KSU Takes Topsy-Turvy Tilt in Ten
2/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
GREENSBORO, N.C. 18 innings in eight hours wasn't enough for the Golden Flashes Saturday.
After falling to the Greensboro Spartans 12-3 in the first game of the season and a doubleheader, KSU and Greensboro exchanged leads and deficits all afternoon (and evening) in the second game. Tied at five after nine innings, Kent State went to work in the top of the 10th. After the first two men were retired, Jared Humphreys reached first. Doug Sanders then ripped a go-ahead double to the gap to put the Flashes ahead, 6-5. Sanders was then chased to the plate on an Anthony Gallas single to put KSU ahead by two.
In the bottom of the 10th, senior closer Reid Lamport got his first win and save of the 2008 season when he set the Spartans down without event. He was the fourth Flashes hurler to work in the nightcap, following starter Kyle Smith, Justin Gill and Jon Pokorny. KSU used three pitchers in the first game loss.
“To come out of the day 1-1 when we know we didn't play our best baseball we're just looking to coming out tomorrow and trying to win the weekend," head coach Scott Stricklin said.
Much like they did in the first game, the Flashes got out of the gates with a 2-0 lead. Greg Rohan brought a run in with an RBI single and Kent State again jumped in front. Greensboro, however, was quick to respond and plated a pair in the bottom of the frame off Smith.
In the home half of the second, the Spartans scored the go-ahead run, but Smith worked his way out of trouble to keep runners stranded at second and third. UNCG's lead was short-lived as Rohan smacked his second home run of the day to left field to tie the game at three.
After the Spartans took a 4-3 lead in the middle part of the game, the Flashes came to the plate in the top of the sixth. With two outs, Humphreys and Chris Tremblay smoked back-to-back doubles to re-tie the game. But, the Spartans re-took the lead with a two-out run off Pokorny in the bottom of the seventh.
“I know our pitching is going to get nothing but better. Our starters didn't perform the way they wanted to perform," Stricklin admitted.
Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Brett Weibley led off right a ringing double down the left field line. He was sacrificed to third by Ryan Mitchell and then tied the game on an infield hit by Humphreys. Humphreys would reach second on a balk but further damage was avoided by the Spartan bullpen.
The Flashes actually had a chance to win the game in regulation. With one out in the top of the ninth and Brad Winter at first, freshman Ben Klafczynski roped a single to right center field. The Spartan outfielders were able to cut it off but Stricklin was sending Winter to the plate. The ball, the tag and Winter arrived at home plate at the same time, and the bang-bang call went Greensboro's way and the game remained tied.
Lamport then calmly retired the Spartan batters in the bottom of the ninth to set the stage for the 10th-inning dramatics.
Kent State will shoot for the series win Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. as Brad Stillings makes his weekend debut against Greg Martin. Stillings had a 2.57 ERA last season while Martin was 1-1 with a 6.39 ERA. Greg Rohan has five RBIs on the two games from the clean-up batting spot.
“It was good to get a lot of guys into big situations,” Stricklin explained. “In game two they executed which was nice to see. We had some clutch hits which was also encouraging."
GREENSBORO 12 KENT STATE 3 F
GREENSBORO, N.C. The Kent State Golden Flashes dropped their first game of the 2008 season Saturday afternoon 12-3 to the UNC-Greensboro Spartans.
In the first game of a doubleheader, the Flashes actually struck first. In the very first inning, junior Greg Rohan whacked a two out, two-run home run over the wall in left field to give KSU a quick 2-0 lead. The Spartans, however, tallied single runs in the bottom of the first and bottom of the second.
Greensboro, which would score in all but two innings, took the lead in the bottom of the fifth with three runs. The uprising chases starter Chris Carpenter for the game. The Spartans also scored one in the sixth and one in the seventh.
In the eighth inning, two homers and two Flashes errors spelled disaster as the Spartans plated five more runs.
Kent State had scoring chances in the fifth and eighth but the output was minimal. A one-out triple by Jared Bartholomew put him at third but he was stranded after a strikeout and ground out. In the eighth inning, the Flashes had bases loaded with no one out and then again with two outs and managed just one run on a fielder's choice ground out.
Carpenter, who took the loss, Alan Morrison and Steven Davis pitched for Kent State.
