Arms Strikeout Liberty in Doubleheader Split

Saturday, March 7

Lynchburg, VA

2:00 PM

Kent State University

6-4

Liberty University

6-6

Kent State

Liberty

Arms Strikeout Liberty in Doubleheader Split

3/7/2015 10:35:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Box Score Game 1 (pdf) Box Score Game 2 (pdf)

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Kent State's hurlers struck out 30 Liberty batters in 20.2 innings Saturday, including career highs in strikeouts from starters Nick Jensen-Clagg and Eric Lauer, as the teams split a doubleheader.

Kent State (6-5) took the first game 7-4 before Liberty (7-6) came from behind to take game two 4-3 in 12 innings.

In the opening game of the series, the Golden Flashes jumped on the board early as Luke Burch earned a full-count walk and then Zarley Zalewski smashed a homerun to centerfield to take a 2-0 lead.

They kept the offense firing in the 2^nd when Curtis Olvey walked, Jeff Revesz singled and a foul out to right field allowed Olvey to advance to put runners on the corners. Zach Beckner then laid down a bunt to score Olvey and advance Revesz for the sacrifice.

The Flames were able to answer back with two of their own in the 2^nd on a two-run shot to right field after a throwing error put one on base.

Burch ignited another scoring frame in the 3^rd when he again walked on a full-count, stole two bags and came home on a sacrifice fly by Sawyer Polen.

Liberty would answer again in the bottom of the 4^th but Kent State went on to cushion the lead with one in the 6^th. In the inning, Polen and Zalewski led off with base hits before Revesz singled a run home later in the inning to make it a 5-3 game.

Another tally came across in the 8^th on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Revesz. The bases were loaded in the inning on three singles. The lead grew to three runs in the top of the 9^th when Jacob Neuschaefer walked, Polen singled and Zalewski hit an RBI single to score Neuschaefer.

The Flames' biggest threat came in the bottom of the 9^th as they had bases loaded with one out after a single, hit by pitch and walk. Zach Willeman then struck a batter out swinging on a full count and then ended the game on a 2-2 count strikeout swinging to earn himself the save.

Nick Jensen-Clagg got the win to improve to 3-1 on the season after 6.1 innings in the start with three hits, two earned runs, three walks and nine strikeouts. Dan Kopcak went one inning in relief with two hits, one run and two strikeouts. Tim Faix allowed one hit with one batter faced.

Zalewski had a big offensive game one with four hits in five at-bats and a team-high three RBI. Polen, Revesz and Alex Miklos all had two hits each as the team total ran to 12.

Game two also looked to go the Flashes way until the Flames were able to rally back to take the game in extras.

Kent State scored a run in each of the first three innings. In the 1^st, Neuschaefer had a four-pitch walk and a stolen base before he scored on a Zalewski single. In the 2^nd, Beckner walked before Burch reached on a two-out error to score Beckner. In the 3^rd, Polen was hit by a pitch and scored on an Olvey single to make it a 3-0 game.

Lauer was phenomenal in the start to help aid the early lead. In just his second start this season, the lefty struck out six of the first eight batters he saw en route to the career high of ten k's through 6.1 innings. He gave up just four hits and one run while walking three.

The Flames weren't able to break through until a run in the 6^th when a double, hit batter and a walk loaded the bases for a sacrifice fly to score a run. They tied the game in the 7^th on another sacrifice fly and a RBI double.

Both teams had plenty of chances in the later innings to take the game, but no one could take an advantage until the bottom of the 12^th. In that inning, Liberty started things with a base hit. On a one-out double, a runner was thrown out at home on a beautiful relay play for the second out of the inning. But the Flames were able to come up with another base hit to walk off with the win.

Josh Pierce looked great in relief despite suffering the loss. He went 3.1 innings with just three hits, no walks and four strikeouts. Zach Spangler also had a strong appearance with 1.2 innings of work that included one hit, one walk and two strikeouts. John Birkbeck also threw an inning allowing three hits and two runs.

Offensively, Zalewski remained locked in with a 3-for-4 game. Burch was 2-for-6 as Kent State had nine total in the contest.

Liberty will host the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPN3.