Softball Tops Northern Illinois on Senior Day, 3-1

Sunday, May 3

Kent, Ohio

1:00 p.m.

Kent State University

39-11, 17-4

Northern Illinois

28-23, 11-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Northern Illinois	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	1
Kent State	0	0	3	0	0	0	X	3	4	0

Photo by: David Dermer

Softball Tops Northern Illinois on Senior Day, 3-1

5/3/2015 5:04:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Box Score (pdf) Photo Gallery

KENT, Ohio – Kent State received contributions from several players for a 3-1 Senior Day victory over Northern Illinois on Sunday afternoon.

Kent State (39-11, 17-4 MAC) used great pitching, timely hitting and solid defense to send seniors Emma Johnson, Kim Kirkpatrick, Ariele Patterson and Dani Ramos out with a win in their final home game at the Diamond at Dix.

The Golden Flashes' pitching staff totaled 15 strikeouts in the game while allowing only three hits. Johnson got the start in the circle and fanned all four batters she retired before leaving the game to a standing ovation in the top of the second inning. Ronnie Ladines (12-5) entered in relief and followed Johnson's example by striking out five of the first six batters she faced. Ladines finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts in 5.2 innings. She allowed one run, three hits and two walks.

Kent State threatened in the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back two-out hits. Maddy Grimm found the gap in left-center for a double. Holly Speers was able to beat out a ball hit hard back at the pitcher, and a throwing error by NIU allowed both players to move into scoring position. Huskies starter Jessica Sturm was able to escape the jam with a fly out to centerfield.

Kirkpatrick homered to straightaway centerfield to leadoff the bottom of the third to put the Flashes on the board. Speers came through with two outs once again, drawing a walk to extend the inning. Michele Duffy then delivered a two-run blast to left field for a 3-0 lead.

Northern Illinois' Kayti Grable answered with a solo shot to leadoff the top of the fourth, but Ladines settled back in by getting a groundout and two strikeouts to end the inning.

The Huskies' leadoff batter reached in the final three innings but was left stranded each time. In the sixth, a walk and passed ball moved a runner into scoring position. After a called third strike, the next batter hit a long fly ball to the warning track in center and Ramos made a spectacular diving play to make the catch and quickly get to her feet to throw the ball to the infield so the runner was only able to advance to third base. Ladines then brought the inning to a close with another strikeout.

Northern Illinois brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate following a walk and a single to start the seventh inning. A sacrifice bunt moved the tying run into scoring position and seemed to relax Ladines, who struck out the next two batters to finish the game.

Kent State takes a nine-game winning streak into the 2015 Mid-American Conference Tournament. The top-seeded Golden Flashes will open with a first round matchup against 7th-seeded Ohio on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Firestone Stadium in Akron.