Baseball takes two of three at BSU

This was Anthony Gallas’ weekend.

The freshman left fielder seemingly hit everything thrown his way, as Kent State took two out of three games from Ball State. Gallas went 8-for-14 with two homeruns, seven runs scored and 14 RBIs on the weekend.

It wasn’t just Gallas who teed off on Ball State pitching in Sunday’s matinee, a makeup game from Saturday’s rainout. On their way to a 13-5 win, nine different Flashes had at least one hit. Gallas and sophomore infielder Brad Winter had three hits apiece.

Ball State’s Brad Piatt kept Kent State’s offense in check in the first four innings and went into the fifth with a 2-1 lead, but that’s when it started. With sophomore infielder Doug Sanders and senior infielder Andrew Davis already on base, Gallas hit his sixth homerun of the year to put Kent State up for good.

The Flashes went on to score nine more runs, forcing the Cardinals to use six different pitchers. Kent State sophomore Chris Carpenter (1-0) came on in relief of senior J.J Pacella (1-4) in the fourth and gave up two runs in 3.1 innings of work to pick up his first win since 2005.

Something rare happened to the Flashes in the opening game of Sunday’s doubleheader; the bullpen didn’t come through when called upon. But ultimately, it was errors that finally caught up with Kent State in their 7-6 loss.

Sophomore Kyle Smith (2-2) started the game by allowing three runs in the first. However, Kent State would rally, thanks, in large part, to Gallas.

Gallas scored runs in the second and fourth and capped off his day with a sacrifice fly in the fifth that gave Kent State their first lead of the day.

Davis then scored on a passed ball to put the Flashes up, 5-3. Junior reliever Reid Lamport came into the game in the sixth with a 5-4 lead. Lamport got through the inning unharmed but found himself in trouble in the seventh.

After a throwing error moved Ball State’s Eric Earnhart to second, Lamport gave up a two-out double to Matt Stoeklen that scored Earnhart to tie the game, 5-5.

Freshman outfielder Connor Eagan scored on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth to put the Flashes back up, 6-5. The usually dependable senior closer Ryan Davis (2-3, 4 saves, 2.21 ERA) came to the mound in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to pick up the win.

A throwing error by sophomore shortstop Chris Tremblay put Ball State’s Tyler Rogers on first with no outs. Davis then allowed two singles that eventually scored Rogers, forcing extra innings.

Kent State failed to score in the top of the 10th, and Davis gave up a double to the Cardinal’s Kory Benbow to start the bottom half of the inning. Ball State won the game after Justin Rogers’s two-out single scored Benbow.

In Friday’s 17-6 win, Gallas went 3-for-5 with a career-high 7 RBIs and a home run. Patton also homered and drove in two runs. Five different Flashes had multi-hit days.

En route to picking up his first win since March 4, junior Evan Smith (2-3) struck out two while scattering nine hits and giving up two runs in six innings.

Contact baseball reporter Tyler McIntosh at [email protected].