The Golden Flashes have won eight straight games after sweeping Toledo over the weekend and are the hottest team in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Bowling Green and Miami were also victorious in sweeps and rose to the top two spots in the MAC standings, while last-place Akron won its first MAC game of the year.

1. Bowling Green (20-7, 10-2 MAC)

The Orange & Brown are back on top of the MAC after beating Central Michigan three times on the road in Mount Pleasant.

Junior second baseman Sam Seidel had a phenomenal final game against Central Michigan for the Falcons, going three-for-four with three runs batted in (RBIs), including a walk-off sacrifice fly. The walk-off is Seidel’s second over the last two weeks.

Bowling Green will have first place on the line this weekend as they face off against second-place Miami.

2. Miami (15-13, 10-2 MAC)

The Redhawks had their most dominant series of the season against Western Michigan, outscoring the Broncos 36-8.

Miami has had one of the best team offenses in the MAC thus far. They lead the conference in triples, home runs, slugging percentage, RBI and walks.

Miami plays Bowling Green next with their first opportunity to take solo position of first place in the MAC.

3. Ball State (20-10, 7-2 MAC)

The Cardinals went 3-1 over the last week, dropping from first place with an 11-5 upset loss to Akron.

Freshman middle infielder Brayden Huebner went three-for-four with two RBIs against Bellarmine in his collegiate debut. Huebner could potentially be a key rotational infielder for the Cardinals going forward if he keeps up the success.

Ball State will face Eastern Michigan this weekend to try and keep pace with the top two teams in the MAC.

4. Kent State (16-11, 7-2 MAC)

The Golden Flashes swept Toledo and have now won eight straight games and eight of their last ten.

Kent State’s offense is hotter than the Sahara Desert right now, scoring 44 runs over five games this week. The offense has also scored ten or more runs in eight of their last ten games.

Possibly even more impressive in the Toledo series sweep was Kent State’s pitching staff. The Golden Flashes’ arms gave up two runs in the opener, one run in the second game, and two runs in the series finale.

They then gave up just three runs against Mercyhurst and one run against Baldwin Wallace in their two-weekday non-conference matchups.

Kent State will try to continue this two-way consistency against Central Michigan next.

5. Eastern Michigan (13-12, 8-4 MAC)

The Eagles had their second straight 2-2 weeks after beating Ohio in two out of three games and getting blown out 13-2 against Michigan.

Junior center fielder John Hale had a monstrous game in Eastern Michigan’s 18-13 win over Ohio, going four-for-six with a double, a home run, and five RBIs.

Eastern Michigan will try to get back into the top three as they take on Ball State this weekend.

6. Central Michigan (11-18, 5-4 MAC)

The Chippewas fell back down to Earth this week, losing three close games against Bowling Green. Two games were decided by one run and the series opener was decided by two runs.

The series finale was particularly a heartbreaker for CMU. They were up five to one before giving up three runs in the eighth and losing on a walk-off in extra innings.

CMU will hope to change their luck against Kent State, the MAC’s hottest team, over the weekend.

7. Toledo (9-18, 4-8 MAC)

The Rockets had by far the worst weekend of their season, scoring five runs total in three losses to Kent State. Toledo then got crushed 13-3 on Tuesday against the 5-22 Youngstown State Penguins.

The bats are a continuing problem for the Rockets. They are the only team in the MAC under 200 hits (178) and the only team in the MAC under 100 RBIs (91).

Toledo will look to get back on track this weekend against last-place Akron.

8. Western Michigan (7-19, 4-8 MAC)

The Broncos stay put in eighth place after getting brutally swept against Miami. The pitching staff gave up double-digit runs in every game in the series and they now sit at a MAC-worst 8.78 E.R.A.

WMU ended the week on a high note, however, beating Notre Dame 5-4 in South Bend on Tuesday.

The Broncos will be on a bye from conference play this weekend and will instead face the Citadel for a four-game series at home.

9. Ohio (7-20, 3-9 MAC)

The Bobcats had their fourth-straight 1-3 week after dropping two games to Eastern Michigan and a nonconference matchup against Morehead State.

The lone 4-3 win came in the EMU series opener, in which redshirt senior third baseman Nick Dolan had a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning.

Ohio will try to break their 1-3 streak next week against Northern Illinois and Marshall.

10. Northern Illinois (10-17, 1-8 MAC)

NIU went 2-3 this week, losing three of four to Butler but beating Purdue 2-1 on the road.

The impressive BIG-10 victory over a 20-win Boilermaker team should make Huskies fans more optimistic for their future, specifically the future of the pitching staff.

Six NIU pitchers combined to give up just one run on six hits against Purdue’s high-powered offense.

NIU will head back home to DeKalb to face Ohio in their next MAC matchup.

11. Akron (7-21, 1-11 MAC)

The Zips finally got their first conference win, knocking Ball State off their first-place pedestal with an 11-5 series finale victory.

Akron had a season-high in hits (17) and doubles (5) in the contest. Graduate student third baseman Max Bowman had three hits, a double, and two RBIs to lead the Zips in each category.

Akron will face a struggling Toledo offense in their next series.