The Kent State baseball team is just one game behind .500 after starting the season with five losses in the team’s first six games. The Flashes played in a three-game homestand against conference foe Northern Illinois from Friday to Sunday. 

Friday 

Redshirt sophomore Gavin Jones has settled into the “Friday starting pitcher” mold that is so common in college baseball for the Flashes. He posted a line of two earned runs on four hits in 4.1 innings of work, striking out four and walking three batters  – this was also the second start of the season for Jones where an opponent has scored an unearned run. 

The Flashes got the offense hot early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first off of RBI knocks from senior catcher Hunter Klotz and freshman outfielder Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe. 

Neither team would score until the fifth inning, where the Huskies’ senior Kaden Kosobucki homered to cut the lead down to two. 

Self-inflicted wounds from Kent State would allow the Huskies to tie the game at three in the top of the fifth inning. Jones had trouble on a fielding attempt that brought home the second run of the ballgame for NIU, and then a walk from the right hander would tie it. 

In the same fifth inning, Flashes junior catcher Brody Williams would reclaim the lead for Kent State on a double down the right field line. Rienstra-Kiracofe would continue his big day with a two run triple that put the Flashes up 6-3. 

Two innings later, the Huskies would inch closer on a one-run double from sophomore Cooper Cohn. The Flashes would equal this run on a double steal that saw Williams taking home and Klotz taking second base. 

The Flashes would hold the Huskies at five runs for the game past the eighth inning while also scoring eight unanswered runs to win the game 15-5. Senior Caden Leonard was given the win for the Flashes while senior Peyton Cariaco claimed his second save of the season. 

Saturday 

Making the start for the second game of the series for the Flashes was the left-handed redshirt junior Nick Guidas. Guidas toed the slab for just two-and-a-third innings, giving up four earned runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking none. 

The Huskies took the lead in the top of the first on a double from junior Logan Gregorio and did not look back, scoring three runs across the second and third inning to make it a 4-0 ballgame. 

The Flashes would fight back, scoring the first runs of the game on singles from Klotz and Williams. Freshman utilityman Sawyer Solitaria would tie the game on a sacrifice fly. 

In the seventh inning, Gregorio used his red-hot bat to ignite the engines of the NIU offense. A solo shot from the catcher propelled the Huskies to score eight unanswered runs. 

Down 14-5, the Flashes would thaw their cold bats in the ninth inning on a fielder’s choice from Williams. Kent State would bring the game within six runs in the ninth, but it was too little too late, as the Huskies would claim game two by a score of 14-8. 

Senior RHP Zach Hise would claim the win for Northern Illinois with the loss being handed to KSU southpaw Benny Roebuck for his third loss of the season. 

Sunday 

In the rubber match, the Flashes sent out sophomore RHP Jacob Bean to start. Bean allowed two earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks. 

Bean’s start was plagued with errors, as the Flashes committed five in this game alone.  

The errors helped the Huskies score the first run of the game in the top of the first when Gregorio and senior Gavin Baldwin crossed home plate to put NIU up 2-0. 

In the bottom of the third, the Flashes would fire back at the Huskies. Sophomore Alejandro Covas would get the scoring going on a single out to left field that brought home senior outfielder Jake Casey. 

Junior infielder Kolton Schaller would get his first RBI of the season on a flyout to tie the game, with junior INF Matt Thompson giving the Flashes the lead when he reached on an error. 

Gregorio continued his torment of the Flashes’ pitching staff in the third inning, where he tied the game at three apiece on a solo home run to left-center. 

Baldwin would come back to haunt KSU in the fifth inning to bring home Gregorio on a double for the lead. The Huskies would hold on to momentum and retake the lead on a throwing error. 

Solitaria picked up his second RBI of the series in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at five.

Gregorio once again made the Flashes pay for pitching in his general vicinity with a three-run home run out to right-center field that put NIU 8-5 in the sixth inning of the final game of the series for these two teams. 

The Flashes would cut the lead down to four on a fielding error in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and Kent State down two, one swing of the bat could make or break the series. 

On a 3-1 count, Casey drove a ball into dead center for the Flashes first grand slam of the season to take a 10-8 lead. This was the outfielder’s 13th RBI of the season in as many games while  also posting 14 hits (three homers) and scoring 18 runs. 

The Huskies would score one more run in the bottom of the ninth, but KSU would snuff out the comeback attempt and take the series by a final score of 10-9. 

Junior RHP Ciaran Caughey was handed his first win of 2025 with the loss being handed to sophomore Danny Cihocki of the Huskies. Cariaco earned his fourth save of the season despite giving up one run.

Moving forward

The Flashes will head on the road to Dayton, OH for a one-game showdown with the Wright State Raiders. The Raiders are 4-9 on the year and have lost six of seven heading into Tuesday’s game against the Flashes. 

With the two wins against NIU, Kent State is now 6-7 on the season and sits at fifth in the Mid-American Conference standings. 

Gage Wellman is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected] or @GageWellman KSTV on X.