The Kent State baseball team is just one game behind the .500 mark after winning two out of three in a three-game weekend set against the Hofstra Pride. The Flashes are 8-9 on the year and have won two homestands in the month of March. 

Friday

Opening up the action against the Pride for the Flashes on Friday was right-handed sophomore ace Gavin Jones. Heading into his start on Friday, Jones accumulated an ERA of 3.52 with 15 strikeouts and 10 walks in just over 17 innings of work.

Jones posted a line of no runs on just three hits, striking out five in five innings of shutout baseball. 

This game was over before the pine tar on Kent State’s bats dried. In the bottom of the first, Kent State took the lead on a one-run single from junior catcher Brody Williams. 

The Flashes were determined to keep an iron grip on the lead in Friday’s game, as sophomore catcher Dom Kibler took a pitch over the heart of the plate and made it a 4-0 ballgame as two runners were on. 

In the bottom of the second inning, Kibler would once again find a pitch in his wheelhouse and send it back where it came from to put the Flashes up 8-0. This was Kibler’s second three-run home run of the game and his third of 2025. 

In the fifth inning alone, KSU would score a total of five combined runs by way of a pitch that struck Kibler with the bases loaded and three singles, one of which came off the bat of junior Jake Casey. The Pride would score its first runs of the game in the seventh inning, but it was not enough, as the Flashes would win by way of the mercy rule 16-3. 

Jones was given his second winning decision of the year, as Jackson Bauer of Hofstra was handed his third loss of the season. 

Saturday 

Starting for the Flashes in game two of the homestand against Hofstra was junior RHP Ciaran Caughey. Heading into his start on Saturday, Caughey posted a mixed bag of two wins and two losses, giving up eight runs in four appearances. 

The Pride must have felt some kind of way losing to the Flashes via the mercy rule on Friday, as Hofstra scorched the Flashes for 11 runs in the first five-and-a-half innings of Saturday’s game. 

Down 11-3, Casey continued his hot start to this year’s campaign with a two-run homer to bring Kent State within six. Senior catcher Hunter Klotz matched Casey’s two run dinger with a blast of his own that similarly scored two for the Flashes. 

In the eighth inning, the Flashes came all the way back from the dead and tied the game at 11 apiece on a single from junior infielder Matt Thompson.

However, the Pride had different plans for the game. In the top of the ninth, senior closer Peyton Cariaco gave up six runs on six hits, and Hofstra fired back with a 17-11 win. 

Cariaco was handed the loss for Kent State with Danny Kelleher of the Pride taking the win. 

Sunday 

In the rubber match of the series, coach Jeff Duncan turned to sophomore RHP Jacob Bean. Bean appeared in four games prior to his start on Sunday, posting a record of 2-2 and allowing 15 runs (three unearned). 

Down 2-0 in the bottom of the first, the Flashes would even the game up on an RBI double play from freshman designated hitter Sawyer Solitaria and a double from freshman outfielder Alejandro Covas. 

After the Flashes claimed the lead in the third, the Pride would steal it right back from Kent State on not one but two solo shots that seemed fitting for such a high-scoring weekend for both teams. 

In the same fourth inning, the Flashes would strike back at Hofstra on an RBI triple from freshman utilityman Brady Marshall to tie the game. Marshall’s knock served as the proverbial spark plug for KSU’s offense, as three more batters would score to make it an 8-4 ballgame in favor of KSU. 

The Flashes would tack on five more runs before walking away with a 15-5 win to send the series towards KSU. 

Moving forward 

The Flashes will head on the road to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Panthers are 12-7 on the season and have won two in a row, most recently beating the Akron Zips. 

KSU is fifth in the Mid American Conference and is now just one game under .500. 

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