Kent State Beats West Virginia 5-2 in Opener of Chanticleer Classic

Friday, February 27

Conway, SC

12:00 PM

Kent State University

3-4

West Virginia University

3-4

West Virginia

Kent State

Kent State Beats West Virginia 5-2 in Opener of Chanticleer Classic

2/27/2015 3:19:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Box Score (pdf)

CONWAY, S.C. – Kent State (3-4) beat West Virginia (3-4) by a score of 5-2 Friday afternoon to get off to a good start at the weekend's Chanticleer Classic.

"We played really good baseball today," Head Coach Jeff Duncan said. "Overall, our defense was good, we had timely hitting, and our pitching was really good."

The Mountaineers got on the scoreboard right away in the first inning when a leadoff single and walk scored on a double. The Golden Flashes answered with a run in the bottom of the inning when Luke Burch singled, stole second and scored on a two-out Zarley Zalewski base hit.

"I thought we came out with a lack of energy in that first inning," Duncan said, "but we really settled in and found a way to win a ballgame against a good, quality team."

The game remained 2-1 with West Virginia in front until Kent State came up with some more two-out hitting to take a 3-2 lead. Tim DalPorto started it off with a single and Jeff Revesz followed with his second double of the day to put two in scoring position. Zach Beckner then singled to plate both runners to give the Flashes a one-run advantage.

That lead grew to 4-2 as Kent State tacked on another tally in the 6^th on a Curtis Olvey leadoff single and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Revesz. Another came across home during the next inning on a sacrifice fly by Polen after Burch was walked and stole his way to third to make it a 5-2 final.

Jensen-Clagg earned his second win of the season after a six-inning start with five hits, two runs, three walks and five strikeouts. Dan Kopcak was strong in relief with 2.1 innings, one hit, two walks and one strikeout. Zach Willeman was untouchable, throwing six pitches for two strikeouts and the first save of his young career.

"This is what Kent State baseball is all about," Duncan said. "Nick Jensen-Clagg didn't have his best stuff today, but then he settled in and started cruising and gave our bullpen a chance. Dan Kopcak did a good job coming in then Zach Willeman was absolutely filthy to finish the last two outs."

The team collected 13 hits in the game with Polen, Zalewski, DalPorto, Revesz and Beckner all with two each.

"We had some really timely hits," Duncan said of the offensive output. "We got that run back in the first inning and minimized West Virginia's momentum. Our swings were excellent today."

Kent State will next face host Coastal Carolina on Saturday in the Chanticleer Classic. Game time is set for 2 p.m.