Down to its final out, the Kent State baseball team was down four runs in the last game of the series against Northern Illinois Sunday.

No one was on base, and redshirt junior left fielder Lance Macdonald stepped to the plate as NIU clung to a 7-3 lead. 

He was 0-for-3 before the plate appearance but doubled down the right field line to keep the game alive, and after back-to-back walks followed, the winning run was at the dish.

“Lance Macdonald has been great for us,” coach Jeff Duncan said. “Jake Casey’s down and Lance Macdonald comes in. Last week, he hit two homers and he grinds away and competes and does a great job.”

Right fielder Tim Orr represented that run. The senior already had a hit, but he needed another one to keep KSU in the game.

After taking a first-pitch ball, Orr lifted a ball to left field, which carried on over the wall, and Orr brought in all four runs to give Kent State an 8-7 lead in the top of the ninth.

Orr’s grand slam was his second home run of the game and his ninth of the season.

“We had two outs, nobody on, two strikes, and Lance Macdonald had a two-strike hit,” Duncan said. “Next guy gets hit by a pitch, and Josh Johnson forced a walk and loaded the bases up for Timmy. He went opposite field with the grand slam –  it was electric. A big-time hit right there in that situation. I’m happy for him – he stayed with it and got the job done. He can really hit, and you can only hold him down for so long.”

The Kent State pitching still needed to get the job done in the bottom of the ninth to close the door on its one-run advantage.

Junior relief pitcher Peyton Cariaco was sent out for his second inning of work in an attempt to earn the win.

The reliever allowed one run in the inning on a fielder’s choice, and NIU escaped the ninth with an 8-8 tie.

The Huskies forced extra innings, and KSU was playing in its second such game of the season.

Sophomore first baseman Brody Williams started extras with a lead-off walk and advanced to second base on a wild pitch.

Williams was in scoring position in short order for freshman catcher Dom Kibler.

Kibler’s first hit of the day was in good time, as he sent a ball to the right side, going past the infield into the outfield grass.

Williams turned past third and scored on the play, giving the Flashes a 9-8 lead, but the team would score no more runs in the inning.

Cariaco was brought out once again for the tenth, his third inning of the game.

He had never pitched more than three innings this season, but he has matched three innings in a game against Toledo. The southpaw allowed one single in the 10th inning but got the other three batters he faced out, icing the game.

“He pitches with guts and throws strikes,” Duncan said. “He just competes; that’s the biggest thing that separates him. He’s a real big reliever, and he’s been in our program three years. He’s pitched a lot of innings for us, and he’s been awesome. You feel very comfortable when he’s on the mound as a coach, and as a player, he’s very confident.”

This time, KSU did not let go of the one-run lead, and the team left Illinois with a 9-8 victory and a 2-1 series win.

“It was a good series on the road,” Duncan said. “We’re banged up a little bit, and we’re going out there, and the next man is stepping up. We’re playing together, and we’re finding ways to win.”

The win Sunday was the program’s 2,000th victory, joining Central Michigan and Ohio as the only teams in the Mid-American Conference to reach this milestone.

The team is 19-18 on the season, with a 10-8 record against MAC rivals, which is good enough for fifth place in the conference.

The team jumped one spot in the rankings since its last game on April 16 against Penn State before the series against NIU began.

This is just the second time this season the Flashes won a series of two or more games on the road.

Game one (Friday, April 19)

Redshirt junior starting pitcher Clavin Bickerstaff got the start for game one.

The righty was coming off a loss against Toledo, where he pitched for five innings and allowed six runs on six hits.

Friday, Bickerstaff was elite for seven innings, which was a career-high.

He allowed one run on five hits, seven strikeouts and no walks in 85 pitches.

Friday marked the fourth time this season Bickerstaff allowed one run or less in his outing, and the KSU offense rewarded his performance by scoring the game’s first seven runs of the game.

“He’s been really good, he’s outstanding – he just throws strikes,” Duncan said. “He competes, and our guys rally around him when he’s on the mound. He is such a great kid. He’s been dominant at times, and he dominated on Friday.”

Williams was responsible for the first four runs in the first and third innings.

In the first inning, Williams singled to bring in Orr, and in the third, he bashed his fourth home run of the season, a three-run shot, to give the Flashes a 4-0 lead.

“He’s very confident right now, and he’s doing a really good job of moving the baseball,” Duncan said. “He’s been very productive for us, and he’s been a huge piece for our offense – especially with a couple of guys out.”

The advantage was extended on redshirt senior center fielder Josh Johnson’s solo home run, his eighth home run of the season.

The home runs kept coming in the sixth inning, as senior shortstop Michael McNamara got in on the fun with his seventh of the season, another solo shot, making the score 6-0.

Johnson got back on the board with a single right back up the middle, giving the Flashes its 7-0 lead.

Bickerstaff allowed a solo home run in the seventh inning before his day was over, which was the only run he allowed.

