Kent State is interested in Triway pitcher/shortstop Sawyer Polen.

This summer Polen is playing with the North Coast Vipers. He's drawn interest from Clemson, Kent State and Ohio University, among others. As of now he said his favorites are Clemson and Kent State.

Here's a great story on the 1990 KSU softball team that earned a trip to the College World Series (on par with KSU basketball's Elite Eight appearance, relative of course).

Because I had some really good friends that played softball at Kent State in the early to mid-90's I learned quite a bit about the program, and even followed them down south on a spring break trip.

I really liked coach Lilley...she certainly had her moments, but her teams respected her and she won a lot of games.

Looking at that 1990 roster I knew five of the girls on that team, and a couple more I knew of. JoAnn Gordon later became an assistant coach and was head coach at Toledo for a while.

A Cinderella Story

According to Mack's Mets, KSU's Travis Shaw is the 11th best first baseman in the 2011 MLB draft.

Here's what the blog had to say about Shaw:

11. Travis Shaw:

6-28 from: - http://thecollegebaseballblog.com/2010/06/28/cape-cod-baseball-league-players-of-the-week-june-28th - Travis Shaw, Bourne 1B/DH - Bourne slugger Travis Shaw (Kent State) has secured this week’s Coca-Cola Player of the Week award after putting together a stretch of four games that any Cape Leaguer will be hard-pressed to match this season. Shaw hit .714, with a .775 on-base percentage, slugging two home runs and knocking in seven runs. He batted .330 in his sophomore season at Kent State, with 15 home runs. Shaw was taken in the 32nd round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft out of high school by the Red Sox, but elected to attend Kent State.

Kent State junior outfielder Ben Klafczynski is playing for the Keene Swamp Bats this summer in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

He was selected to play in the NECBL all-star game as well as participate in the home run derby and the throwing competition.

Klafczynski is hitting .279 with 12 RBI so far this summer.

Full story

Former KSU coach Rick Rembielak interviewed for the vacant Ball State job.

Rembielak coached at Kent State from 1994 to 2004, where he averaged 34 victories a year in 11 seasons. His teams won four conference regular-season titles, three MAC tournament crowns and earned four berths into the NCAA Tournament.

He left Kent State after the 2004 season to coach Wake Forest. He had a 142-142 record in five seasons with the Demon Deacons, who didn't renew his contract after 2009. He was out of coaching in 2010.

Full Story

Kent State Athletics Communications

KENT, Ohio - Kent State University head baseball coach Scott Stricklin has been signed to a contract extension through 2014, Director of Athletics Joel Nielsen announced Tuesday (July 13). Financial terms of the deal are being finalized.

The Kent State alum and 2006 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year has guided his alma mater to a 222-128 overall record, five MAC championships and three NCAA tournament appearances in six seasons.

“We are pleased and excited to keep a coach of Scott’s character and talent on board through 2014,” Nielsen said. “Scott’s dedication and commitment to his alma mater are tremendous and the results on the field bear that out. What we’ve also come to learn over the past few weeks is that the support for Scott and Kent State baseball from alums and friends of the program is strong and unwavering.”

Stricklin, 38, directed the Golden Flashes to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth in 2010. After wrapping the regular season up with its fourth MAC East Division crown in five years, Kent State won five elimination games in three days to capture the MAC tournament title and earn a trip to the NCAA Los Angeles Regional.

Stricklin’s Kent State squads have enjoyed winning seasons every year he has been at the helm. Ranked 18th nationally to start the year, the Flashes won 43 games in 2009 ? the third most in school history ? en route to eliminating nationally-ranked Cal Poly in the NCAA Tempe Regional.

“I’m very excited to be staying at Kent State,” Stricklin said. “Being the head coach at my alma mater is very special to me and my entire family. I want to thank our previous athletic director, Laing Kennedy, for all the support he gave us over the last six years. It was an honor to work for him. I am also excited to move forward with our new athletic director, Joel Nielsen. We have all worked very hard to build a successful program on the playing field and in the classroom, and we look forward to continuing our championship tradition here at Kent State.”

The Plains, Ohio, native has developed his student-athletes into standouts both on the baseball diamond and in the classroom. A total of 19 Kent State baseball players have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft under Stricklin. Off the field, the team has registered back-to-back perfect 1,000 scores the last two seasons in the NCAA’s Academic Performance Rate report, while the team’s grade-point average has risen from 2.35 in spring 2003 to 3.20 in fall 2009 ? the best in program history.

Stricklin lettered three seasons as a catcher at Kent State, earning All-MAC honors in 1992 and ’93. He graduated magna cum laude from Kent State in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and played five seasons of minor league baseball before retiring in the spring of 1998.

Kent State also inked associate head coach/pitching coach Mike Birkbeck to an extension through 2014. The University of Akron alum and former Major League Baseball hurler completed his 15th season with the KSU baseball program in 2010. Birkbeck has a track record of propelling collegiate pitchers to the professional level, as 21 Kent State pitchers have been drafted by Major League teams.

