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NCAA Baseball Buffalo at Akron

Believe it or not the Magic Number for UB to win the East is now equal to the games remaining!

Buffalo's Magic Number is down to 12, with 12 conference games remaining. There is still a lot of baseball to play but every UB win from here on out brings them closer to their first division title since joining the MAC. While UB is sitting in first they can play without too much pressure as they have already put together their best season ever in the MAC, everything from here on out is gravy.

# Playoffs W L GB
1 Buffalo 11 4 -
1 NIU 11 4 -
3 Kent 9 6 2
3 Miami 9 6 2
5 BGSU 8 7 3
5 EMU 8 7 3
7 Akron 6 9 5
7 BSU 6 9 5
7 CMU 6 9 5
7 Toledo 6 9 5
11 Ohio 5 10 6
11 WMU 5 10 6

Akron also has a lot to play for this weekend. Despite a slow start to the season the Zips are locked in a four way battle with Ball State, Central Michigan, and Toledo. Right now that block of teams occupies the 7-10 slots in the MAC and only the top 8 teams play in the MAC championship tournament.

At the plate Akron's main threats are Devan Ahart, Joey Havrilak, and Matt Rembielak. Ahart is one of the toughest guys in the conference to strike out and is pretty good at generating extra base hits. While Rembielak is tied for third in the conference for triples during MAC play.

Once they reach base Akron plays it dangerously. Few teams in the conference is as likely to try take a base as the Zips, though their percentage leaves a bit to be desired. This is definitely a series where Brennan and Figgans need to be on their game, UB can also not afford some of the pick off errors they have been throwing lately

On the mound Akron's WHIP is a bit high because they hit a lot of batters and walk even more. The Zips have a very young set of starters as JT Brubaker (10 starts) and Valek (9 starts) are both freshman. In fact no Zip starter is beyond being a sophomore and this has led to a lot of "rookie mistakes".

Valek is by far the pitcher most likely to shut an opponent down. His ERA is well below any of the Zip's main pitchers and he has put in 20 more innings than anyone on the team.

To keep UB from getting ahead of themselves they should take stock of some games they have lost to what seems to be lesser teams. In particular the losses to EMU and WMU show that no team can be taken for granted. Despite the fact Akron is struggling this season they have managed to steal a game from both Miami and Bowling Green.

It only takes one bad inning, just a fraction of a game, to turn a win into a loss and with Miami still on UB's schedule the Bulls needs every win they can get.

Day Time Opp Location Follow
Sat 1:00 PM Akron
Lee R. Jackson Field
Live stats
Sat 4:00 PM Akron Lee R. Jackson Field Live Stats
Sun 1:00 PM Akron Lee R. Jackson Field
Live stats

Buffalo at Akron

Akron
Record: 9-29 (6-9 MAC)

Buffalo
Record: 21-16 (11-4 MAC)

--> Click here for Live Stats <--

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Rank Buffalo Category Akron Rank
181 0.266 Batting AVG 0.23 285
186 4.9 Scoring 3.3 285
192 188 Runs 127 284
210 331 Hits 293 266
148 1.61 Doubles / G 1.29 244
156 61 Doubles 49 249
81 0.29 Triples / G 0.13 238
81 11 Triples 5 236
78 0.5 Home Runs / G 0.26 199
88 19 Home Runs 10 194
108 0.378 Slugging % 0.3 279
191 0.89 Stolen Bases / G 0.79 218
192 34 Stolen Bases 30 215
149 141 Base on Balls 94 283
83 35 Sacrifice Bunts 23 195
95 46 Hit by Pitch 31 233
34 22 Sacrifice Flies 11 219
93 3.81 Earned Run AVG 5.32 238
238 5.7 Strikeouts / 9i 4.5 293
118 9.03 Hits Allowed / 9i 10.61 250
162 3.75 Walks Allowed / 9i 3.96 192
207 0.96 Fielding % 0.954 262
251 0.58 Double Plays / G 0.87 72
249 22 Double Plays 33 90
148 0.356 On Base % 0.297 292
207 1.52 SO-to-Walk Ratio 1.13 279
111 0.553 WL Pct 0.237 283
132 1.42 WHIP 1.62 239