Kent State Baseball’s Starn Named 2012 Louisville Slugger Third Team Pre-Season All-America
Senior southpaw tied school's single season record with 117 strikeouts in 2011.
TUSCON, Ariz. -- Kent State senior left-handed starting pitcher David Starn (Hudson, Ohio) has been named a 2012 Louisville Slugger Third Team Pre-Season All-America selection, as announced by Collegiate Baseball newspaper Tuesday (Dec. 20).
Starn, who garnered First Team American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings NCAA Mideast Region, First Team All-Mid-American Conference and MAC Tournament MVP honors in 2011, tied Andy Sonnanstine (2004) for the most strikeouts in a single season in school history with 117, which was tied for the 16th-most in the nation in 2011. Starn was the Sunday starter in an all-left-handed rotation that anchored a pitching staff that ranked sixth in the nation in team ERA with a 2.66 mark under the tutelage of associate head coach/pitching coach Mike Birkbeck. He went 2-0 in two starts in the 2011 MAC Tournament, striking out 15 and allowing just two earned runs on 10 hits in 14.1 innings en route to garnering MVP accolades. He also ranked 48th in the nation with a 2.18 ERA and will enter his senior campaign with the Flashes tied with current Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Matt Guerrier (1997-99) for third in school history in career strikeouts with 220, thanks in large part to striking out 10 or more batters on four occasions last season – including matching his career-high of 11 strikeouts as the Flashes stormed past Miami, 11-0, in the 2011 MAC Tournament Championship Game to clinch the program's unprecedented third straight conference tournament title and ninth in program history.
Kent State finished the 2011 season ranked No. 26 in the nation according to Collegiate Baseball newspaper and received votes in the publication's 2012 Fabulous 40 Pre-Season Poll after winning the MAC regular season and tournament championships and earning a berth in the 2011 NCAA Championship Austin Regional last season. After earning the program's first-ever national tournament regional No. 3 seed, Kent State tallied an 11-inning 4-2 win over Texas State and followed it with a 7-5 winner's bracket triumph over regional host and No. 5-ranked Texas to earn the school's second-ever berth in a regional final. The Flashes became the first squad to win three straight MAC Tournament crowns and first since 2005 to win the conference's regular season and tournament titles in the same season. Kent State's mark of 45-17 matched the 1992 squad for most victories in program history.
The Golden Flashes open the 2012 season Feb. 17-19 at the Rock Hill Coca-Cola Classic, taking part in a four-game round-robin tournament against Georgia Tech and host Winthrop.
