By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Kyle Bennett (Grove City/Grove City, Ohio), who went 10-7 with a 3.43 ERA and one save in two years as a left-handed pitcher with the Owens Community College baseball team, has signed with Ashland University.
Bennett started his Owens career in impressive fashion as he went 6-1 with a 2.26 ERA as a freshman. He earned All-Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) and team MVP honors, while being named the OCCAC Co-Pitcher of the Year. In OCCAC play, he finished second in wins (5), first in complete games (6), first in innings pitched (41.0) and first in ERA (1.76).
As a sophomore, he went 4-6 with a 4.40 ERA, but was dominant in the postseason while leading the team to its best postseason finish since 2007. In his first start, he tossed a complete game with four strikeouts to lead Owens past Lakeland in the Sub-Region XII tournament. Then, he pitched two-thirds of an inning to pick up a save and clinch a 1-0 win over Vincennes in the Sub-Region XII championship. He followed that up with a complete game one-hitter over Mott to open the Region XII tournament.
In his two-year career, Bennett impressively tossed 16 complete games and struck out 89 over 131.1 innings.
This summer, Bennett is a member of the Hamilton Joes summer collegiate wood bat league. While there, he has posted 5-1 record along with a 2.89 ERA over 46.2 innings. He also has 18 strikeouts. The team wraps up its regular season July 26.
Bennett is the 30th Owens student-athlete to sign with a four-year school this summer, which breaks the college record for most in one year, upending last year's total of 29. Furthermore, he is the sixth player from last year's baseball team to sign with a four-year school. He joins Benjamin Breymier (Spring Hill College, NCAA Division II), Charlie Sipe (Indiana Tech University, NAIA), Zach Coffield (Adrian College, NCAA Division III), Payton Scott (Indiana Wesleyan University, NAIA) and Blake Kuszmaul (Concordia University, NAIA).
The Owens baseball team went 23-25 last year. The team played its best baseball in the postseason by finishing third in the Region XII tournament, which was the program's best postseason finish since 2007.
Ashland University, which competes at the NCAA Division II level, has had plenty of players from Owens throughout the years including Eric McDaniel, Eric Vaughan, Ajay Meyer, Kevin Dunn, Jason Cress, Austin Ritson, Michael Nyitrai and David Quiroga. Last year's team went 38-19 overall and 22-10 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play. They advanced to the GLIAC tournament championship game and earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional, where they went 2-2.