Kent State University
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Mississippi State University
Golden Flashes Head to Starkville for Three-Game Set
3/4/2021 2:11:00 PM | Baseball, The Golden Flashes Club
KENT, OHIO- The Kent State Golden Flashes baseball team made a mid-week pivot and now heads to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the second-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs in a three-game series starting on Friday night.
Kent State was originally scheduled to play #23 West Virginia but that three-game series got postponed. Mississippi State also had a postponement, allowing the two teams to face-off this weekend. Friday night's game will start at 7 p.m. eastern/6 p.m. central, Saturday's game will be at 3 p.m. eastern/ 2 p.m. central and Sunday's finale will be at 1 p.m. eastern/noon central. All games will air on SEC Network Plus and the Watch ESPN app as well as the Mississippi State Radio Network.
This is the second-straight weekend that the Flashes have had to adjust. Last weekend, inclement weather around the Tennessee Tech area forced the three-game series to shift to Kent State. Playing their first February home series in over 10 years, the Flashes swept away the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in the three-game series.
The pitching was strong against the Golden Eagles, allowing just three earned runs across the three games and striking out a collective 36 batters. Luke Albright set the tone with five innings of one-run, 10 strikeout ball in the series opener, picking up his first win of the season. Collin Romel earned the rare four-inning save and struck out nine in the game two victory. Max Rippl made his first collegiate start and after the first pitch of the game was hit for a home run, Rippl settled in and allowed just two more base runners to reach in five solid innings.
Offensively, Ben Carew has continued his torrid pace, hitting safely in all five games this season and has four-straight multi-hit games heading into the weekend. Justin Miknis and Collin Mathews also have hit safely in every game this season. The entire offense chipped in during game two on Saturday, every started scored at least once in the 17-5 victory.
Mississippi State comes into the weekend at 6-2 overall and fresh off a 6-2 mid-week win against Southern Miss. The Bulldogs' pitching staff fanned 20 hitters in the victory.
The Bulldogs are littered with pre-season All-SEC and All-America players and were picked to finish second in the highly competitive SEC.
Mississippi State left hander Christian MacLeod was the 2020 Co-National Freshman of the Year and the likely Friday starter. He is 1-1 on the season with a sterling 1.13 ERA and has struck out 13 in eight innings this season.
First-team All Pre-Season SEC outfielder Tanner Allen rides a six-game hitting streak into the weekend and has five multi-hit games in that span. Allen leads the team in hits, average and runs scored. Catcher Luke Hancock has supplied the power early in the season, leading the team with three homers and 10 driven in. Hancock has also shown great patience at the plate, already walking nine times, pushing his team-leading on-base percentage to 500.
Kent State and Mississippi State have only met on one other occasion, as part of the 2001 NCAA Starkville Regional. The Bulldogs outlasted the Golden Flashes 9-8 in 10 innings in the first game of the regional and won the rematch 14-4.
As mentioned above, the three-game set will air on SEC Network Plus and the Watch ESPN app and can be heard on the Mississippi State Radio Network. All links are available on the baseball schedule page.
The Golden Flashes return home next weekend to face Salem University on Friday and Grand Valley State on Saturday. First pitch on Friday afternoon is set for 3 p.m. and Saturday has a 1 p.m. scheduled start.
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