Kent State University
Pittsburgh
Kiddie Corps
4/10/2018 10:00:00 PM | Baseball
Army of freshmen blows Pitt away
PITTSBURGH – It was a cold night at Pittsburgh's Cost Field with the stadium lights shining, but a trio of KSU freshmen lit the night up anyway and brought plenty of heat in Kent State's 4-1 victory over the Panthers.
Aided by a monstrous two-run homer by Patrick Ferguson in the first – one that hit the massive parking garage some 100 feet beyond the right field wall – Kent State (18-10) starter Ryan Lane worked out of a couple early jams and then took off. He worked a career-high five innings and a third, striking out four and scattering four hits. He gave way to fellow rookie Jack Zimmerman in the sixth and Zimmerman worked an inning and two thirds adding two strikeouts.
Sophomore John Matthews contributed a punch out of his own before KSU opted for freshman lefty Collin Romel. He worked the final inning and a third and of the five men he faced, he struck three of them out. KSU hurlers fanned 10 Panthers in the game and gave home plate umpire Greg Howard's right arm a workout - throwing 76 strikes in 123 pitches.
Josh Hollander picked up a two-hit game and the Golden Flashes executed flawlessly to add to their 3-1 lead in the seventh. Rookie Greg Lewandoski bunted in run number four on a perfect safety squeeze to bring Reilly Hawkins in. The KSU pitchers did the rest and kept Pitt frustrated all night, making them hit the ball to the big part of the park.
For Lane, his first two collegiate starts have come at ACC schools Notre Dame and now Pittsburgh. He is 1-0 with a run allowed in 8.1 innings and eight strikeouts.
KSU will entertain Canisius on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
