Kent State University
30-14, 17-5
Ball State
31-15, 17-5
Flashes Out Slug Cardinals in Series Opener
5/2/2025 6:55:00 PM | Baseball
MUNCIE- The Kent State Golden Flashes baseball team out slugged the Ball State Cardinals taking the series opener by a score of 20-8.
With today's win Kent State crosses the 30-win mark for the ninth time under head Coach Jeff Duncan.
The Flashes had an offensive explosion scoring in all seven innings en route to their third 20+ run performance of the year. The offense had 18 hits on the day, 14 of which went for extra bases, and eight left the yard.
Brody Williams got the offensive part started for the Flashes in the top of the first inning with a three-run homer over the wall in left field.Hayden Jatczak would plate two more runs on an inside the park homer off the wall in center field. Kolton Schaller would hit his first homer of the day in the form of a solo shot in the third inning.
Ball State would get three runs of their own in the bottom of the third.
Kent State would strike again for four more runs in the top of the fourth off of three home runs. Luke Matthews kicked the inning off with his first home run in a Kent State uniform, parking a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left. Jake Casey followed it up with a 2-run shot of his own, his thirteenth of the season. Williams would hit his second homer of the game to extend the lead to 10-3.
The Cardinals would cut into the lead scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Matthews would hit an RBI groundout in the fifth and Schaller would hit his second solo shot of the day in the sixth. Ball State would answer with two more runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth.
The Kent State offense exploded one last time in the top of the seventh for eight more runs. The Flashes got a pair of two-run singles by Sawyer Solitaria and Williams and the Dom Kibler put the icing on the cake with a grand slam over the wall in right field.
Benny Roebuck got the win on the mound going 2.2 innings allowing a pari of runs while striking out five in relief of starter Gavin Jones. Caden Leonard came in and closed the door in the bottom of the seventh to seal the run-rule victory
On Deck for the Flashes
The Flashes and the cardinals will meet for game two of the weekend series on Saturday May 3. First pitch is currently slated for 1 p.m. in Muncie.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Roebuck, Benny (1-3)
L: Keegan Johnson (7-2)
Batting:
2B: Matthews, Luke 2 ; Jatczak, Hayden 1 ; Tiesing, Landon 1
3B: Matthews, Luke 1 ; Tiesing, Landon 1
HR: Matthews, Luke 1 ; Jatczak, Hayden 1 ; Casey, Jake 1 ; Williams, Brody 2 ; Schaller, Kolton 2 ; Kibler, Dom 1
RBI: Matthews, Luke 2 ; Jatczak, Hayden 2 ; Casey, Jake 2 ; Solitaria, Sawyer 1 ; Williams, Brody 5 ; Schaller, Kolton 2 ; Kibler, Dom 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Matthews, Luke 4 ; Jatczak, Hayden 4 ; Casey, Jake 2 ; Solitaria, Sawyer 1 ; Williams, Brody 3 ; Schaller, Kolton 3 ; Rienstra-Kiracofe, Micah 1 ; Kibler, Dom 1 ; Tiesing, Landon 1
SB: Matthews, Luke 1
HBP: Jatczak, Hayden 1 ; Klotz, Hunter 1
Batting:
2B: Dylan Grego 1 ; Garrett Arnold 1 ; Clay Jacobs 1
HR: Alex Richter 1 ; Ben Giovannetti 1
RBI: Alex Richter 2 ; Dylan Grego 1 ; Garrett Arnold 1 ; Ben Giovannetti 1 ; Gavin Balius 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alex Richter 2 ; Nick Husovsky 1 ; Garrett Arnold 1 ; Ben Giovannetti 1 ; Clay Jacobs 2 ; Gavin Balius 1
HBP: Blake Bevis 1 ; Clay Jacobs 1
