Kent State’s softball team is preparing to embark on its longest road trip of the season, and it begins with four games against Mid-American Conference opponents.

The 10-game swing begins with four games in Michigan — two against Eastern Michigan (10-15-1) in Ypsilanti and two against Central Michigan (15-11) in Mount Pleasant. Head coach Karen Linder prefers this type of road trip to the invitationals they’re used to.

“I think it’s a little bit easier from a standpoint that earlier in the year, you go to one place and you play three, four or five opponents and that’s five different preparations that you have to do,” Linder said. “Now it’s easier to prepare for your opponent in that this week in practice, we can focus on Eastern [Michigan] and Central [Michigan] and we’re not focusing on trying to figure out how to be prepared for five different opponents.”

The Flashes (12-12, 3-1 MAC) enter the weekend led by excellent pitching from ace Emma Johnson, who received her second MAC East Pitcher of the Week award after striking out 17 batters while sporting an ERA of 2.10 in 16 2/3 innings last week. Her goal, however, is a simple one.

“[The award] gives me a lot of motivation,” Johnson said. “But my main goal is just to come out of the weekend with wins.”

The weekend begins with two games against Eastern Michigan on Friday afternoon. The Eagles have dropped their last three games against Central Michigan and Valparaiso.

Eastern Michigan’s struggles can be centered on the fact that the team’s pitching staff has a cumulative ERA of 4.74. By comparison, Kent State’s staff has an ERA of 3.24, led by Johnson’s 1.91.

The Flashes then travel to Central Michigan for two games. The first is Saturday at 2 p.m., and the second is Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Chippewas have a well-balanced team both on the mound and at the plate. The team’s ERA is a mere 2.46 on the season, while the team is batting a cumulative .283.

When scouting the Eagles, Chippewas and even next week’s opponents, Robert Morris and Bowling Green, Linder focused on the pitchers.

“The majority of the pitchers we’re going to see are going to be pitchers that are going to throw down, using both sides of the plate and will utilize their changeup,” Linder said. “I think one out of the 8 pitchers we’re going to see is a riseball pitcher, so we’re going to focus more down than up this week in practice.”

As Linder mentioned, Kent State’s next action will be a doubleheader against Robert Morris on Tuesday afternoon.

Christian Petrila is the softball reporter for the Daily Kent Stater.

Contact Christian Petrila at [email protected].