Kent, Ohio -- Kent State is set to host the 2023 Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament beginning on Wednesday at Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium. The host Golden Flashes and Western Michigan will get the tournament started on Wednesday, May 24, with game one of the day at 12:30 p.m. Central Michigan and Ball State are scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch. All games will be carried on ESPN+
Championship Preview
No. 1 Kent State vs. No. 4 Western Michigan, 12:30 pm ET
Kent State Preview | Western Michigan Preview | Watch LIVE | Live Scoring
The Flashes led the MAC at 24-6 in MAC play and led the conference in several categories this season including average, runs, doubles and on-base percentage, team earned run average, shutouts and batting average against. This is the seventh time the Flashes have hosted the conference tournament, winning it in both 1992 and 1993. Ball State won the tourney the last time it was at Schoonover back in 2006. Kent State last won it all in 2018 with Eli Kraus earning tournament MVP honors up at Sprenger Stadium in Avon, Ohio. Joe Whitman was named the Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year and Head Coach Jeff Duncan took home Coach of the Year honors, highlighting the conference baseball awards. Nine Golden Flashes in total took home an All-Conference honor, including six on the first team. Catcher Justin Miknis, first baseman Aidan Longwell, outfielder Collin Mathews and pitchers Ben Cruikshank and Mitchell Scott join Whitman on the first team. Mack Timbrook was named second-team all-conference at second base while Longwell and Mathews earned all-defensive team honors.
Despite having not appeared in the MAC Tournament since 2017, Western Michigan has reached seven of the last 11 tournaments (the 2020 and 2021 tournaments were canceled due to COVID-19). WMU is 14-29 all-time in the MAC Tournament, and captured the lone tournament title in program history in 2016. WMU is 2-5 against Kent State in MAC Tournament play, including wins in the last two matchups. In 2016, the Broncos took down the top-seeded Golden Flashes in the tournament championship game. Kent State owns a slim 85-84 edge in the all-time series between the two programs. The Golden Flashes swept a three-game series from the Broncos earlier this month at Schoonover Stadium. It was the only time this season that Western Michigan was swept by a conference opponent, and was the first MAC series loss for WMU since March.
No. 2 Central Michigan vs. No. 3 Ball State, 6:00 pm ET
Central Michigan Preview | Ball State Preview | Watch LIVE | Live Scoring
The Cardinals finished the regular season with an overall record of 33-21 and a MAC record of 19-11. The last time Ball State won the MAC Tournament was on May 27, 2006, with a win over Kent State on the Golden Flashes' home field. The Cardinals are 10-9 against the Golden Flashes in MAC Tournament action. BSU and CMU have met 12 times in the MAC tournament with the Cardinals having a 5-7 mark against the Chippewas. Ball State is 5-7 against Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament. Ryan Peltier earned an All-MAC First Team as well as a MAC All-Defensive Team honor. He was joined by Decker Scheffler on the All-MAC First Team. Adam Tellier and Trennor O'Donnell landed on the All-MAC Second Team. Hunter Dobbins joined Peltier on the MAC All-Defensive Team.
Head Coach Jordan Bischel and his Chippewas go into the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed after finishing 19-11 in league play. They open on Wednesday (6 p.m.) at Kent State's Schoonover Stadium against third-seeded Ball State. The defending-champion Chippewas dropped six of their final eight regular season games, but closed with a 12-1 win at Western Michigan to secure the No. 2 seed. The Chippewas have won the last two MAC Tournament titles, capturing the crown in Bischel's first season, 2019, and last year, coming out of the elimination bracket to twice knock off top-seeded Ball State on the Cardinals' home field. There was no MAC Tournament in 2020 or in 2021. The Chippewas (33-21) went 6-3 this season against the other three teams in the field. They swept Ball State, took two of three from Kent State, and won one of three from the Broncos.
