Falcons Halt Flashes' Friday Comeback

Friday, April 8

4:00 PM

Kent State University

10-13, 0

Bowling Green

8-18, 0

Bowling Green

Kent State

4/8/2022 7:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

KENT, OHIO- The Golden Flashes furious rally on Friday night was halted by the Bowling Green Falcons in a 9-5 setback in Friday afternoon's series opener at Schoonover Stadium.

The Falcons had built an 8-0 lead after striking for two in the first, fifth and sixth and adding single tallies in the third and the fourth. Bowling Green made a habit of clutch hits, with five of the first eight runs coming with two outs. Kent State got runners into scoring position multiple times early on Friday but couldn't answer the Falcons' two-out thunder.

Collin Mathews got the Flashes on the board with a line-drive homer over the left-center field wall in the seventh. It added to a solid day for the center fielder who made a pair of outstanding catches in the field and threw out a runner at home to end the fourth inning.

After a Jack Krause homer made it 9-1, the Flashes chipped away at the BG lead. Justin Kirby belted a no-doubt homer to left field, his fourth homer in five games to make it 9-3. Singles by Aidan Longwell and Justin Miknis forced a pitching change but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat. In the ninth, Nick Elsen, Josh Johnson and Kyle Jackson all singled. Jackson's single scored Elsen and the sophomore's two hits on Friday pushed his on-base streak to 26 games. A Justin Kirby sac fly made it 9-5 but Longwell hit a scorching liner right at Krause in center to end it.

The loss drops Kent State to 10-13 on the season and 5-6 in the MAC. Bowling Green moves to 8-18 overall and 5-10 in the conference. The two teams will meet again on Saturday for a double header, starting with a seven-inning game with a 1 p.m. first pitch.