Kent State University
22-10, 0
Northern Illinois
11-23, 0
The Book of Eli
4/14/2018 3:31:00 PM | Baseball
Senior lefty twirls complete-game, three-hit shutout as Flashes roll
KENT, OHIO – Senior left-hander Eli Kraus continued his meteoric rise up the Kent State career wins list with his best performance of the season – a complete game three-hitter – and he got more than enough offensive support as KSU completed its second sweep of a MAC opponent, 14-0 over the Northern Illinois Huskies.
With career win No. 22, Kraus moved into a sixth-place tie on the list, along with Brian Schubert, Chad Wagler and Kyle Hallock – two of whom won MAC Pitcher of the Year honors. Against NIU he was phenomenal, striking out six and keeping his pitch count well below 100. The Golden Flashes made several outstanding plays behind him.
Offensively, the Golden Flashes got rolling with a three-run first. They picked up RBIs from Pavin Parks, Reilly Hawkins and Nick Elsen. For Elsen, it was the first of his five hits in the contest. He became the first KSU hitter since Luke Burch in 2016 to collect five hits in a game.
With Kent State (22-10) leading 6-0 in the middle of the game, Parks stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. Picking on the first pitch, he drilled a grand slam down the right field line to give KSU a 10-0 lead on its second slam of the weekend and fourth of the year. Parks became the first Flashes hitter to eclipse the 30-RBI mark.
Kraus finished off NIU using minimal pitches in the last three innings to record the complete game. He is now 4-0 in MAC starts and tossed Kent State's second complete game in as many days after Joey Murray logged one Friday afternoon.
Winners of six straight, the Golden Flashes will have Sunday and Monday off before traveling to Bowling Green Tuesday and hosting Pittsburgh Wednesday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kraus, Eli (5-2)
L: FAUE, George (0-6)
Batting:
2B: Mamarella, Mason 1 ; DalPorto, Tim 1 ; Elsen, Nick 2
HR: Parks, Pavin 1
RBI: Kanavas, Nick 1 ; Mamarella, Mason 2 ; Parks, Pavin 5 ; Turner, Michael 1 ; DalPorto, Tim 1 ; Hawkins, Reilly 1 ; Elsen, Nick 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Kanavas, Nick 2 ; Mamarella, Mason 3 ; Parks, Pavin 1 ; DalPorto, Tim 2 ; Schuler, Pete 1 ; Hamilton, Brad 1 ; Elsen, Nick 1 ; Hollander, Josh 1 ; Lewandoski, Greg 1 ; O'Brien, Kian 1
SB: Mamarella, Mason 1
HBP: Hawkins, Reilly 1 ; O'Brien, Kian 1