Assistant coach Scott Daeley will also remain on the staff next year. A 2002 graduate of Wake Forest University, Daeley has been with the Flashes since 2004.

“Keeping our coaching staff intact was extremely important to me, and I am certainly very fortunate to have Mike and Scott on my staff,” Stricklin said. “We have been together for six years and we are all very proud of what we have been able to accomplish together.”

Stricklin and his wife, Cheri, have two daughters, Sydney and Keaton, and a son, Cale.
This post was edited on 7/13 6:33 PM by stevehare Rivals

Has anyone heard if Brett Weibley, Cory Hallock, or Robert Sabo signed with the Major League teams that drafted them this year? Just curious if we will see them in a Golden Flash uniform next year or not. It is always a toss up, come back and get your degree or sign as a junior, as none of these got taken in the high rounds, so maybe they will return and see if they can drafted higher next year.

That was great to see Anthony Gallas get picked up by the Indians. Gallas was a model student athlete and contributed so much to the Golden Flash baseball program in the 4 years he was here. I wish him nothing but the best of luck.

According to various reports, Kent State baseball coach Scott Stricklin is set to interview with Notre Dame about their vacant baseball coaching position on Thursday.

LOS ANGELES - The Golden Flashes could not overcome five unearned Anteater runs in the top of the first as Kent State (39-25) fell to UC Irvine (38-20) 19-9 in the third game of the NCAA Los Angeles regional.

Sophomore David Starn 7-3 on the year, allowing seven runs (two earned) on six hits in three innings of work. Junior Ben Klafczynski and sophomore Kyle McMillen both had two hits and three-run home runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Christian Bergman improved to 9-3 on the season, allowing one run on five hits and one walk for UC Irvine. Casey Stevenson had five singles in seven at-bats with four runs scored and two RBI's. Francis Larson and Jim Leyland added home runs for the Anteaters.

A pair of errors in the top of the first put Kent State in a five-run hole before it even stepped to the plate. With one down, Casey Stevenson singled to right field and advanced to second on a base hit by Jeff Cusick. With two outs, sophomore Travis Shaw bobbled a ground ball at third and the throw was late to first to load the bases. An infield single plated the first run of the game and a dropped fly ball by Klafczynski cleared the bases to put UC Irvine up 4-0. A double by Ryan Fisher scored the fifth run of the inning.

Single tallies in the second and third and a three-run top of the fourth put UC Irvine up 10-0 before scoring its first run of the game in the bottom of the inning. Senior Anthony Gallas singled to begin the inning and advanced to second on a walk by Shaw. A pair of fielder's choices plated KSU's first run.

Three more in the fifth and a pair in the sixth put UC Irvine up 14, but Kent State exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the sixth. Two-straight singles to begin the frame brought up freshman Jason Bagoly as a pinch hitter. On the first pitch Bagoly saw, he singled through the left side to score KSU's second run. A walk loaded the bases and the Flashes scored their third run on a sacrifice fly by fifth-year senior Jared Humphreys. A three-run bomb to center field by Klafczynski, his 10th of the year cut the UC Irvine lead to 15-6. After Gallas singled and Shaw walked, Sophomore Kyle McMillen went yard to left field for his sixth home run of the season to cut the deficit to six.

UC Irvine answered in the top of the seventh with a two-run home run to center field to put the Anteaters up 17-9. Single tallies in the top of the eighth and ninth finished the scoring in the game.

The Indians today signed Kent State outfielder Anthony Gallas as a non-drafted free agent.

Gallas, a senior from Strongsville, was named to the third team of the Louisville Slugger All-American squad following a season in which he batted .369 with 24 doubles, 17 home runs and 81 RBI in 64 games. In addition to a .657 slugging percentage, Gallas struck out only 35 times in 268 at-bats.

He will report to the Tribe’s extended spring training program in Goodyear, Ariz., before being assigned to a minor-league team.

Kent State and UCLA will get started in about 15 minutes. The first game was a thriller, with LSU defeating UC Irvine 11-10 in 11 innings.

TUCSON, Ariz. - Kent State senior Anthony Gallas (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville) received an honor only 13 other Flashes have earned before him:

All-American.

Released Thursday by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, Gallas was named a Louisville Slugger third team All-American. In the 2010 campaign, he has set the second-highest single-season total in RBI's (81) and hits (95); three RBI's and four hits behind former All-American John VanBenschoten. He currently leads the team with a .367 average for the year and hit at a jaw-dropping .446 during Mid-American Conference play.

He is the leader in career total bases (509), RBI's (224) and walks (135). He is also tied for first in home runs (49), second in runs scored (207) and at-bats (881) and third in hits (298) and doubles (60). Gallas is also the first player in MAC history to have 250 hits, 200 runs and 200 RBI's for his career.

Kent State, which recently won its eighth MAC Tournament title, returns to action Friday night June 4 at 6 p.m. PST (9 p.m. EST).

Some discussion on KSU head coach Scott Stricklin taking place on the Rivals.com College Baseball forum.

Stricklin to OSU?