Baseball: Week 3 Recaps and Players of the Week

Akron (4-5)

at Delaware State: Loss, 4-0

at Delaware State: Loss, 13-1

at Delaware State: Win, 11-10

As important as it is to pitch well and play sound defense in baseball, you can't win if you're not getting runs on the scoreboard. And you're not scoring runs if you're not getting on base at all. Look at game 3: Akron had 10 hits and seven walks in their win where they scored 11 runs. Compare that to their first game where they were shutout, having 11 hits but no walks. I know, interesting concept, right?

OF Daulton Mosbarger: The leadoff hitter had himself a reasonably good weekend. 4-for-12 at the plate with a pair of doubles, Mosbarger also drove in a trio of runs.

P John Valek III: I'll give Valek the benefit of the doubt here. Even though he let up 10 hits in his 5.2 innings of work in the series opener, only one run (earned) was scored against him. He also had three strikeouts with two walks.

Ball State (9-3)

vs. Rider: Win, 4-1

at Liberty: Loss, 13-0

vs. Rider: Win, 5-4 (10 innings)

at Liberty: Win, 4-3

So far, so great for the Cardinals. After being shutout in the first game against Liberty, they came back with a 12-hit performance in their rematch to end the weekend. Scott Baker didn't do all to well in that first game against Liberty, allowing five hits and earned runs through two innings.

OF Alex Call: Don't be so quick to knock the guys that bat ninth in the lineup all of the time. Call went 7-for-12 at the plate over the weekend, including a double. He also drove in six runs, walked and scored once.

P Tyler Jordan: Jordan made three relief appearances over the weekend and was consistently solid. A combined 5.2 innings pitched in those three games, he only let up one run (earned) with six hits against him, struck out five, walked two.

Bowling Green (2-7)

at Georgia Tech: Loss, 3-2

at Georgia Tech: Loss, 8-3

at Georgia Tech: Loss, 8-5

Don't read too much into Bowling Green's record. As BG fans may remember, the Falcons started off their 2013 campaign with a 2-7 record and still ended up in the NCAA tournament.

OF Pat Lancaster: Oddly enough, Lancaster was batting eighth in the series opener, but returned to the top two spots in the second and third games. But it doesn't matter where he is in the lineup, because he still had two hits in all three games, going 6-for-10 at the plate against the Yellow Jackets. He drove in four runs, walking twice, scoring once with a stolen base.

P Cody Apthorpe: Sure he was tagged with the "L" on Friday, but he did well enough to win on a day when the offense holds up on their end. Letting up seven hits through six innings, Apthorpe held Georgia Tech to three earned runs with a pair of strikeouts and walks.

Buffalo (6-1)

vs Maryland Eastern Shore: Win, 11-1

at VMI: Loss, 2-0

at VMI: Win, 6-5

vs Maryland Eastern Shore: Win, 5-3 (10 innings)

Of course none of these games really matter until in-conference play starts later this month (!!!), but you could make an argument to say that Buffalo is the best team in the MAC. The Bulls had three home runs to start things off in their first game against MESU. Yes, three of them! And even though they were limited to two hits in the first game against VMI, they bounced back the next day, outhitting them 11-to-8.

OF Matt Pollock: Pollock was 6-for-15 at the plate with a home run and a triple. The left fielder also had a pair of RBI, scoring four times, walking five.

P Mike Burke: The two-way player did another great job on the hill in the series finale. Burke went eight innings against MESU, allowing six hits, letting up three runs (one earned) while striking out nine with only one walk.

Central Michigan (4-8)

vs. Boston College: Loss, 5-4

vs. St. Bonaventure: Win, 5-0

vs. Northeastern: Loss, 7-5

vs. Villanova: Win, 13-3

Another team whose record should be ignored. Pat Kaminska had a fantastic outing against St. Bonaventure. A complete game shutout, allowing only five hits with five strikeouts and no walks is always good way to help out your team.

*Note: stats for the Villanova game aren't up yet, but CMU's top performers are Kaminska and Cody Leichman through the first three games.

Eastern Michigan (4-7)

at Kentucky: Loss, 8-2

at Kentucky: Loss, 9-5

at Kentucky: Loss, 13-2

Not the greatest weekend for the Ypslianti Sluggers. Only three hits in the first game and eight hits in each game of Saturday's double-header. Sterling Sharp pitched in relief for a change, which raises more question marks as to who the Eagles' Sunday starting pitcher should be.

2B/SS Nick Rotola: Like Lee Longo, Rotola went 3-for-9 at the plate this weekend, walked twice and scored three times.

