Comeback Gives Kent State 4-3 Victory Against No. 25 Illinois

Sunday, March 1

Myrtle Beach, SC

10:00 AM

Kent State University

5-4

University of Illinois

7-2-1

Kent State

Illinois

Comeback Gives Kent State 4-3 Victory Against No. 25 Illinois

3/1/2015 1:14:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Box Score (pdf)

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Kent State (5-4) battled back to beat No. 25 Illinois (7-2-1) 4-3 on Sunday afternoon to put together a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Chanticleer Classic.

Jacob Neuschaefer started the game with a double and came around to score on an error two batters later.

An Illinois solo shot tied the game in the bottom of the first and two base hits and an error allowed the Illini to grab a 2-1 lead in the 2^nd. It became a 3-1 game on another one-run homerun in the 3^rd.

The Golden Flashes did not give in and came back with a big three-run 6^th inning to take the lead. Neuschaefer again started things off with a base hit, followed by a walk from Luke Burch. Sawyer Polen then singled and advanced on an error to score both runners and tie the game. Polen then snuck home on a wild pitch to give Kent State the 4-3 victory.

Eric Lauer dominated in relief to earn the win. He threw five innings and allowed just two hits while walking one and striking out six in his strongest appearance this season. Andy Ravel started the game and went four innings with five hits, two earned runs, two walks and one strikeout.

Kent State had five hits in the game, two less than Illinois, but got the job done at the plate when needed. Neuschaefer was the only Golden Flash with more than one hit on the day. Jeff Revesz had a double in four at-bats, his third two-bagger on the weekend.

The team will travel to Liberty next weekend for a four-game series starting on Friday.