Five-Run Third Inning Lifts Flashes Past Falcons

Sunday, April 20

Kent, Ohio

1:00 p.m.

Kent State University

21-15, 7-3

Bowling Green State University

20-23-1, 6-8

Bowling Green

Kent State

Abbey Ledford

Photo by: David Dermer

Five-Run Third Inning Lifts Flashes Past Falcons

4/20/2014 5:00:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

KENT, Ohio — Freshman Maddy Grimm homered to start a five-run third inning that broke open a tied game as Kent State went on to a 10-4 victory over Bowling Green Sunday afternoon at the Diamond at Dix. The Golden Flashes have now own five straight to improve to 21-15 overall and 7-3 in the Mid-American Conference.

"I'm really excited about getting two sweeps this weekend," said head coach Karen Linder. "If you want to be one of the top teams in the conference, you have to sweep at home.

Kent State's offense came alive over the weekend and outscored Bowling Green and Toledo 32-4 in its four victories. The Flashes hit .333 as a team for the weekend and Sunday's 11 hits is one off of the team's season-high.

"I was really pleased with our offensive production," Linder said. "A lot of people did really good things for us at the plate."

On Sunday, eight different Flashes collected at least one hit. Senior Abbey Ledford and juniors Dani Ramos and Ariele Patterson led the way with two hits apiece.

Grimm worked a full count to draw a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first. After moving to second on a single by Ramos, Grimm gave Kent State an early 1-0 lead on a single down the first base line by Ledford.

After Chloe Giordano tied the game with a solo home run in the top of the third, Grimm provided an immediate answer with her 12th long ball of the season to leadoff the bottom of the inning. Three straight singles loaded the bases with no outs. Ledford grounded to the third baseman, whose throw home to get the speedy Ramos was off the mark and allowed junior Kim Kirkpatrick to also score on the play. Sophomore Erika Warren singled up the middle to add two more runs and give the Flashes a 6-1 lead through three.

Bowling Green cut into its deficit with a three-run homer by Katie Yoho in the top of the fifth inning. Junior Emma Johnson was put in to pitch for Kent State and retired the next two batters to get out of the inning.

Senior Kim Morgason helped the Flashes regain the momentum and take a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Morgason came through with a two-out double to right field and would score on a Bowling Green error. An RBI single by Patterson and a two-run homer by Ledford in the sixth provided insurance runs for Kent State.

"We did a really nice job of responding to them each time they scored," Linder said. "They are a scrappy team and I knew that they would come back."

Johnson (12-7) picked up her third victory in as many days after throwing 2.2 scoreless innings in relief. Johnson allowed just one hit and had three strikeouts as she increased her scoreless innings streak to 14.

Freshman Ronnie Ladines started the game for Kent State and struck out four batters while allowing one run in 2.1 innings. Senior Lauren McNeil threw 2.0 innings and allowed three runs after entering in the third. McNeil inherited two base runners and struck out the first two batters she faced to get out of the inning with a 1-1 tie.

"When Lauren came in, she did a nice of getting out of that inning," Linder said. "And then Emma came in and did a nice job of shutting them down after scoring a few runs in the fifth inning."

Grimm etched her name in the Kent State record books with her blast in the third, setting a new Kent State freshman record with her 12th homer of the season. She set the freshman RBI record on Friday and now has 40 on the season. The school's single-season record for home runs (13) and RBI (48) are both attainable with 10 games remaining on the schedule in addition to the double-elimination MAC Tournament.

Kent State will play a non-conference doubleheader at Cleveland State on Tuesday. The first game is scheduled for 3 p.m.