KENT, OHIO- A season opening trip down to Florida, trips to Northwester and Notre Dame and a solid conference home schedule highlights the Golden Flashes 2020 baseball season schedule.
Kent State opens the season with a nine-day, seven-game swing through the Sunshine State. It will be the Golden Flashes first trip to Florida since they took two-of-three from Florida International in the 2017 non-conference season. It is their first “extended” trip through Florida in over a decade.
The season starts in Port Charlotte, Florida from February 14-16. Kent State is slated to play Iowa on Friday, Indiana State on Saturday and Saint Joe’s on Sunday. Kent State and Indiana State will meet again on Wednesday, February 19th. It will be the first meeting between the Hawkeyes and Golden Flashes, Iowa went 31-24 last season including 12-12 in Big-10 play. It will be the second and third meetings between the Golden Flashes and Sycamores. Indiana State had a strong season last year, going 43-18, winning the Missouri Valley Tournament and making the regional final before falling twice to Vanderbilt. Saint Joe’s went 21-28 last season and 13-11 in the Atlantic-10, the two teams have not met on the diamond.
The Florida swing wraps up the following weekend with a three-game series at Florida Gulf Coast. The Eagles went 34-21 last season including an impressive 27-9 at home, it will be the first meeting between the two teams.
The southern swing continues the next two weekends as Kent State heads to Winthrop for a Feb. 28-March 1 weekend series followed by a trip to Liberty on March 6-8. Kent State leads the all-time series with the Eagles 22-15 heading into the season, Winthrop is coming off a 34-23 season and a loss to Campbell in the Big South Tournament final. The Golden Flashes and Flames have met 11 times previous with the Flames owning a 6-5 edge. The Flames are coming off an Atlantic-Sun title season and went 43-21 last year.
The road non-conference weekend portion of the schedule wraps up the following week with a trip to Chicago to take on Northwestern from March 13-15. The Golden Flashes swept an abbreviated two-game series with the Wildcats last season at home. The Wildcats went 24-27 last season and 11-13 in the Big-10.
Next is the first of two mid-week games with the Pitt Panthers. The Wednesday, March 18th contest will be in the Steel City before the Panthers return the favor on Wednesday, April 15th. The Golden Flashes took both contests last season from the 21-34 Panthers.
The 2020 home opening weekend for the Golden Flashes welcomes in the Valparaiso Crusaders from March 20-22. The series will be the first ever meetings between the two squads, the Crusaders are coming off a 14-36 season in 2019 and went 6-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The final series before Mid-American play begins has Kent State heading to South Bend, Indiana for a two-game set at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have a slim 10-8 lead on Kent State historically and went 24-30 a season ago.
The conference slate has the Golden Flashes playing every Mid-American Conference opponent except for Eastern Michigan and Akron. The Golden Flashes and Zips will play two mid-week games, but they will be non-conference contests.
The MAC season begins in the friendly confines of Schoonover Stadium as the Northern Illinois Huskies come into town from March 27-29. Kent State took two-of-three from the Huskies last season in DeKalb and is 40-19-1 all time.
The first of two games against the Zips takes place on Wednesday, April 1st, this time at Kent. The Golden Flashes will make the return trip to Akron on Tuesday, April 28th at Canal Park. While neither contest counts towards the conference standings, they will be part of the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge.
A trip to Toledo kicks off the conference road slate as the Flashes from April 3-5. Kent State swept the Rockets at home last year and are 100-66-1 all-time versus the Rockets.
It’ll be a busy week that follows, with two home mid-week games before a tough weekend series with Ball State at home. The first of home-and-home matchups with Canisius on Tuesday and Youngstown State on Wednesday. The Golden Flashes have owned the all-time series with the Golden Griffins (5-1) and Youngstown State (70-21-1).
Ball State finished second in the MAC in 2019 and took the lone game between the two teams last year in Muncie, with two rain outs. What amounts to a six-game homestand closes the following Wednesday with the return trip from the Pitt Panthers.
The Flashes hit the road for the next eight games following the homestand, with a key series against the reigning MAC champion Central Michigan Chippewas. Central took two-of-three from Kent State last season in Kent. The Golden Flashes return their end of the home-and-home with Canisius on the following Tuesday before heading to Oxford to take on Miami. The final game of the road swing wraps the home-and-home with the Zips.
The local rivalry game with Malone takes place on Wednesday, August 29th and while the Golden Flashes are 6-0 all-time against the Canton school, it is always a game that has a play-off like atmosphere. The Flashes welcome in the Ohio Bobcats over the first weekend of May. While the Flashes took two of three from the Bobcats at Bob Wren Stadium last year, Ohio dealt Kent State an opening game loss in the MAC tournament.
The final two weekends of the season has the Flashes at Western Michigan on May 8-10 and wrap up the regular season for senior weekend against Bowling Green. The Golden Flashes took two-of-three from both clubs last season.
The teams will have a couple of days off before the Mid-American Conference tournament begins on Wednesday, May 20th in Avon, Ohio.
