It may have gone down as a non-conference victory in the win column, but it was still an important game for the Kent State baseball team as it took on the Akron Zips. KSU ranked 50th in the RPI rankings, while Akron was close to the 300’s. A loss would have put a huge dent in at-large hopes for the Flashes.

However, a strong offensive outing and a stretch by KSU pitchers in which they allowed just two hits in six innings lifted the team to a 12-7 win in which the Flashes dominated for most of the game.

“I thought we played well enough to win,” coach Jeff Duncan said. “It wasn’t perfect by any means, but a lot of times in these mid-week games, anything can happen.”

Redshirt senior Nick Guidas drew the start, and it looked for a moment as if Akron would make his start a disastrous one. Four of the first five batters he faced reached base, and Guidas was all over the place with three wild pitches. This allowed Akron to jump out to a 2-0 lead.

KSU, in its typical fashion, jumped and rallied immediately. The Flashes scored six runs off of starter Josiah Ross.

Command issues also plagued Ross to start, as he hit sophomore second baseman Brady Marshall and walked the next two hitters before sophomore right fielder Sawyer Solitaria smoked a single. Redshirt junior Prince DeBoskie almost caught it, but it popped out of his glove.

Senior infielder Brody Williams then doubled down right field to give KSU a 3-2 lead. Junior outfielder Alejandro Covas added to the hit parade alongside redshirt freshman Nolan Belcher and senior Kolton Schaller, who all made it 6-2 after one inning.

“A big thing I thought we did well was we moved the baseball with runners in scoring position,” Duncan said.

Guidas then bounced back with a strong second inning with two strikeouts and a scoreless third before the Flashes added two more runs on a hit from Marshall and a sacrifice from Schaller.

“I thought Guidas did a great job starting for us,” Duncan said. “They jumped him early, but he settled in and gave us some really good innings.”

The Zips got two runs back in the fourth on a home run from redshirt sophomore infielder Blake Bowen and an RBI groundout from redshirt junior Michael Szymczak.

In the sixth, the Flashes took firm control of the game on a sacrifice from Solitaria and the long ball from Belcher who belted his fourth home run of the campaign. Belcher finished with four RBI to lead the team. Three others also had multiple runs batted in 

This was all the scoring the Flashes needed for the day, but redshirt junior Ripken Reese did reach a key milestone leading off the seventh with a single for the 100th hit of his career.

“He’s an outstanding player,” Duncan said. “He brings us a ton of value, and he’s starting to see some baseballs fall for him.”

On the mound, the Flashes controlled most of the middle of the game with the first and ninth innings being most of the damage Akron was able to accrue outside of the fourth.

Freshman Parker Lind earned his second win as he lowered his ERA to 1.29 on the season, with hitters batting just .192 against him.

Akron scored three runs off of graduate reliever Caden Leonard, but it was too little too late as the Flashes held on to close out the victory.

On Deck

Up next for the Flashes is a key trip to DeKalb, Ill., for a battle against the Northern Illinois Huskies in a three-game series. The Flashes will look to build on their first-place record in conference play as they begin a stretch that will see them play heavily on the road to end the season, with just eight games left at the friendly confines of Schoonover Stadium.

The series will be their first big test on the road after easy sweeps against Ohio and UMass on the road. Northern Illinois has previously swept Miami at home this season.

Senior Ciaran Caughey will get the ball to begin the series on Friday afternoon, looking to build off a strong six innings last week at Ohio.

Stone O’Bryant is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].