Kent State University
26-24, 0
Ball State
31-20-1, 0
Flashes' Comeback Falls Short in Opener
5/16/2024 9:41:00 PM | Baseball
KENT- The Golden Flashes made a furious comeback on Friday night but the rally fell short in a 11-9 defeat on Thursday night at Schoonover Stadium.
Down 11-1, the Flashes scored three in the seventh, four more in the eighth and a tally in the ninth to make it a two-run game. Kent State brought the tying run to the plate on Thursday, but Ball State hung on for the win.
Josh Johnson led the offense, driving in four with a pair of singles and Tim Orr launched a solo homer to right in the first to open the scoring. But Ball State owned the next three innings, scoring 11 times. Seniors Jack Kartsonas and Calvin Bickerstaff shutdown the Cardinals over the final five innings and the offense got to the Cardinals' bullpen, forcing Ball State to use five pitchers on the night and sweat out the win.
The victory moves Ball State to 31-20-1 on the year and 17-11 in MAC play. Kent State sits at 26-24 overall and a game back at 16-12 in conference as the teams jockey for positioning in the upcoming MAC tournament. The two teams meet for the middle game of the three-game set on Friday, with a 3 p.m. scheduled first pitch. There will be a pre-game ,on-field graduation ceremony for the student-athletes who have earned either their undergraduate or graduate degrees.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Merritt Beeker (8-3)
L: Caughey, Ciaran (1-2)
S: Sam Klein (6)
Batting:
2B: Nick Gregory 1 ; Hunter Dobbins 1 ; Blake Bevis 1
HR: Blake Bevis 1 ; Dylan Grego 1
RBI: Decker Scheffler 1 ; Hunter Dobbins 1 ; Blake Bevis 5 ; Houston King 2 ; Dylan Grego 1
SH: Nick Gregory 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Decker Scheffler 2 ; Hunter Dobbins 2 ; Michael Hallquist 2 ; Blake Bevis 2 ; Houston King 1 ; Dylan Grego 1 ; Clay Jacobs 1
SB: Decker Scheffler 1 ; Clay Jacobs 2
Batting:
2B: Kibler, Dom 1 ; Macdonald, Lance 1
HR: Orr, Tim 1
RBI: Johnson, Josh 4 ; Orr, Tim 1 ; Kibler, Dom 1 ; Macdonald, Lance 2 ; Reese, Ripken 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Orr, Tim 1 ; Hinds, Aiden 1 ; Shinkle, Bo 2 ; Kibler, Dom 1 ; Ashby, Connor 1 ; Klotz, Hunter 2 ; Macdonald, Lance 1
HBP: Reese, Ripken 1
