Softball

The Zips' first game in the MAC Tournament in four years was not a good one.

Bowling Green held Akron to just two base hits, winning 4-0.

Bowling Green's star pitcher Liz Vrabel came ready to play. She threw a complete game, two-hitter, striking out six and walking two.

Megan MacKenzie took the loss for Akron. She is now 14-16.

Akron falls to the losers' bracket and will face Northern Illinois tomorrow at 11 a.m. The Huskies lost to Kent State today, 2-1.

As a consolation prize today, four Zips won conference awards…

• Carrese Moody, Sara Zilles and Julie Boyes each made All-MAC Second team.
• Boyes and Rachel Kraus made the All-MAC Freshman team.

Baseball

Although it has no bearing on Akron's chances for a bid in the MAC Tournament, the Zips beat Pittsburgh with a Kurt Davidson grand slam.

This next series, however, is different. Akron (14-31, 7-14 MAC) will play three games against Kent State, the MAC leader with a 16-5 conference record.

Akron stands 4.5 games behind Western Michigan, who currently holds the last spot in the MAC Tournament.

Softball

The softball team doesn't have to worry about making the tournament.

They locked up a position weeks ago. However, the 6-seed Zips do have to deal with 3-seed Bowling Green Falcons, who enter the MAC Tournament having won five of their last six games.

The Falcons have one of the conference's elite hitters in third baseman Gina Rango, who is batting .390 with 10 home runs and 32 RBIs. Bowling Green also has one of the best pitchers in Liz Vrabel, who is 16-10 with a 1.61 ERA.

The eight-team tournament is double-elimination.

Miscellaneous

Tomorrow I will accept an internship to do some sports reporting for the Indianapolis Star.

Although it will last two months this summer, I should be able to continue blogging.

In case you guys wonder what national media knows about Akron, Indy's sports editor first mentioned Gerry Faust, who was Notre Dame's head coach before coming to Akron.

Men's basketball

Ray Mernagh, author of Hoopfactor.com, analyzed the MAC recruiting classes for Macreportonline.com.

In it, he gives glowing grades for Akron and Kent State. Miami and Toledo are solid. Everyone else seems to be reaching on many scholarships they dealt out.

Mernagh knows a ton about MAC basketball. I strongly recommend that you read this column he wrote, as well as his site on a daily basis.

Softball

Akron lost its regular season finale this afternoon to Eastern Michigan, 4-0.

Freshman Julie Boyes (12-8) took the loss, giving up eight hits and all four runs.

The No. 6-seed Zips (29-26, 13-9 MAC) will open the MAC Tournament Wednesday at 11 a.m. against No. 3-seed Bowling Green (35-21, 16-6 MAC).

In early April, Akron split a two-game series with the Falcons, winning 3-1 and losing 3-0.

This will be Akron's first tournament appearance since 2002, ending a four-year drought in coach Julie Wright's first season.

Women's basketball

I hope to update everyone on the women's basketball coaching search tomorrow.

Golf

Akron finished the MAC Tournament in seventh place, 41 strokes behind champion Kent State.

A bright spot: Freshman Vaughn Snyder finished 15th overall with a score of seven-over.

This season has definitely been a surprise. Without its star, Blake Sattler, and with a brand-new coach Akron's hopes looked bleak. Still, the team did something it hadn't in several years by winning the Bradford Creek Invitational.

Next year, the young core will have another year under its belt and Sattler will return.

Track

The Zips' tune up for the MAC Championships went well.

Fourteen athletes won their events and the team set a total of eight NCAA regional-qualifying marks.

Many of the 20 seniors honored on Senior Day won their events. Click the link above for a full list.

Unfortunately, sprinter Howard Harris finished just 0.03 seconds from qualifying for regionals.

Baseball

The Zips fell to Ohio, 5-2.

The teams will play tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Unless the Zips go nearly undefeated in their six remaining conference games, it looks unlikely they will make the six-team double-elimination tournament. You can take a look at the MAC standings to see what I mean.

Softball

The Zips lost their second-to-last regular season game today to Eastern Michigan, 2-1.

The Eagles and Zips have identical MAC records of 13-8.

