Late Rally Spurns Flashes Comeback

Tuesday, March 19

Pittsburgh, PA

3:00 PM

Kent State University

9-11

Pitt

10-8

Kent State Baseball

Pittsburgh

3/19/2024 8:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

PITTSBURGH- Lance MacDonald cracked a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh but Pitt rallied back in the eighth, ultimately taking a 12-8 slug fest on Tuesday afternoon in the Steel City.

The Flashes found themselves down 7-3 with two outs and the bases clear in the seventh before mounting the rally. Brody Williams worked a two-out walk, Ripken Reese singled and Connor Ashby was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jake Casey walked on five pitches to force in a run before MacDonald drove the first pitch he saw well over the right field wall. But Pitt would rally off three pitchers in the eighth, working the bases loaded before a pair of singles by the Panthers that proved to be the difference.

It was a back-and-forth game for most of Tuesday. Kent State took its first lead in the third, tying the game on a titanic blast from Jake Casey and taking a 2-1 lead on a Tim Orr RBI-ground out. According to Pitt's stat tracker, Casey's homer came off the bat at 112 miles per hour and traveled an estimated 491 feet. Pitt answered with two of their own in the bottom of the third and added three more in the fourth on a three-run homer. The Flashes chipped away at the lead with another Orr run-scoring groundout in the fifth and re-took the lead in the seventh on the slam.

The setback moves Kent State to 9-11 on the season while Pitt improves to 11-7. The Flashes return home for the only non-conference weekend series of the season as Saint Joe's comes to town for a three-game series. First pitch between the Flashes and Hawks is set for 3 p.m. on Friday.