Kent State University
10-4, 0
Northern Illinois
3-11, 0
Flashes Rally for Eighth Straight Victory
3/11/2023 5:00:00 PM | Baseball
KENT- Mike McNamara belted a three-run homer to left, part of a five-run eighth inning to lead the Flashes to a 12-7 victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Schoonover Stadium.
Kent State had the final big inning on Saturday, in a game full of them. Northern Illinois plated four in the first and three in the sixth on Saturday. The Huskies put the first seven runners on against Joe Whitman before the lefty limited the damage by striking out the final three batters of the inning, leaving the bases loaded.
After leaving the bases loaded in the first as well, Kent State rallied for five runs in the second, all with two outs. Collin Mathews delivered a two-run single that was followed by an rbi base hit for Aidan Longwell and a run scoring triple for Justin Miknis. Kent State built on the lead with single runs in the third and the fourth to lead 7-4.
The Huskies had a rally in them, striking for three in the sixth. NIU strung together five hits, all singles to comeback and tie the game at seven. It would stay tied until the eighth as both teams could not capitalize on opportunities to break the tie. Kent State broke through in the eighth. After Mathews walked, he stole second and third before scoring the game-winning run on a Longwell single. Justin Miknis' second double of the day put runners on second and third for McNamara, who belted a Nick Bonk fastball over the left field wall to give the Flashes some insurance runs. Connor Ashby added the 12th run of the game with an rbi single three batters later.
Mitch Scott struck out a pair to slam the door in the ninth, preserving Caden Leonard's second win of the season. The Flashes have now reeled off eight straight victories and sit at 10-4 overall and 2-0 in MAC play. NIU falls to 3-11 and 0-2 in the conference. The Flashes will go for the sweep tomorrow with Eric Chalus the projected starter for the 1 p.m. first pitch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Leonard, Caden (2-0)
L: BONK, Nick (0-1)
Batting:
2B: DEMETRAL, Andre 1
RBI: DEMETRAL, Andre 1 ; KOSOBUCKI, Kaden 2 ; SMART, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ERATO, Eric 1 ; DEMETRAL, Andre 1 ; HARPER, Aaron 2 ; SUMMERHILL, Colin 2 ; KOSOBUCKI, Kaden 1
SB: ERATO, Eric 1 ; HARPER, Aaron 1 ; KOSOBUCKI, Kaden 1
CS: DEMETRAL, Andre 1 ; SEEGERS, Christian 1
HBP: SMART, Andrew 1
Batting:
2B: Miknis, Justin 2
3B: Miknis, Justin 1
HR: McNamara, Michael 1
RBI: Mathews, Collin 3 ; Longwell, Aidan 2 ; Miknis, Justin 2 ; McNamara, Michael 4 ; Ashby, Connor 1
SF: McNamara, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mathews, Collin 2 ; Longwell, Aidan 2 ; Miknis, Justin 2 ; McNamara, Michael 1 ; Timbrook, Mack 1 ; Johnson, Josh 1 ; Casey, Jake 2 ; Mrozek, Josh 1
SB: Jackson, Kyle 1 ; Mathews, Collin 3 ; Johnson, Josh 1 ; Casey, Jake 1
CS: McNamara, Michael 1
HBP: Mathews, Collin 1 ; Johnson, Josh 1