Both teams will conclude their regular seasons tomorrow at 1 p.m.

The Zips still don't know who they will play to open the eight-team, double-elimination MAC Tournament. Their first game will be Wednesday.

Tennis

After seven seasons at Akron, Tony Fox resigned this week as coach of the women's tennis team.

The GoZips.com press release says a national search will begin immediately.

Cross country

We just finished publishing the final Buchtelite of the school year.

Our main sports story was about Jennie Castle, who will skip graduation to pursue her dreams of becoming an olympic athlete.

Miscellaneous

I also wrote a column-like story about the biggest news stories at UA this year.

If you haven't followed the Buchtelite's news section this year, reading this is a good way to catch up. Five of the biggest stories are sports-related.

• Those crazy Outsiders debated about which school year will be better for Akron athletics: this year or next. I'd recommend it if you like references to NBA bust Sam Bowie.

Softball

Two of my favorite players helped the Zips sweep Youngstown State in their final home games today.

Megan MacKenzie threw a shut out in game one and Sara Zilles knocked in the game-winning hit in game two for wins of 6-0 and 4-3.

Akron (25-20) will play Eastern and Central Michigan this weekend before the MAC Tournament.

Baseball

Duquesne beat Akron in the ninth inning today, 7-6.

The Zips, who are 12-29, will play at Ohio this weekend as they try to work their way into a spot in the MAC Tournament.

Football

Although he went undrafted last weekend, Brett Biggs has not given up on his pro career.

The Washington Redskins have invited him to rookie camp, which begins on Friday.

The 5-foot-7 running back will compete with Kerry Carter, Jonathan Combs, Rock Cartwright, Ladell Betts (no relation to DIcky) and Jesse Lumsden to back up franchise back Clinton Portis.

Track

Two of the four MAC Track and Field Athletes of the Week wear blue and gold.

And none are from Kent State.

Howard Harris (track) and Cadeau Kelley (field) pulled down the top honors for the Zips after strong performances at the Gina Relays last weekend.

The other two winners are from Toledo, which is not quite blue and gold.

• The Zips will hold Senior Day on Saturday with their final home meet.
• Twenty seniors total will compete for the final time in Akron. Here are the ones you need to know: Beata Rudzinska, John Russell, Ashley Kaufman, Tomasz Smialek and Jenna Strouse.
• Coach Dennis Mitchell told me that Rudzinska might be the greatest Zips female athlete ever. I am not an Akron Track historian, but it's hard to disagree. She has won each MAC Championship in the 800-meter since being a freshman. She has won the Zips female athlete of the year award each of those years. Rudzinska won a conference title in cross country this year, and that's not even her sport.
• Russell is flat-out a star. Someone who knows said he might even have Olympic talent. Wow. He just might win a national championship this spring if he stays healthy.

Baseball

Do you want to hear something sickening?

Akron lost to an NAIA team today that had seven defensive errors.

Malone College beat Akron, 13-12, in 10 innings.

OK. So Malone is pretty good. They are ranked 19 in the nation for their division and have a 35-15 record. Akron fell to 12-28.

Softball

Don't study tomorrow afternoon. Instead, check out the Zips' final home games in their inaugural season playing on campus.

They will play a doubleheader against Youngstown State. I'll probably take some time out of my Buchtelite-ing to watch Julie Wright's team dominate.

With a 12-6 conference record, the Zips already have secured a position in the MAC Tournament. That is a feat they haven't done in four years.

Football

It's just a message board, but someone believes an oft-injured Zips player may be headed for Liberty.

Softball

Freshman Julie Boyes pitched all 14 innings of a doubleheader which the Zips sweeped against Northern Illinois. The scores were 1-0 and 8-2.

The Zips are now 23-18 and 12-4 in the MAC, which is good for first in the MAC East

Baseball

The Zips came back to beat Buffalo, 7-5. Akron is now 11-26 and 5-11 in the MAC with 11 conference games to play.

Softball

Kent State completed a two-game weekend sweep over Akron with a 7-0 win on Easter.

For the second-straight day, Flashes pitcher Brittney Robinson shut out Akron, allowing one hit and striking out 10.

Hopefully this weekend has been more about the Zips being shut out by a dominating pitcher than the bats getting cold.

