Late Rallies Give Kent State 12-Inning Win Over Wright State

Wednesday, March 26

Dayton, OH

3:00 PM

Kent State University

12-9

Wright State University

12-11

Kent State

Wright State

Late Rallies Give Kent State 12-Inning Win Over Wright State

3/26/2014 7:54:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

FAIRBORN, Ohio – Trailing 7-5, Kent State (12-9) rallied to tie the game in the 8^th then rallied again in the 12^th inning to take home a 9-7 win from Wright State (12-11) on Wednesday (Mar. 26).

"That was a heck of a resilient win from us," said Head Coach Jeff Duncan. "It took us a while to get back in it but we scratched and clawed all throughout the game."

In the definitive 12^th inning, Justin Wagler singled and Zarley Zalewski was hit by a pitch to put two on for Cody Koch who singled through the left side to give the Golden Flashes an 8-7 lead. Zalewski was then able to score when the Wright State catcher dropped the ball on a bang-bang play at the plate after a sacrifice fly by T.J. Sutton.

"Cody Koch had unbelievable at-bats all throughout the game," Duncan said. "He came up in a big situation to get the go-ahead run; that was huge for us."

Wright State certainly threatened in the bottom of the 12^th with runners on second and third with two outs, but a ground ball to second base ended the game.

Wagler got the scoring started in the matchup when in the third at-bat he took a ball deep over the left field wall to give the Golden Flashes a 2-0 lead.

Starter Tim Faix had some trouble in the bottom of the inning, giving up five runs, three of which came on a homerun for the home team.

The long ball continued in the very next inning as Conner Simonetti smacked a solo homerun, the second of his young career, to make it a 5-3 game.

Kent State continued to try to close the gap in the 5^th when Alex Miklos ripped a double down the left field line to score Jon Wilson who had reached on a two-out error.

The Golden Flashes staged a comeback to tie the game at seven in the 8^th inning. Wilson led off the inning with a bunt single before a hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases with two outs. Cody Koch then singled to advance all runners on base. All aboard advanced again when T.J. Sutton followed with a base hit through the right side. With bases still loaded, Sawyer Polen was hit by a pitch to score the tying run. A double play ball ended the Flashes' threat, leaving the bases loaded.

Eric Dorsch pitched well and backed-up his pitching with good defense in the bottom of the 8^th and 9^th innings to send the game into extra innings.

In the top of the 11^th, Polen was able to make his way around to third base, but Kent State was unable to bring him home in the inning, as the Golden Flashes had to wait until the next frame to win the game.

Dan Kopcak entered the game in the 11^th to earn the win after a scoreless 1.1 innings. Spencer Bryant earned the save on the mound as he entered the game during a 2-0 at-bat and was able to get out of the jam unharmed.

Faix went 2.1 innings with four hits, five runs, one walk and two strikeouts. Eli Martin followed him with 2.2 innings of work with one hit and one strikeout. Jared Skolnicki and Josh Pierce also helped solidify the win out of the bullpen.

"Josh Pierce looked good, and I can't say enough about Eric Dorsch giving us three innings of a quality outing," said Duncan. "And Spencer Bryant coming in to get the save was great."

Offensively, Jon Wilson, Wagler, Zalewski, Koch and Simonetti all collected two hits in the game as the Flashes totaled 12 hits on the day.

Kent State resumes conference play this weekend when they travel to Eastern Michigan for a three-game set beginning on Friday (Feb 28).