Kent State Baseball Completes Sweep Of Western Michigan With Doubleheader Wins
4/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Kent State baseball team completed a Mid-American Conference weekend sweep of Western Michigan Saturday (April 2) courtesy of winning both games of a doubleheader at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.
The Golden Flashes (15-10, 5-1 MAC) won the first game, 4-1, then edged the Broncos (13-15, 3-3 MAC), 2-1, in the second game. Kent State took down Western Michigan, 3-2, in 10 innings on Friday (April 1).
Sophomore center fielder Evan Campbell (Beloit, Ohio) led the Flashes at the plate in the series, batting .500 with six hits, an RBI and a run scored.
KENT STATE 4, WESTERN MICHIGAN 1
Senior left-handed starting pitcher Kyle Hallock (Sandusky, Ohio) matched his career high by throwing eight innings. He limited the Broncos to one earned run on six hits and struck out five while walking three as he improved to 3-4 on the season.
"Our starting pitching was outstanding today," said seventh-year head coach Scott Stricklin. "You can't ask anything more from those guys. They did their job the entire weekend and deserved to get the wins, no question about it."
Campbell collected three singles while junior third baseman Travis Shaw (Washington Court House, Ohio) added a home run, a double and a base hit in the win. Redshirt junior left fielder Joe Koch (Youngstown, Ohio) and freshman second baseman Derek Toadvine (Springfield, Ohio) each tallied two singles in the victory.
"It's just a confidence thing," said Stricklin of Shaw's recent success at the plate. "Hitting is contagious; you get a few hits, and they start coming in bunches. He's too good of a hitter to stay in a slump for very long, so we knew it was just a matter of time."
Junior shortstop Jimmy Rider (Venetia, Pa.) put the Flashes up 1-0 in the top of the third by drawing a leadoff walk and later scoring on a base hit to left field by senior right fielder Ben Klafczynski (Granger Township, Ohio).
Shaw made it a 2-0 game with a leadoff tape measure shot in the fifth.
Kent State extended its advantage to 3-0 in the seventh as Shaw smacked a one-out double to right and scored one out later on a base hit to right by Campbell.
The Flashes added a run in the ninth when freshman first baseman Cody Koch (Sandusky, Ohio) singled to left and later scored on a base hit to short by Toadvine.
Western Michigan threatened in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with no outs. The Broncos plated a run courtesy of a sacrifice fly to right by redshirt junior first baseman Troy Forton. That's as close as Western Michigan got, though, as junior right-handed closer Kyle McMillen (North Canton, Ohio) recorded a strikeout and induced a groundout to end the contest and earn his fourth save of the season.
Junior left-handed starter Casey Webber was charged with the mound defeat for Western Michigan, allowing two earned runs on nine hits and three walks in six innings. He fanned five. Junior right fielder Jack Scanlon led the Broncos with two singles.
KENT STATE 2, WESTERN MICHIGAN 1
Junior starting southpaw David Starn (Hudson, Ohio) struck out nine and gave up one earned run on six hits in seven innings of work to help the Flashes edge Western Michigan and earn the sweep. Starn is now 4-1 on the season and 13-4 in his career.
Campbell led the Flashes with two base hits.
The Golden Flashes did all their damage in the fifth inning. Campbell led off with a single to left. Sophomore designated hitter Jason Bagoly (Austintown, Ohio) followed by drawing a walk, and Cody Koch moved each of them up a base with a sacrifice bunt back to the mound. Joe Koch plated them both one out later with a single to short.
The Broncos plated a run in the seventh when senior pinch hitter Grant Simotes cracked a leadoff single and later scored on a base hit by sophomore left fielder Jimmy Martinez, but Kent State sophomore right-handed reliever Casey Wilson (Sagamore Hills, Ohio) entered the game in the eighth and tossed two scoreless frames to earn the first save of his career.
Western Michigan freshman starting lefty Steve Laudicina suffered the pitching defeat, allowing two earned runs on five hits and three walks in six innings of work.
The Flashes now get set for a busy week, traveling to Penn State Tuesday (April 5) and hosting Pittsburgh (April 6) in a pair of midweek non-conference games before returning to MAC play with a three-game set against Eastern Michigan next weekend (April 8-10) at Olga A. Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium.