Akron will play its doubleheader against Penn State on Wednesday at Lee Jackson Field. The first game starts at 3 p.m.

Golf

Akron recovered a bit on day two of the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate to finish in 10th place.

I suppose 10th isn't all that bad if you consider almost all of the schools in the tournament were large.

Baseball

Akron lost its ninth-straight game on Sunday as freshman reliever Jeremy Goldizen blew a two-run lead in the eighth inning against Central Michigan.

The Zips (7-24, 2-10) will travel to Pittsburgh for a game on Wednesday before hosting a three-game weekend series against Bowling Green.

Football

Here is an interesting story about Jay Rohr's hopes for the NFL in the Canton Repository.

Perhaps the more interesting part of the story is the writer's suggestion that Charlie Frye may be pushing for the Browns to draft Domenik Hixon.

How freaking amazing would that be?

• I might have posted this already, but VanDelaySports.com is reporting a possibility that the MAC will receive two additional bowl bids next year. One is in Toronto, the other in Birmingham, Ala. That would almost make it a lock for a 7-5 MAC team to earn a bowl bid.
• The story also mentions the possibility of adding Western Kentucky to the conference.

Men's basketball

Coach Keith Dambrot may be close to filling the final scholarship, which Bubba Walther vacated by transferring to Ohio.

Steve McNees, a point guard from New Castle, Pa., visited campus on Friday, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Beaver Falls guard Lance Jeter will visit campus later this week, the Tribune-Review also says.

According to someone who knows more than me, it isn't unheard of for a coach to hold onto a scholarship if he can't find a worthy recipient. Jeter and McNees would be worthy, but who knows what will happen if they go elsewhere.

McNees decommitted from Duquesne, which granted him a release from his letter of intent. Other schools of interest include Eastern Kentucky, George Washington, Kent State, Rhode Island, Robert Morris and Youngstown State.

Jeter has interest from many of the same schools.

Football

Here is the ABJ's story about the Blue-Gold game.

You will see my column on the game by Monday night.

Softball

Akron lost 2-0 against Kent State yesterday, ending the Zips' six-game winning streak.

Kent State's pitcher, Brittney Robinson, threw a shutout, striking out 14 and giving up only three hits.

The Zips had a scoring opportunity in the fourth inning, but Jaclyn Spirtos popped out in foul territory with the bases loaded.

Kent State scored off two solo home runs.

Track

From the GoZips.com release, it seems like Akron had a quiet Saturday in California for the Mt. SAC Relays.

The biggest news from the event's final day was a sixth-place finish from John Russell in the pole vault.

Akron has two home outdoor meets this season. The first is next weekend at the Akron Quad.

Men's soccer

The Zips tied Cincinnati in their second spring scrimmage yesterday.

It looked as if they would beat Cincinnati, but the Bearcats tied the score at 1 in the 85th minute.

Matt Tutich scored Akron's lone goal. It was his third of the spring.

The Zips will travel to West Virginia for a Wednesday rematch against the Mountaineers who Akron beat in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament.

Golf

After day one of the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, Akron sits in an unimpressive 11th place.

Akron won its first tournament in several years a few weeks ago. Since then, it seems the team is fizzling out.

Baseball

Despite a Charlie Lenhard grand slam, the Zips lost yet another MAC game, falling 7-6 at Central Michigan.

Akron now is 7-23 and 2-9 in conference play. The teams will matchup again today at 1 p.m.

Miscellaneous

Happy Easter!

Softball

The Buchtelite went all out for the coverage of the new softball stadium's first game. Mike Hixenbaugh climbed all sorts of tall objects to get aerial shots of Lee Jackson Field. He also wrote a story about the stadium, and how its successful construction will lead to improvements for football, baseball and soccer, too.

By the way, the Zips won both games against Robert Morris. Here is the story about that.

Football

Those crazy Outsiders debated about the Blue-Gold Game.

Men's basketball

Kent State resigned coach Jim Christian through 2013 at $250,000 a year, making him the highest-paid coach in the MAC.

That definitely hurts some of the speculation that Christian was on his way to Rhode Island, Tom Gaffney wrote.