The Kent State baseball team took on the Mercyhurst Lakers and the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets in two midweek matchups to wrap up a six-game home stand. The team also sought out to extend its winning streak that sat at six heading into Tuesday’s contest.
The Flashes took care of business, run ruling both teams, as they extended their win streak to eight games and continued to get better as a team.
Tuesday vs. Mercyhurst
The Flashes would start the week off with the Mercyhurst Lakers. The Flashes were looking to get a season sweep after beating Mercyhurst 18-6 March 4.
Junior Ciaran Caughey would draw the start for the Flashes. He was coming off three innings of one-run ball against Case Western.
He would go four solid innings, allowing just two runs and two hits. Command was somewhat a struggle for the righty, as he allowed four walks in his outing. He also matched a season high in strikeouts set last week with five.
The outing would somewhat get off to a shaky start, with Mercyhurst jumping on the Flashes like it did in the first contest with two runs. The first run would come on a sacrifice fly from freshman infielder Ethan Adams that scored senior Chris Juchno. Senior Casey Smith would then add a second run on a single with two strikes to center field, scoring senior utility player Jayden Walker.
In another similarity to the first matchup, the Flashes would immediately get the runs back with freshman center fielder Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe scoring on a triple from graduate utility man Hayden Jatczak. Senior right fielder Jake Casey would tie the game out with a productive groundout, making it 2-2 after the first inning.
After a scoreless second from Caughey, the Flashes would take control of the game with Kiracofe, again, showing off his A-grade speed tool with a triple to dead center on a 3-2 count, scoring senior infielder Hunter Klotz and sophomore outfielder Alejandro Covas, making it 4-2. Jatczak then immediately doubled down the line on the first pitch of the next at bat, driving in Kiracofe to make it 5-2.
All the runs would be charged to senior righty Ben Berdine, who was out of the game after these two innings.
The next pitcher, senior southpaw Cody Smith would not fare much better in his time, with freshman utility man Sawyer Solitaria greeting him with a single and junior catcher Brody Williams getting his name in the RBI party with a home run to left field that made it 7-2. The home run was his second on the season.
Caughey, now pitching with a very comfortable lead, would set down three straight batters to wrap up his outing after allowing a leadoff double to Smith, who tied for the lead today with two hits for the Lakers.
The Flashes would wrap up their scoring party with three more runs, pushing the lead to 10-2 after four. Junior shortstop Luke Matthews would lead off the inning with a perfect bunt down the line to reach base, stole second and would score on a single down the line from Kiracofe. Kiracofe would also swipe second, coming around to score on a triple from Casey, who saw a first pitch he couldn’t resist. Williams would tally his third RBI of the day when he singled in Casey.
Redshirt sophomore reliever Jordan Kolenda entered the ballgame in the fifth and allowed a run when Adams singled in Juchno. The offensive game then heavily stagnated with that being the last run the Lakers would score. Kent State would also go on a scoreless spell for three innings.
Kent State would finally get back on the board and enact the run rule with 3 runs in the eighth. Matthews would score on a wild pitch, Jatczak would have his third of the day that drove in Kiracofe, and Solitaria would end the game on a single the other way that scored Jatczak. This made the final score 13-3.
The win was the Flashes seventh in a row and improved them to 15-11.
Caughey picked up his second win of the season with the loss being handed down to Berdine.
Kiracofe, Jatczak and Williams would tie for the game’s lead with three RBI’s apiece.
Wednesday vs. Baldwin Wallace
Redshirt freshman Evan Holewinski would draw the start for the Flashes, the first of his collegiate career and his fourth appearance of the season.
He shined in two-and-one-third innings, striking out six and allowing no hits.
Holewinski would immediately set the tone with two strikeouts, and Casey would make a nice diving snag to end the first.
The Flashes would jump all over the Yellow Jackets, scoring seven runs and stealing four bases in the process. The Flashes would again jump the competition immediately with Casey driving in Kiracofe on a single the other way. Then, with two outs, Casey would score on an error, redshirt sophomore infielder Ripken Reese would get an RBI on a bases loaded walk and redshirt freshman infielder Landon Tiesing would also walk with the bases loaded that added a fourth run. This knocked senior right hander Dylan Synder out of the game.
Junior Tyler Walker would be greeted by Kiracofe with his second single of the inning that made it 5-0. Jatczak would then drive in two with a single to left to make it 7-0 after the first. In all, the Flashes sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning.
Holewinski would continue his dominance with 3 more strikeouts.
“It was really good to see Evan Holewinski throw really good,” coach Jeff Duncan said. “He’s only been on the mound in a game three times. He has a chance to have a really good career here.”
The Flashes would add a run on a sacrifice fly from sophomore catcher Dom Kibler, who served in the designated hitter role Wednesday. It scored Covas, who added another stolen base to the tally books. The team had eight stolen bases on the day.
The aggressiveness on the base paths was “planned,” according to Duncan, to “differentiate” themselves in the midweek slate.
“We have some really good runners, and we wanted to use that athleticism,” Duncan said. “And if you look in our league, I think we lead the league in stolen bases.”
The Flashes lead the league, by far, with 65 steals with the next-closest team being more than 20 steals behind.
Junior Brody Krzysiak would come into the game with an out in the third and shine. He, too, would go two-and-one-third with three strikeouts, allowing the only run of the game for the Yellow Jackets.
The game would hit a dry spell until the fifth, when senior Eric Coode would score on a bases loaded walk.
Kent would then respond in the bottom half scoring three runs. Matthews drove in Covas with a single. Sophomore catcher Payton Ebbing would then drive in Matthews with a single of his own and then score on a knock from senior infielder Conor Ashby. This made it 11-1, which would end up being the final score.
Redshirt freshman pitcher Ben Rabatin shined in the seventh with two strikeouts in six pitches. Senior closer Peyton Cariaco then induced a weak pop up to end the ball game.
The win was its eighth consecutive as the team continues to rack up wins.
Krzysiak would pick up the win with the loss going to Snyder.
The notables
Pitching continues to shine with the team picking up 22 strikeouts between the two games over the week. Baldwin Wallace especially had the fits against the Kent State pitchers Wednesday, which is rare from a team that historically is good offensively.
Rabatin and Krzysiak are both pitchers that Duncan said could “help down the line.”
Their stuff was effective at all times Wednesday with their fastballs showing good life and the breaking stuff inducing swings and misses.
The offense also shined during these two games, putting up 24 runs and 21 hits during these two games,
Tiesing went 1-2 and drew a walk in a rare start.
“He comes to practice everyday, works really hard and is super talented,” Duncan said. “I think he was ready for the opportunity.”
Up next
The Flashes improved to 16-11 and have an eight-game winning streak overall and a five-game winning streak in Mid-American Conference play while sitting at a tie for third with a 7-2 conference record.
The Flashes will take their winning streak to Mount Pleasant, Mich., to face the Chippewas of Central Michigan from Friday to Sunday. First pitch on Friday is set for 3 p.m., with the weekend games coming at 1 p.m.
Redshirt sophomore Gavin Jones and sophomore Jake Bean are the projected starters for Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Stone O’Bryant is a reporter. Contact him at sobryan3@kent.edu.
