Softball Takes Two on Opening Day 2015

Friday, February 13

San Diego, Calif.

4:30 p.m.

Kent State University

1-0

Southern Utah

1-5

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Kent State	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	2	5	4	1
Southern Utah	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	2	6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Kent State	2	0	1	3	2	0	0	8	14	0
Montana	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0

Photo by: David Dermer

2/14/2015 1:17:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Kent State opened the 2015 softball season with a pair of victories Friday at the University of San Diego Tournament. The Golden Flashes defeated Southern Utah in eight innings, 5-3, to start the day and then took care of Montana, 8-2, in the nightcap.

The starting pitching tandem of senior Emma Johnson and sophomore Ronnie Ladines was terrific in their season debuts and juniors Michele Duffy and Shelbi Tilton each had a four-RBI game to spark the offense.

"I'm happy that we were able to start the season with two wins," said head coach Karen Linder. "Playing outside for the first time can be challenging and both teams we played already had games last weekend. We got strong performances from our pitchers and our hitting really came around in the second game. Defensively, we were solid all day."

Kent State managed just four hits in the opener against Southern Utah. Three of those hits came off the bat of Duffy, who broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth with a bases-clearing double that gave the Flashes a 3-0 lead.

The Flashes were two outs from securing victory, when three walks, a hit batter and an error allowed Southern Utah to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game.

With the international tiebreaker in play, Dani Ramos was placed on second to start the eighth inning. Back-to-back errors allowed Ramos to score the go-ahead run and Duffy added a single that scored Lauren Kesterson later in the inning.

Johnson (1-0) was terrific in the pitcher's circle for Kent State. She struck out nine batters and allowed just one earned run and two hits in seven innings. Junior Alyssa Frankenfield retired the side in the bottom of the eighth for the save. Frankenfield had one strikeout.

The second game saw the Flashes tee off on Montana for 14 hits. The Flashes plated two in the first inning. After Kesterson drew a walk, senior Kim Kirkpatrick brought her home with a triple. Kirkpatrick then scored on a groundout by Tilton.

Montana responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning and the score was tied until the top of the third. Kirkpatrick got a leadoff single and advanced on a wild pitch before coming around to score in a single by Tilton. The Flashes added three runs in the following inning. Tilton delivered a two-out single that brought home Ramos and Paige McCrary. After loading the bases, a wild pitch allowed Emily Dobbin to score and give the Flashes a 6-2 lead.

Kent State added its final two runs in the fifth inning. Lauren Kesterson singled to score twin sister Chloe Kesterson and Ramos scored on a failed pickoff attempt.

Ladines (1-0) settled in after the first inning to get the win. She allowed just two runs on five hits in 5.1 innings while striking out four batters and added a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Frankenfield pitched the final 1.2 innings in relief and had two strikeouts.

Kent State continues play at the USD Tournament on Saturday with a rematch against Southern Utah at 12 p.m. before taking on host San Diego at 2:30 p.m.