Kent State University
Niagara
Softball Completes Weekend Sweep at Retriever Round Robin
2/19/2023 7:40:00 PM | Softball
BALTIMORE – Kent State launched five home runs and received excellent pitching performances for two more wins and a 4-0 weekend at the Retriever Round Robin.
The Golden Flashes (4-5) took care of Niagara, 9-0 in five innings, and then held off a seventh-inning threat from host UMBC for a 5-2 victory. It is Kent State's first unbeaten non-conference weekend since 2016.
"Overall, a solid team effort this weekend," said head coach Eric Oakley. "I'm proud of how the pitchers showed up after a tough opening weekend. Anilese [Kelly], in particular, was stellar. All three got their first wins of the season, and Macy [Irelan] the first of her career. Emily [Lippe], Bri [Despines], Savannah [Wing] and Julia [Mazanec] had big weekends at the plate, and Delaney [Robeson] was great with the glove along with hitting her first home run. And Jada [Crittendon] made the catch of the weekend to seal the sweep."
Freshman Bri Despines, junior Emily Lippe and sophomore Savannah Wing had three RBIs apiece on Sunday. Lippe homered twice, while Despines, Wing and sophomore Delaney Robeson, who drove in two runs, also hit home runs.
Redshirt senior Anilese Kelly and freshman Macy Irelan combined for seven strikeouts and allowed just two runs on eight hits on the day.
Game 1: Kent State 9, Niagara 0 (5 innings)
The Golden Flashes got the scoring started early on a two-run homer by Emily Lippe in the bottom of the first inning.
Delaney Robeson added to the lead with her first collegiate homer, a two-run shot to left field, to start a big fourth inning. Kent State took advantage of a walk and pair of errors to plate two more runs and extend it to 6-0.
The first two batters reached in the fifth, and Bri Despines send a three-run blast over the fence in center field for the walk-off victory.
Macy Irelan (1-2) recorded her first collegiate shutout. Irelan had three strikeouts and zero walks while allowing three hits over five innings.
Game 2: Kent State 5, UMBC 2
A walk and error placed two runners in scoring position for the Flashes to start the top of the third inning. Julia Mazanec then hit a single to center field for a 1-0 lead. After Mazanec moved to second base on a wild pitch, Savannah Wing added a single to score both runners and make it 3-0.
Wing and Emily Lippe hit back-to-back solo home runs in the top of the seventh for a 5-0 lead.
UMBC sent the potential winning run to plate in the bottom of the seventh, but Jada Crittendon made a diving catch in left field for the final out of the game.
Kent State had a season-high 10 hits and was led by two-hit performances by Jade Ramer, Wing and Bekah Zachrich.
Starting pitcher Anilese Kelly (2-2) recorded four strikeouts and allowed two runs on five hits over 6.2 innings. Macy Irelan retired the final batter of the game for her third save of the weekend.
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State will travel to Charlotte next weekend for five games at the Queen City Classic from Feb. 24-26.