P Ben Dartnell: Came into relief for Charlie Land in the third inning of the series finale, Dartnell went 2.1 innings allowing only one hit and one run, despite walking three.

Kent State (7-3)

at Middle Tennessee State: Loss, 12-4

at Middle Tennessee State: Win, 5-4

at Middle Tennessee State: Win, 6-5

Great pitching, powerful hitting. You know, the usual ingredients for your everyday Kent State baseball team.

3B/DH Zarley Zalewski: Zalewski started things off with a three-hit series opener against MTSU, going 5-for-13 at the plate including a pair of doubles for the weekend. He also drove in four runs and scored twice.

P Eric Lauer: Seriously, it's every week with this kid (no, seriously, it has been). Picking up his third win in his third appearance, Lauer tossed for five innings, letting up two runs (one earned) off of five hits, with four strikeouts and one base on balls.

Miami (3-6)

at Davidson: Win, 6-0

at Davidson: Win, 14-11

at Davidson: Loss, 13-6

Too early to tell, but it seems like this is already a very different RedHawks team than what we saw a couple of weeks ago. Davidson is now 3-5 on the season, but Miami needs more silver linings before MAC play begins.

DH/OF Gary Russo: The cleanup hitter went 5-for-10 at the plate against Davidson, including one hit double. He also drove in a pair of runs, scored four times, and walked four times.

P Seth Varner: Varner had a great game in the series opener with an 8-inning one-hitter. Allowing no runs, Varner only walked three batters and struck out eight.

Northern Illinois (1-8-1)

vs Southern Illinois: Win, 1-0

vs Southern Illinois: Loss, 3-1

vs Southern Illinois: Loss, 2-1

This Huskie offense really needs to pick up the slack. Having only 13 hits through a complete weekend isn't going to cut it.

SS Brian Sisler: Wasn't the best weekend batting performance, but it's the best that NIU has to show for. Sisler went 3-for-8 against SIU. Drove in one run, Sisler walked twice and was 1-for-2 in stolen bases.

P Eli Anderson: The ace threw for 7.1 innings without allowing a run to score. Letting up five hits and walking a pair of batters, he also had eight strikeouts.

Ohio (3-6)

at Georgia Southern: Win, 3-2

at SIUE: Loss, 7-3

at Georgia Southern: Loss, 20-5

The pitching, starting pitching especially, did pretty well in the first couple of games. That third game, yeah no not so much. Mitch Longo needs to stay as the 'Cats 2-hitter.

OF Mitch Longo: The freshman keeps impressing week in and week out. 6-for-11 at the plate with a double, Longo drove one run, walked once and was 2-for-3 in stolen bases.

P Jake Roehn: The Friday starter went six innings in the series opener, letting up one run off of four hits and a pair of walks. Roehn also racked up nine strikeouts.

Toledo (2-6)

at Louisville: Loss, 6-2

vs Indiana: Loss, 8-3

at Louisville: Loss, 8-2

Even though we've seen EMU and WMU beat ranked teams at least once, that doesn't necessarily mean we should expect the same from Toledo. That's not saying either directional Michigan school is better than the Rockets, but that doesn't mean the offense had to suffer so badly over the weekend either.

SS Deion Tansel: The shortstop went 6-for-12 at the plate for the weekend. Driving in a pair of runs from batting second in the lineup, Tansel also had one walk and a pair of stolen bases.

P Kyle Slack: In the series finale, Slack threw for five innings letting up four earned runs off of six his. He also struck out four and walked one.

Western Michigan (3-7)

vs St. Bonaventure: Win, 5-1

vs Nebraska-Omaha: Loss, 3-1

vs. Lehigh: Loss, 5-4

vs. Boston College: Win, 5-3

Jared Kujawa, Kurt Hoekstra and Brett Sunde all had great weekends at the Snowbird Classic, really boosting up the meaty part of the batting lineup. And what's up with Andrew Sohn? How does he get hit by a pitch in just about every game he plays?

OF Jared Kujawa: Seriously, who hits triples three games in a row? 8-for-16 at the plate, Kujawa hit three triples and a double over the weekend. He also drove in six runs, scored twice and had one walk and stolen base.

P Keegan Akin: Starting the series finale, Akin went six innings and only allowed one run against Boston College. Letting up six hits, Akin walked three but did not record a strikeout.

Players and Pitchers of the Week

East

(Buffalo) Matt Pollock: 6/15, 4 R, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 1 3B, 1 HR

(Miami) Seth Varner: 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K

West

(Western Michigan) Jared Kujawa: 8/16, 2 R, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 3 3B, 1 BB, 1 SB

(Central Michigan) Pat Kaminska: 9.0 IP, 5H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K