With the fall signing period starting on November 14th, PBR Ohio will be taking a look at the number of players from Ohio headed to a college program within the state’s borders. Each day, we will break down a school's class player-by-player. Earlier, we reviewed the recruiting classes from Akron, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, and Dayton. Now, we move on to the Kent State Golden Flashes.

KENT STATE

The Golden Flashes pulled from nearby Pennsylvania for a majority of their 2013 recruiting class, but they still secured two of Ohio’s top prospects.

While many schools were busy on the recruiting trail in June, the Kent State coaches were nowhere to be found; at least locally. Coach Stricklin, Coach Birkbeck, and Coach Daley didn’t make it back to Ohio until the middle of June due to their historic run to Omaha for the College World Series.

Helping their cause, Coach Stricklin accepted an early commitment in the spring from the state’s top infielder Zach Beckner from Lebanon HS. Beckner, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound middle infielder, should compete for playing time immediately.

Then, in one of the year’s top recruiting stories, the state’s top prospect, left-handed pitcher Eric Lauer from Midview HS, switched his early commitment from Kentucky to the Golden Flashes. The tall, projectable southpaw has a fastball that sits in the upper 80’s and touches into the low 90’s. Assuming he sets foot on campus, Lauer will likely be yet another pitcher drafted out of Kent State under Coach Birkbeck. Now, the Kent State coaching staff merely needs to wait on the draft in June and the signing deadline in July.

PBR Player Rankings

No. 1 Eric Lauer (Top Prospect Game Participant)
No. 15 Zach Beckner