The Kent State baseball team traveled to Pittsburgh Wednesday looking to get to .500 on the season.
The start went to right-hander Rocco Bernadina, who looked to stake his claim to the midweek starting role after going two-and-a-third innings last week against Wright State.
Bernadina did not fare well, however, going only two innings and giving up eight earned runs, of which six came from the long ball.
The Flashes got the scoring started, jumping ahead 2-0 on a two-run homer to center from senior outfielder Jake Casey, who was playing in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Casey would have 3 hits on the day to raise his batting average to .333. He’s also added length to the lineup ever since moving down to the three-hole.
The Panthers, however, struck back in the bottom half with a five-spot, with the major damage being done on a grand slam from Jackson Cooke.
After a scoreless half from the Flashes, Pitt blew the game open even more to make it 8-2 after two innings.
The Flashes then picked up their offense, which has put up at least eight runs in eight out of the last nine games, with a four-spot in the third, which included senior catcher Hunter Klotz’s second home run of the season.
After a scoreless inning from right-hander Benny Roebuck, who has impressed out of the pen this season, the Flashes led off the 4th with a home run from redshirt sophomore infielder Ripken Reese that knocked Pitt starter Aidan Coleman out of the game. The Flashes then reclaimed the lead on a freshman utility player Sawyer Solitaria double that scored Casey and graduate student utility player Hayden Jatczak, and made it 9-8. Casey and Jatczak would each score 3 runs.
The lead, however, was short-lived, with Pitt scoring seven runs in the bottom half, three of which were walked in. All seven runs were charged to redshirt sophomore reliever Jordan Kolenda, who failed to record an out.
Junior outfielder AJ Nessler’s walk with no outs would give the Panthers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Junior Caden Dulin would knock Kolenda out of the game with his third walk, sending redshirt junior Nick Guidas into the toughest situation possible; bases loaded and no one out. Guidas would allow all inherited runners to score before getting a double play ball to end the inning with the score 15-9.
After the 4th, both teams settled in pitching-wise, with the only runs being scored by Pitt. They came on a home run and a sac fly in the 6th and 7th, respectively from Dulin, who finished 1-2 with the aforementioned home run, sac fly and two walks to go along with three runs.
The Flashes would get back into the run column in the 8th, scoring runs on a double to the gap from Reese, a freshman utility player Brady Marshall single that drove in Reese and Jatczak’s second home run in as many games, both of which have gone to the opposite field.
Reese would collect two hits on the game to raise his batting average closer to the Mendoza line of .200.
The four runs in the 8th would be the last runs scored in the game, as the Flashes would end the game with Reese striking out looking. 17-13 was the final score.
The loss dropped the Flashes to 1-6 away from Schoonover Stadium and 8-10 overall.
Kolenda was saddled with the loss for the Flashes, with the win going to southpaw Matt Porter for the Panthers.
Moving forward
The Flashes will travel to play the Bowling Green Falcons in Mid-American Conference action starting Friday. Bowling Green is 6-0 in MAC play and 15-5 overall. The Falcons will enter Friday’s contest on a 10-game winning streak following an 11-9 win over the Flyers of Dayton on Wednesday.
Redshirt sophomore Gavin Jones will toe the rubber to open the series after coming off a five-inning performance last outing against the Hofstra Pride where he gave up no runs. Sophomore Jake Bean will touch the mound Saturday after his last start got cut short due to rain.
Friday’s first pitch will be at 3 p.m. with the weekend games starting at 1 p.m.
Stone O’Bryant is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
