Flashes and Huskies Split Friday Twin Bill

Friday, March 25

Evanston, IL

Noon ET/ 11 a.m. CT

Kent State University

7-9, 0

Northern Illinois University (7 Innings)

3-15, 0

Kent State

Northern Illinois

Photo by: David Dermer

Flashes and Huskies Split Friday Twin Bill

3/25/2022 7:28:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

EVANSTON, IL- Kent State and Northern Illinois split a pair of back-and-forth games on Friday with the Flashes taking game one 8-4 and the Huskies winning game two 11-10 in 11 innings at Northwestern's Miller Park.

GAME ONE: Kent State 8 Northern Illinois 4

Kent State used a six-run seventh inning to take game one in comeback fashion. The Flashes rallied for six runs on six hits to erase what was a 4-2 Huskie lead. Josh Johnson got things started with his first collegiate homer, a solo shot to center field. Kyle Jackson followed with an infield single and tied the game on a shot back up the middle by Justin Kirby. Aidan Longwell followed with a two run shot and Collin Mathews added his second homer of the day two batters later, a two-run shot of his own. The Flashes sent nine to the plate in the inning to reclaim the lead.

The rally came in support of Richie Dell, who went the first six innings in game one. The righty allowed four runs, only two earned while walking one and striking out one. Dell was extremely efficient, needing just 78 pitches on his day's work. Max Rippl shut the door with a quiet seventh that included a pair of strike outs.

GAME TWO: Northern Illinois 11 Kent State 10 (11 Innings)

Friday's nightcap got off to a wild start with NIU owning a 6-5 lead after the first inning. In the top of the first, the first three Flashes reached base. Mathews continued his hot streak with a two-run single and McNamara followed with a run-scoring single as well. A two-run error added to the frame for the Flashes. The Huskies answered with six runs on six hits in their half of the first to get the wild back-and-forth game started. The lead grew to 7-5 before Connor Ashby connected on his first collegiate home run, an opposite field shot that knotted the game at seven.

The middle innings were quiet as the teams remained tied at seven into the seventh. Kent State retook the lead in the top of the inning, McNamara doubled home Mathews and Connor Ashby came into score on a Josh Johnson single, giving the Flashes a 9-7 lead. Again, the Huskies had the answer, a two-out, two run double tied the game at nine. The Flashes took the lead again in the eighth as Mathews delivered a squeeze play that scored Justin Kirby. The Huskies again tied it in the bottom half and nearly took the lead. A diving catch by Jake Reifsnyder at third took away a base hit and the heads up throw to second doubled up the NIU runner and ended the inning. Both teams had the winning run at third in the ninth. Connor Ashby was thrown out at home on a Reifsnyder fly ball to end the top of the ninth. In the bottom half, the Huskies loaded the bases off Grant Vera. Vera then went 3-0 on the batter before rallying back and getting the strike out.

In the 10^th, Kirby led off with a double but was left stranded at second. Aidan Longwell came in from first base to pitch and got the Huskies in order. The Flashes were held off the scoreboard in the top of the 11^th and NIU lead-off man Carlos Aranda hit a one-one pitch over the right field wall for the walk-off solo homer.

The split moves the Flashes to 7-10 on the season and 3-5 in the MAC. The two teams will look to complete the four-game series this weekend back in DeKalb. Please see KentStateSports.com and Kent State baseball social media pages for updates on the final two games of the series.