The Kent State baseball team outscored Central Michigan by 15 runs in the final game of the weekend to sweep the series against the Chippewas.

“We’re starting to pitch it and swing it better,” coach Jeff Duncan said. “We’re getting better starts and our bullpen has been really good. If you look at our season, from the first game of the Jacksonville State [series] to now, you can see the run production’s been quite a bit different from our offense.”

KSU opened Mid-American Conference play Friday and won all three games against CMU.

The Flashes have caught fire by winning six of their last seven games, dating back to a series against Jacksonville State.

The wins put Kent State at a 7-8 record with a 3-0 conference record, and the team was boosted up to a tie for first place with Toledo.

CMU fell to last place in the conference and has a 3-14 overall record and a 0-3 MAC record.

“It’s a really good start to our conference – to come out, at home, and play a baseball rival of ours,” Duncan said. “Central has had a lot of success in this league, so it was really good to see us take all three and then really finish the weekend on Saturday. The way we did [it] was good to see.”

Kent State scored 20 more runs than the Chippewas in the series, with only 10 additional hits.

Game one (Friday)

The scoring was hard to find in game one, as the first runs were tallied in the fifth inning.

CMU got on the board first with a sacrifice fly, taking a 1-0 lead, but Kent State got back to a tie after freshman designated hitter Dom Kibler hit a solo home run down the right field line.

The home run was Kibler’s second of the season and his ninth RBI in the 11 games he has started.

KSU had a critical inning after pitching well in the top of the sixth.

With one out in the inning, junior second baseman Aiden Hinds doubled, which was followed up with a walk from senior third baseman Kyle Jackson.

The Flashes then pulled away with a three-run blast from redshirt senior center fielder Josh Johnson on the next at-bat, giving the team a 4-1 advantage.

CMU cut the lead to one in the eighth inning on a two-run error, but Kent State got those two runs back in the bottom half of the inning.

Johnson got on base again with a single and put himself in scoring position after stealing second base.

After a ground out placed Johnson on third, senior shortstop Michael McNamara brought him home on a double to left center. 

McNamara advanced to third on a balk, which set up a rundown after Kibler walked.

Kibler got caught in the rundown long enough for McNamara to score from third, giving Kent State a 6-3 lead.

Redshirt freshman reliever Gavin Jones earned his first save after pitching 1.2 innings, striking out three and allowing one baserunner.

Pitching for the Flashes was elite, as the three pitchers used in the game struck out 14 batters, allowed one earned run and walked three batters with seven hits.

Junior Jack Kartsonas got the start for game one.

He nearly doubled his strikeout total after putting up 10 against Central Michigan and allowed only four hits, two walks and one earned run in six innings.

Kartsonas got the win with his effort, improving his record to 2-2.

Game two (Friday)

The scoring started early, but the runs were few and far between in the second game.

In the first inning, the Flashes scored on an RBI single to third base from senior left fielder Tim Orr, which scored Johnson.

Kent State pitching held up until the Flashes plated another run in the third, which was on a solo shot from Hinds, who doubled in the prior game.

Hinds has hit two home runs in seven appearances this season and has put across five RBIs.

Still, Kent State’s pitching held until it scored its third and final run of the game, coming on another solo home run, this time from Jackson.

Jackson, who hit a walk-off grand slam against Tiffin two games ago, gave KSU a 3-0 lead on his second home run of the season.

CMU cracked open its offense in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly, but it scored no more runs, giving KSU the 3-1 victory in game two.

Junior starting pitcher Eric Chalus continued the strong performances by KSU pitchers in his start.

Chalus came off a win against Jacksonville State and got another one in Friday’s second game.

He had 18 strikeouts and five walks with a 6.75 ERA before entering the game.

On Friday, the lefty pitched for five solid innings, allowing zero runs on one hit and three walks, with four strikeouts.

Graduate student reliever Joe Miceli and sophomore reliever Jordan Kolenda pitched the last four innings, allowing three baserunners with one earned run and four strikeouts.

Kolenda earned his first save of the season.

Game three (Saturday)

The Flashes gave redshirt junior Calvin Bickerstaff the nod in the third game as the team was looking for the sweep.

Bickerstaff, who was averaging 1.57 strikeouts per inning before the game, came in with an 0-2 record in three games, a 10.97 ERA and had 16 strikeouts and two walks.

He pitched five innings in which zero earned runs were scored. He struck out five, walked none and gave up three hits.

On the other hand, the Kent State offense erupted on CMU pitching.

After a quiet first inning, KSU hung seven runs in the second inning, and Central Michigan’s starting pitcher was unable to complete two innings.

Junior right fielder Jake Casey got the party started with his second home run of the season, a two-run shot that scored sophomore catcher Brody Williams.

A double sandwiched by two walks gave Kent State a bases-loaded situation — and they took advantage.

Back-to-back walks to McNamara and Kibler kept the bases loaded and gave KSU a 4-0 lead.

A wild pitch and another walk loaded the bases again and gave KSU another run. 

CMU pitching continued to give Kent State runs, as two more wild pitches gave Kent State a 7-0 lead in the second inning.

The scoring did not stop there as the Flashes tacked on two more the following inning.

Johnson scored Hinds on a single to center field, and Orr used a sacrifice fly to bring home Jackson.

