junior Will Frank is one of two relievers with a MAAC-best eight saves.
• Senior Joseph Preziuso sits tenth in the conference with a .314 average, while Burlingame and Morro are ninth and tenth with a .405 and .403 on-base percentage.
• Junior Jacob Victor's 29 RBI and Krull's 28 RBI are sixth and seventh on the MAAC leaderboard, and Burlingame's 13 stolen bases are good for third in the conference.

4) Golden Flashes-Griffs Series History
• Canisius and Kent State have met a total of seven times, with the Golden Flashes winning five of those games, including both matchups last season.
• The two teams have already played once this season, back on April 9 at the Demske Sports Complex. The Griffs broke out for a 13-2 victory over the MAC school between conference series wins at Quinnipiac and Marist.
• Freshmen powered the Griffs, as Fron tossed five innings of two-hit ball to earn the win, giving up one run and striking out five. Cole Hollins supported Fron by collected three hits and six RBI, while Dylan Vincent also chipped in three hits and three runs scored.

5) Scouting Kent State
• The Golden Flashes' Ben Carew ranks second in the Mid-American with a .388 batting average, while Justin Kirby carries in a .355 average after being named the MAAC Co-Player of the Week. Kian O'Brien has launched a team-high six homers in 2019, while two-way player Pavin Parks holds 28 RBI so far to pace Kent State.
• Seven hitters sport a batting average above .300, and six different Flashes have drove in 20-plus RBI.
• For pitchers with multiple appearances, Parks has a team-best 1.56 ERA through 11 appearances over 17.1 innings. Schultz enters his start with a 2.81 ERA over his 14 appearances, tossing 32 innings and holding 1-3 record.
• Connor Wollersheim leads the team with 56.1 innings pitched and 64 strikeouts, standing second in the MAC with those 64 punchouts. John Matthews is behind him with 57 strikeouts over 49 innings.

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Players Mentioned

#30 Stephen Bennett: INF; 6' 0"; Junior

#2 Jake Burlingame: OF; 5' 10"; Junior

#26 Will Frank: RHP; 6' 0"; Junior

#9 Cole Hollins: OF; 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman

#19 Nolan Hunt: LHP; 6' 0"; Senior

#27 Andrew Kneussle: RHP; 6' 1"; Senior

#28 Billy Krull: C; 6' 0"; Redshirt Junior

#25 Mark McKenna: OF; 5' 10"; Senior

#6 Conner Morro: INF; 5' 11"; Senior

#14 Joe Preziuso: SS; 6' 0"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#30 Stephen Bennett
: 6' 0"; Junior
: INF

#2 Jake Burlingame
: 5' 10"; Junior
: OF

#26 Will Frank
: 6' 0"; Junior
: RHP

#9 Cole Hollins
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman
: OF

#19 Nolan Hunt
: 6' 0"; Senior
: LHP

#27 Andrew Kneussle
: 6' 1"; Senior
: RHP

#28 Billy Krull
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Junior
: C

#25 Mark McKenna
: 5' 10"; Senior
: OF

#6 Conner Morro
: 5' 11"; Senior
: INF

#14 Joe Preziuso
: 6' 0"; Senior
: SS