Hot Flashes: Baseball scores most runs since 2012, caps off 5-game homestand sweep

By the end of the third inning, Kent State’s baseball team was up 8-0 on Youngstown State. However, the damage was far from over – it was just getting started.

The Flashes kept the Penguins scoreless through seven innings and broke out for 19 more runs in the last three innings of batting.

The game did not go through the full nine innings and ended after YSU batted in the top of the seventh, as Kent State exploded for a 27-0 shutout Tuesday.

The game marked the largest shutout win since a 19-0 matchup against Akron in 2014.

The last time the Flashes scored 27 or more runs was in 2012, when the team put 31 points on Bowling Green.

KSU is in sole possession of first place in the Mid-American Conference following the win.

The Flashes have turned the season around, winning seven of their last eight games and five in a row.

KSU is undefeated in conference play (3-0) and has brought itself to an even 8-8 after starting the season 1-7.

Youngstown State (0-16) leaves Kent still searching for its first victory of the season.

Utter dominance

The pitching got right to work, as redshirt sophomore starting pitcher Rocco Bernadina kept the Penguins off the board before the Flashes got to work offensively.

Bernadina has worked out of the bullpen and in the starting rotation this season.

He came into the game with a 0-0 record through four appearances, a 9.39 ERA, five strikeouts and three walks.

He got the start in his last appearance against Tiffin, which the Flashes walked off for an 11-7 win.

Redshirt senior center fielder Josh Johnson started things offensively by getting on base with a hit-by-pitch walk with one out.

Johnson stole second and then third, but a throwing error on the steal to third scored Johnson, putting the Flashes up 1-0.

The one run scored by the Flashes in the first inning was the lowest amount of runs scored by the team in any inning during the game.

After another clean inning from Bernadina, the Flashes had the chance to extend their lead – and they did.

A double from redshirt freshman second baseman Ripken Reese scored two runs, and KSU had a three-run advantage early.

Bernadina’s final inning set the Flashes up with a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the third inning.

Junior Left Fielder Jake Casey and Kolton Schaller high five right after both score on a Reese double during the Golden Flashes’ 27-0 blowout of Youngstown State on March 12, 2024. (Cadie Pierce)

Back-to-back singles from Johnson and senior left fielder Tim Orr set up freshman designated hitter Dom Kibler with an opportunity with runners in scoring position.

Kibler used a sacrifice fly to score Johnson, and a flyout with the next batter had the inning almost over with two outs.

Sophomore first baseman Kolton Schaller singled, and junior right fielder Jake Casey walked to keep the inning alive and loaded the bases.

Walks to junior shortstop Connor Ashby and Reese scored two more runs with two outs.

Senior third baseman Kyle Jackson capped off the scoring with a two-run single, giving the Flashes an 8-0 lead.

Bernadina’s day was over on the mound after the third inning.

In his three innings of work, he allowed one hit and one walk but struck out four and gave up zero earned runs. He collected the win and improved his record to 1-0 on the season.

KSU continued the onslaught with a four-run inning in the fourth.

Sophomore catcher Brody Williams singled to right field, scoring Orr, and Schaller continued to have a good day with a three-run blast, making the score 12-0.

Redshirt Sophomore Starting Pitcher Rocco Bernadina lets loose a breaking ball during the Golden Flashes’ 27-0 blowout of Youngstown State on March 12, 2024. (Cadie Pierce)

It was Schaller’s first home run and RBIs of the season in his 10 games this season.

The fifth inning saw KSU’s total increase by six runs.

It was started by Orr, who hit his team-leading sixth home run of the season, a solo shot down the right field line.

Williams kept the line moving with an RBI double, and Casey followed up with his second triple of the season, which scored two more runs.

Casey leads the team in triples with two this season.

Junior pinch runner and third baseman Aiden Hinds hit a triple of his own down the right field line, plating another run for the Flashes.

The scoring in the fifth ended with an RBI single from freshman pinch hitter and right fielder Bo Shinkle, who brought home Hinds.

The Flashes put up nine runs in the sixth before the game mercifully ended.

Junior first baseman Hunter Klotz, who was pinch-hitting for Schaller, made the most of his opportunity by smashing a two-run home run.

Shinkle added another single to bring home one run, and graduate student pinch hitter Hunter Havekost drove a stake into YSU with a grand slam, his only hit of the game.

It was Havekost’s first home run of the season.

It was 25-0 at that point, but Klotz added his second home run of the inning, a two-run blast to right-center field, giving the Flashes its last points of the game.

Josh Johnson scores the opening run on an errant throw to left field during Golden Flashes’ 27-0 blowout of Youngstown State on March 12, 2024. (Cadie Pierce)

Holtz was the first KSU batter since 1998 to hit two home runs in the same inning.

Player spotlight

Havekost’s grand slam and Klotz’s two home runs each produced four RBIs, but Shaller and Reese had major contributions to the Kent State offense.

Shaller had a perfect 4-for-4 day with two singles, a double, a home run and three RBIs.

Reese added a double, a walk, a single and three more RBIs in his 2-for-3 performance.

After Bernadina’s day was over on the bump, KSU used five pitchers to clean up the final four innings.

The pitchers allowed three hits, two walks, zero earned runs and five strikeouts.

The most productive pitcher was freshman reliever Evan Shapiro, who pitched the final inning and struck out three batters while allowing a hit and a walk in the inning to preserve the shutout.

Recap and looking ahead

The KSU pitching staff has allowed three runs or less in its last four games and has five pitchers under a 4.00 ERA.

The team allows 5.75 runs per game but scores an average of over seven runs per game.

The effort against YSU gave the team its first shutout of the season.

Every batter who stepped up to the plate reached base on Tuesday, and 14 different players contributed to the team’s 24 hits.

Thirteen of the team’s hits went for extra bases, including six doubles, two triples and five home runs.

The Flashes swept their five-game homestand, which included a walk-off victory against Tiffin, a three-game sweep against Central Michigan, and a win against Youngstown State.

The team’s regular season home winning streak extended to 19 games following Tuesday’s win.

KSU is outscoring opponents 64-13 at home this season.

Kent State will head to Athens to take on Ohio University in a three-game series against the Bobcats. The series will run Friday-Sunday at Bob Wren Stadium.

OU is 5-9 this season and has lost three of its last four games, including a 20-10 loss to Morehead State. With a 1-2 conference record, OU sits in fifth in the MAC.

Kent State played the Bobcats in a three-game series last season, and the Flashes won all three games, outscoring OU 26-10.

Junior Jack Kartsonas is scheduled to be the starter in game one.

Kartsonas got the win last time out, as he pitched six solid innings, allowing four hits, one walk, one earned run and had 10 strikeouts against Central Michigan Friday.