Kent State Wins Offensive Onslaught over Ohio 28-16
4/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
ATHENS, Ohio Another day, another impressive offensive performance. Both Kent State and Ohio combined for 44 runs, 46 hits and 15 extra-base hits (10 were home runs) as the Golden Flashes beat the Bobcats 28-16 Saturday afternoon.
Kent State improves to 31-9 overall and 12-4 in the Mid-American Conference, keeping pace with conference-leader Ohio (20-15, 13-4).
"With the weather conditions, it was another tough day to be a pitcher, especially with two very good offensive teams. Neither team's starters pitched past the second inning," said head coach Scott Stricklin. "The bottom of the lineup for us reached base all 13 times they went to the plate. Rider got on seven times, David Lyon went 4-for-4 and even Conor Egan and Tyler Martin reached safely.
"Those guys get on base and it sets the table for the guys at the top of the lineup. They were great today," added Stricklin.
Sophomore Justin Gill improved to 3-1 on the year, giving up five runs and five hits over 3.1 innings pitched. Leading the Golden Flashes offense was freshman Jimmy Rider and senior Jason Patton, who both contributed five hits. Rider was a perfect 5-for-5 with two walks, five runs scored and three RBI. Patton went 5-for-7 with six runs scored and four RBI. Redshirt junior Jared Humphreys added two home runs.
Two-out runs for Kent State would be the theme for the day from the very first inning. With the bases empty in the top of the first and two down, fifth-year senior Greg Rohan singled and scored on Patton's fourth home run in four games. Ohio cut the deficit in half with a solo home run of its own in the bottom of the inning.
Kent State exploded for six runs in the second. With one out, Humphreys homered to jumpstart the KSU offense. With the bases loaded, sophomore Ben Klafczynski added a groundout RBI. Fifth-year senior Greg Rohan and senior Brad Winter added a two-RBI single and double, respectively. A two-run home run by OU's Chris Klimko made the score 8-3 after two.
KSU failed to score in the third, but three singles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch in the bottom third cut the Kent State lead to 8-6 after three.
An RBI triple by Winter and an RBI single by freshman Travis Shaw gave KSU a four-run lead. Ohio went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame.
Kent State broke the game wide open with a nine-spot in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded and no outs, Klafczynski and Rohan both added an RBI with a hit-by-pitch and walk. Patton added a two-RBI single and Shaw scored another run on a groundout. Humphreys homered down the left-field line to score three runs and Tremblay added a sacrifice fly. OU answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 19-8 after five innings. The Golden Flashes extended the lead to 26-8 with seven runs in the sixth and seventh while Ohio failed to score.
In the top of the seventh, KSU scored all five runs after the first two batters of the inning struck out. Patton singled, Winter walked and senior Ryan Mitchell added a pinch-hit RBI single. With the bases loaded, Tremblay and Rider walked, Klafczynski was beaned and redshirt junior Conor Egan singled to each drive in a run.
The Bobcats scored eight runs over the final two innings, but it was too little, too late for Ohio. Rider added his first collegiate home run in the top of the ninth while Rohan contributed a RBI single.
"Both teams played for tomorrow and saved their bullpens. It was the longest outing of the year for Justin Gill. Both teams are in good positions with their pens for tomorrow," added Stricklin.
Kent State goes for the series sweep tomorrow when it faces Ohio in the rubber game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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