5/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CLEVELAND, Ohio The Kent State University baseball team (26-22) fell, 2-1, to the Cleveland State Vikings today at Jacobs Field in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The Flashes were held in check by CSU starter David Boyza (2-6) who allowed just five hits over 7.0 innings while striking out nine Golden Flashes.
Viking reliever Gian Testa pitched the final 2.0 innings for Cleveland State for his third save of the season, allowing no runs on one hit and fanning four.
Freshman Evan Smith (2-3) took the loss for Kent State, going five innings while giving up two unearned runs on eight hits and striking out five.
The Flashes took a 1-0 lead in first, but were shut down the rest of the way as the Vikings improve to 12-26 overall, snapping KSU's six-game win streak.
Chad Kinyon got the Flashes on the board in the first inning with a RBI double off the wall in left-center to score Andrew Davis from second and give the Flashes the quick 1-0 lead.
Cleveland State had a chance to answer in the bottom of the first, but KSU right-fielder Chuck Moore gunned down Cory Rojeck at the plate attempting to score from second on a base hit to right.
Kinyon just missed a home run again in the fourth with a lead-off double off the very top of the wall in left-center. The Flashes then found themselves with the bases loaded and one out, but Boyza got Greg Hiller to ground into an inning ending double-play.
Cleveland State tied the game in the bottom of the second after a pop-fly to left dropped fair, allowing Ben Smith to score from second.
Cleveland State then scored the eventual winning run in the bottom of the third when Mike Ochwat delivered a RBI single to center, scoring Doug Besozzi to make it 2-1 Cleveland State.
Kinyon was 2-for-3 with two monster doubles and an RBI and extended his current hit streak to eight games while Davis finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.
J.J. Pacella, Jason Seelman and Shane Curry pitched the final 3.0 innings for the Flashes, combining to allow one hit and zero runs to keep the Flashes in the game.
Kent State will now head to Morgantown, W.Va. for a short two game series with the West Virginia Mountaineers Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games are slated for 7 p.m.