The Flashes were up 13-0 after a four-run fourth inning, which was due to a Casey double down the right field line, which brought in two runs.

Hinds scored another run on a groundout to third base, and Jackson did the same on a groundout to second base.

An RBI single gave the Chippewas their first run of the game, but the onslaught continued in the sixth inning as the Flashes added four more runs.

The score was made 15-1 on a two-run double from junior pinch-hitter Connor Ashby.

KSU kept using pinch-hitters as redshirt junior catcher Lance Macdonald had an RBI single to right field, and graduate student Hunter Havekost brought in the last run on an RBI single of his own.

An error in the seventh inning gave CMU its second run, but the teams did not play the last 2.5 innings as the game ended after the top of the seventh inning.

KSU swept the series and won the final game 17-2.

All nine batters came around to score, and 10 batters recorded an RBI in game three’s victory.

Johnson continued his surge with a 3-4 day, recording two singles, a double, his fifth of the season and plated his 15th RBI of the season.

Casey contributed greatly in his 3-4 day, as well. The outfielder hit his third double of the season, his second home run of the season and a single in his 4-RBI outing. He is up to six RBIs this season.

Bickerstaff did not need much help, but sophomore reliever Ciaran Caughey and redshirt freshman reliever Alex Alberico put the game away.

The two combined for two innings of work, zero runs, two hits, zero walks and five strikeouts.

Player highlights

The offense clicked big on Saturday, scoring 17 runs on 13 hits and 10 walks.

This is the third time the Kent State offense has produced 10 or more points this season.

“That’s something that we’re really focused on,” Duncan said. “We didn’t get off to the start we wanted to. That’s in the past, but these are the things that we really wanted to lock down because this was hurting us. I think we’re getting close — we still haven’t clicked.”

Although all but two batters reached base in some capacity Saturday, Duncan explained that “It’s not even all about everybody playing well.”

“It’s getting them to have consistent at-bats,” he said. “We haven’t had that from Brody Williams, Jake Casey or Michael McNamara. 

“We haven’t had those really good at-bats that they’re capable of on a daily basis. If we can get that, our lineup will really get going.”

Casey went 3-11 in the series with one double and four RBIs. He got all his hits and RBIs in the last game of the series.

“Jake Casey swung it really well yesterday,” Duncan said. “He had been struggling up to this point, and he had a breakout day yesterday. We’re still really young in the season, but he needs to get going, and he had a great day. 

“He looked very confident and was flying around the field. That was really good to see, and if we can get him going, it balances our lineup. 

“[Casey] and McNamara are both guys that we certainly want to get going in our lineup, and that’s been a huge focus.”

McNamara only went 1-7 in the series but had a double and two RBIs.

Duncan also highlighted Johnson and Orr as big pieces to the offense’s recent success.

“Johnson had a great week for us last week — he’s putting up some really good numbers,” he said. “Johnson and Orr have been huge catalysts for our offense up to this point this season. If one through nine starts having better at-bats, it can be very tough on a pitcher.”

Confidence is high in the Kent State offense for its coach.

“Are we going to score 17 runs every game?” Duncan said. “No. But this lineup is capable of a little bit more of that type of production. Seven-plus runs per game — I really believe that.”

As far as pitching goes, Duncan is seeing improvement from the beginning of the season.

“We’re a little bit smarter than we were 10 days ago about making sure that we’re putting in the right people in the right spots,” he said. “We’re starting to get into a rhythm, and guys are starting to have a lot more confidence when they get the baseball.”

The Kent State starters allowed one earned run, eight hits, five walks and allotted 19 strikeouts in 16 combined innings.

The relievers were just as good. Kent State used six relief pitchers, who combined for one earned run, seven hits, two walks and 13 strikeouts in nine innings of work.

As a whole, the Flashes’ staff allowed two earned runs in 25 innings and had 29 strikeouts against the CMU offense.

Looking ahead

Kent State continued its dominance at home, as the sweep extended the Flashes’ home winning streak to 18 games.

This season at home, KSU averages over nine runs per game and allows just over three runs per game.

“No matter where you’re playing, we’ve got to be tough and we’ve got to play well,” Duncan said. “To this point, we’ve played well at home. It was a really good start to the week when we beat Tiffin on a walk-off. That gave us a lot of confidence to win a game like that..”

The team will look to extend its home winning streak when the five-game homestand comes to an end Tuesday against Youngstown State.

First pitch is at 3 p.m. before the team goes back on the road for the weekend.

It will be a St. Patrick’s Green Out theme at Schoonover Stadium.

Redshirt sophomore Rocco Bernadina is set to be the starter against Youngstown State.

His last time out was a no-decision against Tiffin — he allowed four earned runs in 2.2 innings.

KSU will look to repeat the success it had last season against the Penguins.

The teams only played once, but Kent State obliterated Youngstown State in a seven-inning 22-1 drubbing, where the Flashes had 21 hits and nine walks.

Although it is early into the season, Duncan wants to see consistent improvement from the team looking forward.

“We’re starting to gain a lot of momentum. Ultimately, I’d like to get another good quality start and our bullpen to continue to do what they’re doing,” he said. “A huge focus is to get this offense continuing to get better and more confident.”

John Hilber is assistant sports editor. Contact him at [email protected].