NIU got two more runs in before the outs ran out, and the Flashes won the first game 7-3.

Bickerstaff (4-3) earned his fourth win of the season, and Cariaco got a save, his third of the season, after pitching the final two outs of the game.

Johnson went 4-5 with two singles, one double, one home run, two RBIs and a run, leading the offense Friday.

Williams supported Johnson by going 3-5 with two singles, one home run and four RBIs.

“It’s good to see, and it’s been a big lift for us,” Duncan said on Williams. “We knew he was a good player and he got off to a really tough start, and at times, he wasn’t even a version of himself. It’s good to see his at-bats are so competitive now.”

Game two (Saturday, April 20)

In game two, NIU was the team that won 7-3.

Johnson got two of the three KSU runs on a single, which gave the Flashes a 2-0 lead at the time.

By the time the next KSU run scored, the Huskies claimed seven consecutive runs of their own.

The last run of the game was courtesy of freshman designated hitter Payton Ebbing’s RBI single.

Northern Illinois’ third inning alone was enough to beat the Flashes’ offensive production.

The Huskies scored five runs in the bottom of the third on a mixture of RBI singles, bases-loaded walks and wild pitches.

“It was an inning that got away from us,” Duncan said. “I thought there was a call in there that would have kept the game at 2-2. I felt like it was a bad call, and then they continued, and they got three more runs to make it 5-2, and they did a good job.”

NIU scored one run apiece in the sixth and seventh innings to give them seven runs.

“Their starter did a good job and really mixed it up and kept us off balance,” Duncan said. “They made some good plays defensively, too. They robbed a home run from Ripken Reese, they made a really good play on Dom Kibler, and they played really good defense. That’s one thing they really do.”

The losing pitcher was graduate student Joe Miceli (0-3), who earned his third loss of the season.

In three innings, the righty allowed five runs on seven hits, seven walks, two wild pitches and three strikeouts.

Miceli’s ERA reached 8.10 on the season, and he has allowed 12 earned runs, 17 hits and 10 walks in his last two starts – he pitched 8.1 combined innings in those appearances.

“I think he’s talented enough, he just gets himself in trouble with walks and hit-by-pitches and things like that,” Duncan said. “In this league, it’s a recipe for some tough times, and they didn’t really hit him hard. But when you give them free stuff in this league, a lot of teams can take advantage of that.”

Game three (Sunday, April 21)

Before Orr could hit his go-ahead grand slam in the top of the ninth inning, the Flashes had to struggle to stay in the game.

Kent State, however, got the scoring started Sunday in the second inning with McNamara’s eighth home run of the season, which is tied for second on the team – the home run was a two-run shot.

McNamara is tied in second with home runs with senior third baseman Kyle Jackson, who hit his eighth home run, as well Sunday.

The solo blast made the score 3-0 early in the Flashes’ favor.

NIU scored the game’s next six runs, making the score 6-3 before the Flashes could get back on the board.

Northern Illinois used two sacrifice flies, a two-RBI double, and a solo home run to get the three-run lead.

Orr hit his first home run of the game and his eighth of the season, cutting the lead to 6-4 in the eighth inning, but NIU got the run back in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single.

Orr got back to the plate in the top of the ninth and hit his team-leading ninth home run of the season, giving the team the lead before the Flashes eventually took game three in extra innings.

Junior Eric Chalus got the start in the rubber match, pitching for five innings and allowing five runs, eight hits, one walk and two strikeouts.

Cariaco (3-1) got his third win of the season, as he pitched for three innings, allowed one run on five hits, one walk and two strikeouts.

Orr finished the game 2-5 – both hits being home runs –  with five RBIs.

Kent State hit four home runs as a team, and eight players scored runs in the game.

Looking ahead

Last series against Toledo, the Flashes struck out 36 times and walked 13 times.

In this series, KSU struck out only 20 times while walking 21 times.

“We work on it in between games,” Duncan said. “We’ve done a good job, and we’re moving the baseball much better.”

The Flashes will stay on the road for a one-off game on Tuesday as they take on Youngstown State.

Earlier in the season, KSU earned its biggest win of the 2024 campaign, edging out YSU 27-0.

Youngstown has not beaten Kent State since April 3, 2019, and the Flashes have outscored the Penguins 62-10 in the last four matchups.

YSU is 7-31 on the season. The team has won two of its last three but has also gone on separate 15- and six-game losing streaks this season.

The Penguins are 3-10 at home, and the Flashes are 9-16 away from Kent.

The Flashes have won four of their last five games, and Duncan wants to “continue the momentum” going into Tuesday’s game and ensuing series.

“[I want us to] continue to play together and give it our all; that’s where we’re at,” he said. “Right now, we’re headed to the final stretch. We’ve got guys hurt, and the next guy steps up. You get a sense of belief from the whole team like they just don’t quit.”

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