Kent State baseball (9-9, 1-2 MAC) started slow and dropped the first two games of a three-game series in Toledo this weekend.

They did manage to pull through and grab the series’ final game Sunday, but the offense was not there for the Flashes as they only managed five runs the entire weekend. Pitching was the strength for the Flashes as they got excellent work out of all three starters over the weekend.

Game 1: Friday March 20th 2:00 p.m., Toledo 4, Kent State 1

Junior Nick Jensen-Clagg (4-2) had another strong outing in the opening game of a three-game series in Toledo against the Rockets, but was unable to pick up the win.

Jensen-Clagg went 6.1 innings in the loss, allowed only two earned runs and struck out nine. But errors and poor offense hurt Kent State in game one.

The Flashes defense committed three errors and only managed one run off six hits Friday.

Kent State jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning off of senior Jeff  Revesz’s fielder’s choice, but they’d be blanked from there.

A home run put Toledo back on top, 2-1, in the fourth inning and that was all the Rockets needed to secure the win.

Sophomore Luke Birch led the Kent State offense with two of the six hits on the afternoon.

Game 2: Saturday March 21st 1:00 p.m., Toledo 4, Kent State 3

The Kent State offense played a little better Saturday and the defense only committed one error, but even a late rally by the Flashes was not enough to get the win in Toledo.

Sophomore pitcher Eric Lauer (1-2) went 6.1 innings and allowed three earned runs while striking out five.

The team was down 4-1 heading into the ninth inning when they mounted a comeback against the Rockets.

Revesz doubled to left-center to score a run and cut the lead to 4-2.

Revesz then scored on an RBI single from senior Tommy Monnot.

The Rockets, however, were able to record the final two outs of the inning and secure the victory.

Senior Sawyer Polen was the only Kent State player to record multiple hits in the game with two.

Game 3: Sunday March 22 1:00 p.m., Kent State 1, Toledo 0

Kent State showed excellent pitching as they were able to squeak by with 1-0 against Toledo in the series finale Sunday.

Birch scored the lone run in the game in the sixth inning after a Polen groundball.There wouldn’t be any more offensive action the entire way as Kent held on for the win.

Sophomore starter Andy Ravel (2-1) pitched another gem, not allowing a single run across the plate in the seven innings that he pitched.

Burch, freshman Dylan Rosa and sophomore Corey Simonetti each had two hits in the victory.

Senior Josh Pierce was able to bounce back from a couple of tough outings over the last two weekends and record his first save of the season.

Kent State was also able to get back to .500 with the win and build momentum for their next series.

The Flashes will take on Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana on Tuesday and then travel to Illinois to play The University of Illinois on Wednesday.

Contact Andrew Bugel at [email protected].