Flashes Rally Past #25 Huskies

Sunday, April 3

Kent, OH

1:00 PM

Kent State University

10-12

#25 University of Connecticut

19-7

Connecticut

Kent State

Photo by: David Dermer

4/3/2022 4:35:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

KENT, OHIO- The Golden Flashes rallied with single tallies in the seventh and the eighth and Max Rippl retired all seven batters he faced as Kent State knocked off #25 UConn 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at Schoonover Stadium.

It is the first victory over a ranked team for the Flashes since they knocked off then second-ranked Mississippi State last season.

The game followed the same back-and-forth script as the first two games of the series, Justin Kirby set the stage with a titanic blast over the left field wall in the first to give Kent State a 2-0 lead. It would be a short-lived lead as UConn answered with a three-run homer in the top of the second off the beat of Matt Donlan.

An inning later, Kyle Jackson lined a shot over the right-field wall for his second homer of the weekend, tying the game at three. It was stay knotted at three into the fifth where UConn was able to scratch across a two-out run and give the Huskies a 4-3 lead.

The Flashes were able to tie the game in the seventh. Collin Mathews started the inning with a walk and moved to third on a Jackson single. After a Kirby strike out, the Flashes put on a double steal. Donlan's throw to second caught Jackson, but Mathews was able to steal home on the play and tie the game at four.

Kent State took the lead for good in the eighth. Payton Pennington singled and moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Josh Johnson. Mathews then laid down a safety squeeze and beat the play at first, allowing Pennington to score and give Kent State a 5-4 lead.

That was enough for Max Rippl. The right-hander retired all seven batters he faced on Sunday and got pinch-hitter Matt Garbowski to fly to left to clinch the game for the Flashes. Rippl joined Rocco Bernadina and Peyton Cariaco as part of the trio that threw four innings of shutout relief on Sunday. Starter Eric Chalus was solid in his first home start allowing three earned runs on seven hits in five innings of work.

A trip to Pittsburgh to take on the Pitt Panthers is up next for Kent State as the teams make their second attempt to get in a mid-week non-conference game. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 3 p.m. from the Steel City.