The Kent State baseball team hosted both Washington and Jefferson and Youngstown State to continue its nine-game homestand.

The Flashes took care of business in a pair of games filled with milestones, fun and historical achievements.

Monday vs. W&J

Monday’s game was over before it even got started, with the Flashes putting up two touchdowns and a safety to make it 16-0 after the first inning.

Junior infielder Luke Matthews led off the game with a triple over the right fielder’s head. After graduate student third baseman Hayden Jatczak struck out, 16 consecutive hitters reached base. Sophomore catcher Dom Kibler singled to right to drive in senior outfielder Jake Casey, and the floodgates opened from there.

Senior first baseman Hunter Klotz tripled for the second time in three games to score Kibler and freshman utility player Sawyer Solitaria.

Redshirt Freshman infielder Landon Tiesing made his mark on the game with his first career collegiate home run on what was a three-hit day.

Graduate student outfielder Billy Gerlott was the first to be sent in from the bench, and he drove in a run when he was hit in the head with a pitch but remained in the ball game.

Junior utility player Kolton Schaller was next, as he singled in Gerlott before the inning mercifully ended.

After that, the rest of the bench was cleared, and the game wasn’t in doubt.The Presidents did get a flash of their own offense, as senior outfielder Drew Garth took a ball the other way for a two-run shot to make it 17-2.

That was the only mistake of the day for redshirt freshman pitcher Ben Rabatin, who made the first start of his collegiate career and pitched three-and-one-third innings, striking out two and allowing three runs on three hits.

Home runs from Schaller and junior infielder Matt Thompson made it 20-3 before a senior infielder Connor Ashby single made it the final score of 21-3.

Sophomore Gannon Wentz earned the win with the loss going to junior Justin Giarrusso.

The game had a ton of notables despite the lopsided score, as every player that played in the game either had a hit or run scored in the drubbing.

Most notably, redshirt freshman pitcher Vince Watman made his college debut on the mound. He allowed just a walk and hit a few batters in his appearance, but his appearance was one that saw the team get extremely excited on the mound.

Wednesday vs. Youngstown State

Wednesday saw the Flashes play host to the Penguins of Youngstown State in what was a game full of reunions. Third base and Assistant Coach Dan Bertolini saw the college he was formerly head coach of come to town.

Sophomore outfielder Alejandro Covas also played against his former school, as he spent his freshman year at the school.

The game also saw the first opportunity coach Jeff Duncan had at becoming the all-time winningest coach at Kent State.

The first inning saw no scoring, but each catcher made a solid throw to get out a runner trying to steal a base.

The second saw the scoring get started by both teams, with the Penguins getting ahead on a home run by junior outfielder Brayden Kuriger.

The Flashes would respond with Solitaria scoring on an error, freshman center fielder Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe grounding out to drive in junior catcher Brody Williams and Covas singling back where the ball came from to score Klotz to make it 3-1.

Williams would lead off the fourth inning with a home run to center. The homer, which was his third of the season, was a part of another multi-hit game for the catcher, who has seen his average climb to .350 on the season.

The Flashes scoring was not done, however, as Tiesing bunted in Klotz, Matthews singled in Kiracofe, Solitaria tripled in Casey and Covas, and then came in to score on a wild pitch.

The sixth inning would see Solitaria and Thompson combine on a double steal that saw Thompson come around and score, and then Tiesing added what would be his sixth run batted in in the span of two games when he was hit by a pitch.

Youngstown State would force a bottom of the seventh on a home run that just hooked fair, but the Flashes would score two more runners in the bottom half to earn another victory by way of run rule, their fourth in the last five games.

Senior Eric Chalus was awarded the win with the loss going to freshman right-hander Tyler Heflin.

The offense shined again, putting up at least 12 consecutive runs for the fifth consecutive game.

The notables

Waterman made his collegiate debut and allowed just one walk in a scoreless inning-and-a-third.

“Special kid,” Duncan said about Waterman. “He’s been through a lot of adversity his first two years here, and it was a joy to see him on the mound competing.”

Duncan also made history, as he became the winningest skipper in Kent State’s illustrious baseball history, passing former coach Rick Rembielak, who he tied with his 373rd win on Monday.

Duncan was all smiles and humble about his accomplishment.

“It’s kind of surreal to be honest,” Duncan said. “This is a really great program that’s been built by many great players and coaches. I’m so blessed to be part of this program, and not only be a part, but lead it.”

Up next

The Flashes will continue conference play when Akron comes to town for a baseball edition of the Wagon Wheel rivalry. Kent State is 34-13 since 2007 against the Zips.

Redshirt sophomore Gavin Jones and sophomore Jake Bean are the projected starters for Friday and Saturday, respectively. Redshirt junior Rocco Bernadina should be in line to receive Sunday’s start after twirling a gem in his outing last week.

First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m., Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m. and Sunday is scheduled for 1 p.m.