Kent State Completes Perfect Weekend at RussMatt with 7-6 Win

Sunday, February 28

Winter Haven, FL

11:00 AM

Kent State University

4-3

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

2-6

Milwaukee

Kent State

Photo by: David Dermer

Kent State Completes Perfect Weekend at RussMatt with 7-6 Win

2/28/2016 2:48:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Kent State (4-3) finished the RussMatt Invitational with a 7-6 victory over Milwaukee (2-6) on Sunday afternoon to finish the weekend a perfect 4-0.

"We battled adversity early," said Head Coach Jeff Duncan. "We handled it, adjusted and found a way to get a good team win. A lot of guys contributed in this win. We had a great performance out of Chris Martin today as he stopped their momentum and gave us a chance to win. We had big hits by Rosa, Beckner, Hollander and Miklos in key situations."

The Panthers got on the board first with a run in the 2^nd after a walk and RBI single. They tacked on two more in the 4^th on a double after two more walks were issued.

The Flashes threatened in the 4^th when Alex Miklos walked, Conner Simonetti singled and Zarley Zalewski singled to load the bases. But a groundout ended the inning.

Kent State came on strong in the 6^th inning to take the lead. It started with back-to-back singles by Miklos and Simonetti before Dylan Rosa doubled in a run. Later on in the frame, Zach Beckner also swatted a double to score two more to tie the game. Josh Hollander gave the Flashes the lead on a sacrifice fly to center field.

The game became tied at four in the 8^th as Milwaukee scored an unearned run.

Luckily, the Golden Flashes answered right back with a three-run 8^th. Zalewski led off with a single and an error allowed Pete Schuler to reach and put two runners on base. Hollander then singled in a run before another error during the next at-bat with Burch at the plate scored the second run of the frame. Miklos grabbed another base hit later on to make it a 7-4 game.

Milwaukee rallied for two runs in the 9^th, both unearned, but Zach Willeman got a strikeout to end the game.

In his first collegiate start, Connor Wollersheim went 3.2 innings with three runs, four hits, four walks and two strikeouts. Tim Faix followed and got a walk and strikeout in 0.2 innings. Chris Martin then filled in with a strong 2.2 frames. He did not allow an earned run while giving up two hits, no walk and struck out three. Zach Spangler earned the win as he threw 1.2 innings with one unearned run, two walks and a strikeout. Zach Willeman finished the game for his first save of the season.

Simonetti led the way offensively with three hits in four at-bats. Miklos, Rosa, Zalewski and Hollander all had two hits on the day while Beckner and Hollander led with two RBI each.

Kent State will travel to Charlotte next weekend for a three-game set beginning Friday, March 4 at 3 p.m.