Flashes Fall Short in 5-4 Loss

Wednesday, April 30

Kent, Ohio

6:00 PM

Kent State University

28-16

Youngstown State University

10-28

Youngstown State

Kent State

Photo by: David Dermer

4/30/2014 10:06:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

KENT, Ohio – Kent State (28-16) couldn't get things going on either side of the plate Wednesday night (Apr. 30), losing 5-4 to Youngstown State (10-28).

"We need to do a better job, especially after we score runs, to put a zero up," Head Coach Jeff Duncan said. "I wasn't extremely happy with our at-bats one through nine."

After four scoreless innings, Kent State scored three in the 5^th. A wild pitch allowed Justin Wagler to score the first run of the game after he had begun the inning with a base hit. Sawyer Polen also singled in the inning and was able to score after the Penguins' catcher dropped the ball on a play at the plate. The third tally came on a passed ball that allowed Jon Wilson to cross home after singling earlier in the frame.

The lead was short-lived, however, as a grand slam in the 6^th gave Youngstown State in the 6^th. Cody Koch kept on his current hot streak with a solo shot in the 7^th to tie the game.

But the Penguins would have the last say, winning the game in the 9^th on a sacrifice fly after a walk, hit by pitch and passed ball.

T.J. Sutton and Wagler were the only Golden Flashes to grab two hits in the game. Kent State left 11 runners on base; nine of those runners were in scoring position.

Josh Pierce suffered the loss on the mound during an inning of work with one unearned run, a walks and a strikeout. Jared Skolnicki had a great outing of two innings with no hits or walks and three strikeouts.

Mid-American Conference play resumes this weekend as Kent State hosts Northern Illinois on Friday at 6:00pm, Saturday at 6:00pm and Sunday at 1:00pm. All games will be broadcast on Golden Flashes iHeart Radio.

"We need to battle through this," Duncan said. "We have a big series coming up this weekend and we need to look forward to turning it around."