The Kent State baseball team traveled to Stellar Field to take on the Falcons of Bowling Green in a pivotal early season three-game conference series. The Flashes entered 2-1 in Mid-American Conference play coming off of their conference bye week, while Bowling Green entered unbeaten in conference play and on a 10-game winning streak.

Friday

Toeing the mound to kick off this series was right-handed ace Gavin Jones. The redshirt sophomore has impressed scouts so far this season with a fastball that touches the mid 90’s and a good breaking ball.

He would go five innings, allowing five runs, four earned and he allowed three home runs after allowing only two up until Friday. He also added six strikeouts.

The Flashes offense started off almost immediately, as graduate student utility star Hayden Jatczak blasted a home run to center, his third in three games and fourth of the season. Jatczak extended his hitting streak to six games in the contest.

In the third, the Flashes would add two more runs on a home run from senior outfielder Jake Casey. 

“We have a three-headed monster in Hayden Jatczak, Jake Casey and Sawyer Solitaria,”  coach Jeff Duncan said, referring to his 2-4 hitters in the lineup.

Sophomore TJ Takats would get the Falcons on the board with a home run in the bottom half to make it 3-1 after three innings.

In the fourth inning, the Falcons would take the lead on two home runs and added a single to make it 5-3.

In the sixth inning, the Flashes would tie the game when sophomore outfielder Alejandro Covas scored on a wild pitch. Covas had three hits in the game. The Flashes then took the lead on a fielder’s choice, but the Falcons would tie it up on a sac fly. 

The seventh inning would see the Flashes put up a four spot, anchored by a bases-clearing triple from redshirt sophomore infielder Ripken Reese. The Falcons would inch within one with a three-run bottom half of their own.

In the eighth, the Falcons would tie the game at 10 all on a wild pitch by the normally reliable senior reliever Peyton Cariaco. The Falcons would then win the ballgame on a walk off error by Reese with the final being 11-10. The win was the Falcons’ 11th consecutive win and seventh straight in conference play.

Errors have plagued the Flashes all season with three Friday after recently going through a stretch of 15 in six games, including multiple games with five errors. This is the first time the errors have resulted in a loss. 

Cariaco was saddled with the blown save and loss, while the win went to redshirt freshman Nate Kress.

Saturday 

Sophomore right-hander Jake Bean would draw the start for the Flashes. He would dominate to begin the game, striking out six batters in the first three innings. For the game, he would pitch four innings, giving up one run on two hits, exiting with a huge lead.

The Flashes again would score first, taking the lead on a freshman utility player Sawyer Solitaria double to left center, scoring Casey. Solitaria would come around to score on a single from Hunter Klotz. 

In the fourth, Jatczak would blow the game open with his fourth home run in four games and the second of the series, as the Flashes would score four runs to make it 6-0. The Falcons would get a run back to make it 6-1 on a single from senior outfielder Gavin Ganum.

In the fifth inning, things would get completely out of hand with an inning for the ages. Seventeen batters would come to the plate with 14 runs being scored.

The Flashes would start the run party on a Covas double that would score junior catcher Brody Williams and Solitaria. Reese then hit the Falcons with what would normally be a dagger in most cases with a three-run home run to push the lead to 10 runs. 

The Flashes were not done; however, as freshman shortstop Brady Marshall would get the party started again with a single and scoring on a Jatczak double. Jatczak is one of the nation’s leaders in doubles. Solitaria would drive in two more runners to extend the lead to 14-1. 

Williams, Solitaria and Klotz would then each add their second runs of the inning to make it 17-1 before graduate transfer outfielder Billy Gerlott, getting just his seventh plate appearance of the season, blasted the second three-run home run of the inning to make it 20-1, all before the Falcons were able to get out of the inning. The Falcons were only able to answer with one run to cut the lead to 20-2 heading to the sixth. The Falcons would put up two runs the rest of the game, as it ended 20-4 after seven innings due to run rule.

The Flashes win snapped an 11-game winning streak and ended the undefeated conference record for the Falcons of Bowling Green.

Every starter recorded at least one hit, with Solitaria and Marshall leading with three apiece. Four players would drive in at least three runs with Jatczak leading with four.

Bean picked up the win, his second on the season with the loss going to left-handed senior Nic Good.

Sunday

Senior Eric Chalus took the mound for the Flashes. He earned the start after going five-and-a-third with nine strikeouts last Sunday against Hofstra after Bean was knocked out of the game due to weather.

Chalus was not able to replicate last week’s success, as he only went two-and-two-thirds, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks. This will likely put the third starting spot up for grabs next weekend.

In a reverse from recent games, the Falcons would score first, plating two runs in the bottom of the first on a single from junior Sam Seidel. 

“I felt like Bowling Green came out from the jump looking to get ahead,” said Duncan. 

The Flashes would tie it up in the second inning on a single from Reese and a groundout from Marshall. The top half of the third would see the Flashes take the lead with two more runs, with Reese driving in his second run of the game. Reese would drive in eight runners on the weekend on six hits.

The Falcons would respond with two of their own to tie it up on Seidel’s second hit of the game and a fielder’s choice to knock Chalus out of the game. Redshirt junior reliever Rocco Bernadina would get out of the inning to keep it 4-4 after three.

The Flashes would put up their third consecutive inning with two runs on a triple from Williams down the line to give them a 6-4 lead. Williams would have three extra base hits on the weekend.

After falling behind, the Falcons would chip away slowly, scoring runs in the sixth and eighth to tie the game and give Cariaco his third blown save in his last three save opportunities.

Solitaria would play hero ball in the ninth, blasting a three-run home run to give the Flashes a 9-6 lead. Bowling Green would scratch across a run, but it was too late, as the Flashes would take the game and series by a score of 9-7. 

“I feel like we’ve put up great production all week and back to last week,” Duncan said. “We’ve put up double-digit runs the last two weeks up until yesterday’s game”

Cariaco would pick up the win, his first of the season, while the loss was handed to senior right-hander Connar Penrod for the Falcons.

The standouts

Reese has awakened his bat after a very slow start to the season, increasing his average over 100 points to .269 after entering the week hitting .162. Reese has hits in his last five starts, including at least two in every game over the weekend. His efforts over the weekend earned him the MAC Player of the Week award after slugging over 1.000 for the week.

“I feel his confidence has risen, and it started last weekend against Hofstra. This week he saw pitches he liked and didn’t miss it,” Duncan said.

Solitaria is a force to be reckoned with. Through the season so far, Solitaria has been an offensive machine, driving in 30 runs while scoring 21. This weekend specifically, he clinched the win and the series with his home run. 

Covas has raised his batting average to .404 after collecting six hits on the weekend. He’s hit safely in five consecutive games.

Bean solidified his role as the second rotation guy. In his last two full starts, Bean has given up just three earned runs in eight-and-two-thirds innings and had a season-high six strikeouts in his start this past weekend.

Looking ahead

The Flashes will return home to Schoonover Stadium Tuesday against ranked Division-III opponent Case Western Reserve. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

“Case Western is a pretty good ball club, and we have to be ready to play”. Duncan said when previewing the matchup.

The Flashes  were originally scheduled to face ninth-ranked Oregon from Tuesday to Wednesday, but the series was canceled due to forecasted cold weather.

After this weekend, the Flashes sit at sixth in the MAC standings with a record of 4-2, while overall, they continue to sit at one game below .500 at 10-11.