Former Kent State head coach Danny Hall brings national power Georgia Tech to Schoonover

Former Kent State head baseball coach Danny Hall will bring his perennial national powerhouse Georgia Tech club to Schoonover Stadium for a non-conference clash on Tuesday. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m.

Hall turned the Golden Flashes program into one of the best in the Midwest while serving as its head coach from 1988-93. After leading Kent State to over 40 wins and to Mid-American Conference titles in 1992 and 1993 he was hired by the Yellow Jackets, a program he has now guided for the past 29 years.

More: Michael McNamara returns to Kent State baseball lineup, delivers game-winning hit

Hall’s career win total stood at 1,340 in 35 seasons as a head coach heading into Monday night’s game at Akron. He has led Georgia Tech to 22 NCAA Regionals and six NCAA Super Regionals. The Yellow Jackets also advanced to the College World Series in 1994, 2002 and 2006 under Hall, a four-time ACC and two-time MAC Coach of the Year.

This year both Georgia Tech (28-21) and Kent State (21-27) have struggled to meet typically lofty expectations. The Yellow Jackets are still a solid bet to make the postseason, with 14 wins over top 25 RPI teams, but they started the season 10-1 and were ranked No. 10 in the nation before running into some rough stretches during conference play.

Barring a miracle finish in 2022, the Flashes will fall short of 30 wins in a full (non-COVID) season for the first time since 1998 — the last year they finished below .500. Kent State’s current winning percentage (.438) is its lowest since 1981.

Both the Yellow Jackets and Flashes have had little trouble producing runs this spring, but have struggled to keep opponents from scoring.

Georgia Tech sports a team batting average of .319, and averages just over nine runs per game. Five Yellow Jackets have belted double-digit home runs — sophomores Kevin Parada (.363 average, 23 homers, 74 RBIs), Tim Borden II (.311, 14 homers, 42 RBIs), Andrew Jenkins (.383, 13 homers, 53 RBIs), Drew Compton (.278, 12 homers, 49 RBIs) and Stephen Reid (.322, 11 homers, 48 RBIs).

Kent State can’t quite match those numbers, but boasts a .301 team batting average while producing 7.2 runs per contest. Five Flashes have slugged eight homers or more — seniors Justin Kirby (.330, 13 homers, 39 RBIs) and Collin Mathews (.341, 10 homers, 40 RBIs), sophomores Michael McNamara (.343, 11 homers, 39 RBIs) and Aidan Longwell (.307, 8 homers, 33 RBIs), and junior Josh Johnson (.371, 8 homers, 41 RBIs).

The pitching numbers both clubs have produced are also close, but not nearly as impressive. The Flashes’ staff ERA is 6.62, and every pitcher on the stat sheet has an ERA above 5.00. Georgia Tech’s team ERA rested at 6.75 entering this week’s action, and all hurlers with at least 11 innings of work were above 5.00.

Flashes swinging hot sticks

Kent State scored 55 runs while taking three of four games at Western Michigan last weekend. McNamara led the offensive assault, batting .526 with two homers and 11 RBIs in the first three games of the series. Johnson collected two hits in all four games, and also piled up two homers and 11 RBIs.

Help needed

The Flashes (16-18 MAC) will close the regular season with a four-game series against Eastern Michigan (21-31, 15-21) this weekend at Schoonover Stadium. They still have a shot to qualify for the four-team MAC tournament, but must win all four games over the Eagles and will need Ohio (26-21, 18-14) to lose all four against the Broncos and will also need Miami to lose at least three of four to Ball State (34-17, 28-7).

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Georgia Tech will visit Kent State for a non-league game on Tuesday