Impressive baseball season ends with NCAA regional title loss

Despite putting together one of the best seasons in the program’s history, the No. 3-seeded Kent State baseball team lost 5-0 to the University of Texas in the Monday title game of the 2011 NCAA Championship tournament’s Austin Regional.

The team opened the tournament with a 4-2 win in extra innings over Texas State June 3, and a 7-5 win against nationally-ranked Texas the next night. Kent State then lost two straight to Texas in the double-elimination tournament.

The team finished the season with a record of 45-17, and was ranked 24th in the country by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. It won a third consecutive Mid-American Conference tournament by defeating Miami 11-0, which earned the Flashes a berth in the NCAA tournament. It also became the first team in the league to win both the conference and tournament titles in the same season since 2005.

Several members of the team received accolades, including

• Pitchers Kyle Hallock and Kyle McMillen were selected to the Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I Third Team All-American squad.

• Head coach Scott Stricklin was named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year.

• Pitcher Kyle Hallock was named Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year. He was also named to the First Team All-MAC squad, along with third baseman Travis Shaw, right fielder Ben Klafczynski, pitcher Andrew Chafin, pitcher David Starn, and pitcher Kyle McMillen. Catcher David Lyon was named to the All-MAC Second Team.

Track and field individuals head to NCAA Championships

The Kent State men’s and women’s track and field teams had strong performances and three national championship qualifiers at the NCAA East Regional competition.

Matt Pfleger, Melissa Kurzdorfer and Diana Dumitrescu will each compete at the 2011 NCAA Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

Pfleger, a senior, finished 11th at the regional competition in hammer throw. Kurzdorfer, a freshman, qualified in the women’s hammer throw and also placed 35th in discus. Dumitrescu, a junior, will compete in the women’s heptathlon in Des Moines.

Coach Bill Lawson said he believes a combination of hard work, dedication and familiarity with the competition’s location will benefit the athletes at the upcoming championship.

“All of the athletes are prepared both mentally and physically for the competition,” Lawson said. “We hope that they compete to the best of their ability at nationals and place well.”

Other impressive performances at the regional competition came from junior Rob Falchi, who took 16th in the men’s triple jump, and freshman Joh’vonnie Mosley, who finished 36th in the men’s discus. Placing 19th at the regional for the Flashes was the men’s 4×400 relay team made up of junior Princeton Bryson, sophomore Brandon Bailey, senior Matt Moffett and sophomore Javon Walker.

The first events of the 2011 NCAA Track and Field Championships will begin at noon on Wednesday at Drake Stadium.

Men’s golf finishes 19th nationally; Hahn looks to go pro

In May, the men’s golf team won its third consecutive MAC championship and broke the league record by earning its 19th title in the program’s history.

From there, the Flashes earned a fifth place win at the NCAA East Regional tournament in a 13-team field and advanced to the NCAA Championship tournament at Oklahoma State.

Making their third finals appearance in four years, the Flashes rallied with strong performances on Thursday to earn a 19th place finish nationally.

Senior John Hahn earned 2011 PING All-Regional Team honors along with junior Mackenzie Hughes. Hahn was also named the 2011 Mid-American Conference Men’s Golfer of the Year after capturing four individual tournament wins, a feat that put him in Kent State record books and tied him for most collegiate wins in the nation this year. Hahn looks to continue his career professionally.

Source: Kent State Athletic Department

Summer Kent Stater reporter Drew Parker ([email protected]) contributed to this article.