Kent State University
4-6
Mercyhurst
1-10
Flashes Open 2025 Home Season in Grand Fashion
3/4/2025 8:14:00 PM | Baseball
KENT- The Kent State Golden Flashes baseball team opened up the home portion of their 2025 schedule with a dominant 18-6 win over the Mercyhurst Lakers.
Jake Casey and Hayden Jatczak paced the Flashes offense from the top two spots in the batting order. The seniors reached base in all eight of their at bats with Jatczak reaching on a fielders choice. From the lead off spot Casey went 3-3 with two walks, five runs scored, one RBI, and four stolen bases. But Jatczak was the star of the show going 4-5 (reaching on a fielder's choice) with two doubles, a home run, seven RBIs, four runs scored, and two stolen bases.
Mercyhurst jumped on the board first scoring three in the top of the first, but Kent State answered with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning with a Jatczak RBI single and Hunter Klotz RBI ground out.
The Flashes took the lead in the bottom of the second and never looked back thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles by Casey and Jatczak. Kent State would tally five more runs in the third thanks to a Jatczak RBI fielder's choice and a Brody Williams 3-run double that cleared the bases.
After the Lakers scored two in the fourth the Flashes matched it in the bottom half when Alejandro Covas sent a single to left that snuck under the defender's glove scored Payton Ebbing. Covas would come into score just a couple of pitches later on a wild pitch.
Jatczak would send an RBI double out the right field line to extend the Kent State lead to 12-5.
Kent State would go on to score their last six runs courtesy of the long ball. Dom Kiber hammered a two-run shot over the right field wall in the sixth. Ripken Reese followed it up in the seventh with a missile over the tall wall in right-center. Then Jatczak delivered the knockout punch with a three-run moonshot over the wall in left field to enact the run rule.
Kent State will continue the home stand this weekend when they welcome in the Northern Illinois Huskies to open Mid-American Conference play. The Flashes will kick off the series on Friday Mar. 7 at 3 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wentz, Gannon (1-0)
L: Nick Hamilton (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Jayden Walker 1 ; Ethan Adams 1
RBI: Ranciel Ventura 1 ; Eric Chorba 1 ; Jayden Walker 2 ; Casey Smith 1 ; Ethan Adams 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chris Juchno 1 ; Eric Chorba 1 ; Joey Trivisonno 1 ; Jayden Walker 1 ; Landon Diberadin 1 ; Chandler Powell 1
SB: Chris Juchno 1
HBP: Joey Trivisonno 1
Batting:
2B: Casey, Jake 2 ; Jatczak, Hayden 2 ; Williams, Brody 1 ; Tiesing, Landon 1
HR: Jatczak, Hayden 1 ; Kibler, Dom 1 ; Reese, Ripken 1
RBI: Casey, Jake 1 ; Jatczak, Hayden 7 ; Williams, Brody 3 ; Kibler, Dom 2 ; Klotz, Hunter 1 ; Reese, Ripken 1 ; Covas, Alejandro 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Casey, Jake 5 ; Jatczak, Hayden 4 ; Kibler, Dom 1 ; Klotz, Hunter 1 ; Ebbing, Payton 2 ; Reese, Ripken 1 ; Covas, Alejandro 2 ; Robinson, Jake 1 ; Tiesing, Landon 1
SB: Casey, Jake 4 ; Jatczak, Hayden 2 ; Solitaria, Sawyer 1 ; Rienstra-Kiracofe, Micah 1
HBP: Casey, Jake 1 ; Jatczak, Hayden 1 ; Solitaria, Sawyer 1 ; Klotz, Hunter 2 ; Rienstra-Kiracofe, Micah 1 ; Ebbing, Payton 1
