Kent State finished its road trip with a 3-1 mark over the weekend, which was also good enough to keep them atop the Mid-American Conference East division standings.

The Flashes concluded the 10-game trip with a record of 7-2-1. The final four games took them to Toledo for two games, followed by Bowling Green for another two.

In the first game against Toledo, the Flashes used a big third inning to their advantage and got Emma Johnson her 13th win of the season, as Kent State came away with an 8-4 victory.

Johnson twirled another complete game, while allowing four runs on five hits and striking out nine. The offense also came alive and, as they have many times on the season, took advantage of their opponent’s miscues. The Flashes took advantage of six Toledo errors and turned them into four unearned runs.

Lauren Kesterson, Abbey Ledford, Lauren Grimes and Erika Warren drove in runs, while Lauren Balodis had two RBIs for Kent State.

With a chance to sweep the doubleheader, the Flashes blew an 8-6 seventh-inning lead in the second game, as Toledo scored three in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with a 9-8 lead.

Alyssa Frankenfield and Lauren McNeil both pitched for the Flashes in the nightcap, and the two combined allowed nine runs (seven earned) on 11 hits in 6 2/3 innings. Despite missing out on a chance to sweep the doubleheader, head coach Karen Linder saw plenty of positives in her team’s performance.

“We hit the ball better than we have all season,” Linder said. “It was windy and very cold, so the conditions were tough all around. We would have liked to come away with both wins, but we’re happy to be in the position we’re in with the conference race.”

Mother Nature made some scheduling changes on Saturday for the Flashes. The team was initially supposed to play one game against Bowling Green on Saturday and one on Sunday, but bad weather forced Saturday’s game to be moved as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.

In the first game against the Falcons, the Flashes rode one of Emma Johnson’s best performances of her career, as she pitched a complete game three-hit shutout while striking out 12 in Kent State’s 1-0 win.

“Emma had one of the best days of her career and our defense played well,” Linder said.

The lone run in the game was driven in courtesy of a Kim Kirkpatrick RBI double that scored Dani Ramos. It was also one of Kent State’s fastest games of the season, taking just 1:39 to complete.

In game two, pitching ruled supreme once again for the Flashes as they came away with a 5-1 victory.

McNeil, Johnson and Frankenfield allowed Bowling Green just the one run on four hits to keep the Flashes in a tie with Miami atop the MAC East. Lauren Kesterson drove in a run for the Flashes, while Kirkpatrick and Shelbi Tilton each drove in two.

“It’s nice to be in the position we are, but there’s still a lot of softball to be played,” Linder said. “I’m really proud of the way the team recovered after losing to Toledo. It was huge to get a sweep against Bowling Green, who is one of the better teams in the MAC East.”

The Flashes get a few days off before hosting Northern Illinois and Western Michigan for two games each, Friday and Saturday respectively. The Huskies are first on the schedule, with first pitch set for 1 p.m.

Contact Christian Petrila at [email protected].