Baseball walks off, run-rules MAC leader in back-and-forth series win

The Kent State baseball team run-ruled Bowling Green State University in game three and walked the Falcons off in game one to take the series against the Mid-American Conference front-runner.

KSU got back on track after suffering an unexpected loss to Division-two opponent Clarion on Wednesday.

“It’s a great series win, and we’ve been battling a lot of adversity through injuries and things like that,” coach Jeff Duncan said. “These games are such character builders for these guys. I just love the way we came out. We found a way to get it done in a series against the team that came in 17-1.”

The loss was a minor bump in the road for the Flashes, as the team has won seven of its last 10 games, and the team took two of three against the Falcons.

The scoring was nearly dead-even, as KSU slightly edged out BGSU in runs 18-17 — each team had 10-runs victories, but KSU won game one by an extra run.

The Flashes improved their record to 22-20 overall and 12-9 against MAC opponents.

“Any day you go out and play better baseball, that’s all that matters,” Duncan said. “We did that today. We played better than them today. They’re old, they’re physical, and our pitching staff did a good job, especially Friday and Sunday, navigating through that lineup.”

Neither team moved in the MAC rankings, as Kent State remains in the fifth spot and Bowling Green in the first.

“All games moving forward have big implications for us getting in the tournament,” Duncan said. “For us to come out like the way we did with the energy and enthusiasm that we had and playing really good team baseball and moving the baseball around with bats one through nine, the whole lineup protected each other and did a great job.”

Game one (Friday, April 26)

Junior Caden Leonard pitches during the game against Bowling Green on April 28, 2024. (Matthew Brown)

Kent State got the first run on the board in game one but saw the lead slip away fast.

After a quiet half of the opening inning, KSU got on the board in the bottom half of inning one.

Sophomore catcher Brody Williams drove a single toward third base, and redshirt senior center fielder Josh Johnson came in to score for the game’s first score.

Shortly after, BGSU got on the board with a solo home run down the right field line to tie the game, which was followed up with BGSU scoring two more runs in the third inning on a one-RBI error and a one-RBI double.

BGSU led 3-1 after two and a half innings, but KSU would cut into the lead in the bottom of the third.

Williams delivered again in his second at-bat of the game, as he brought in another run on a double to right-center.

Kent State eventually tied the game and took the lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Johnson and an RBI fielder’s choice from senior first baseman Tim Orr.

The back-and-forth game persisted, as BGSU would tie the game soon after on an RBI single by the BGSU player who hit the solo home run in the second inning.

The Falcons had a critical seventh-inning sacrifice fly to take a 5-4 lead, but KSU would tie the game in the eighth inning.

Redshirt freshman second baseman Ripken Reese sent a ball to right center, which brought in the game-tying run in the bottom of the eighth.

Junior reliever Peyton Cariaco shut BGSU down in the top of the ninth inning, giving the Flashes a walk-off opportunity in the bottom of the ninth.

Williams continued his hot day with a single right back up the middle with one out in the inning, and he was able to advance to scoring position after a walk was issued to freshman right fielder Dom Kibler.

The next batter up was senior third baseman Michael McNamara, who was 1-3 with a walk and a double so far.

McNamara was down to his last strike as he faced a 1-2 count, but on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, McNamara turned a ball down the left field line, which dropped in fair territory, allowing Williams to score from second, and the Flashes walked off the seemingly untouchable Falcons in game one.

“You got the right man up,” Duncan said. “It was a really exciting baseball game. The place was jumping, sold out, it was back and forth. We scored first, and then in the middle innings, it was tied up, and they took the lead and then we just hung in there, had some really good abs and got a really big clutch hit from Michael McNamara. It was a really good Friday night with two really good teams.”

McNamara’s only RBI of the game made the score 6-5.

Redshirt freshman and infielder Ripken Reese bats during the game against Bowling Green on April 28, 2024. (Matthew Brown)

Cariaco pitched the final 2.2 innings of game one for the Flashes, getting the win. He allowed one hit, one walk, one strikeout, and zero earned runs in his outing.

The lefty earned his fourth win of the season and improved his record to 4-1 on the season — he is tied for second on the team in wins and has the most wins on the team among relief pitchers.

Cariaco also touts a 2.08 ERA (leads team), 1.12 WHIP (third on team) and two saves (leads team) in 26 innings pitched this season.

The start, however, went to sophomore Ciaran Caughey, who pitched the first 3.1 innings of the game.

Caughey, along with two relievers, combined for nine hits, four earned runs, five walks and eight strikeouts.

KSU struck out more batters than BGSU and walked more times than the Falcons. KSU also had three more hits than BGSU, but had three errors to Bowling Green’s zero.

Game two (Saturday, April 27)

In the second game of the series, the bats went quiet, and the pitching was beaten.

Graduate student Joe Miceli started for the Flashes and immediately surrendered runs.

In the first inning, Bowling Green put two runs on the board on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single.

BGSU followed that up with a crucial five-run third inning that put the game out of reach for the Flashes.

The Falcons worked the bases loaded, and a walk brought in the inning’s first run, which was followed by a two-RBI single and a two-RBI double to give Bowling Green a 7-0 lead.

The scoring concluded in the seventh inning as BGSU used another sacrifice fly and RBI single combination for the game’s last three runs.

BGSU took game two 10-0.

Junior Eric Chalus pitches during the game against Bowling Green on April 28, 2024. (Matthew Brown)

Miceli allowed six earned runs on three hits, seven walks and two strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work on his way to his fourth loss of the season.

The starter is 0-4 on the season and leads the team in losses. He is third on the team in highest ERA, fourth in highest WHIP and has given up the second-most earned runs on the team.

The bullpen did not fare much better. The Flashes used three relievers, who combined for four hits, five walks, 10 strikeouts and four earned runs in 6.1 innings.

“We just didn’t throw strikes,” Duncan said. “We gave them a lot of free stuff in between walks and hit by pitches. We had six walks in the first two innings, so a team like that will capitalize on that. Moving forward, we’ll get some guys healthy and we’re very dangerous.”

This is the second time this season the Flashes got shutout in a game.

Game three (Sunday, April 28)

The Flashes got revenge with a 10-run win of their own Sunday in game three to take the series win.

The Falcons got on the board first with two runs in the top of the second, which were the only runs BGSU would score in the game.

KSU tied the game right back up in the bottom half of the inning on a two-RBI double from Reese, and the Flashes blew the game open in the following inning with a four-run frame.

The scoring was started on junior first baseman Hunter Klotz’s RBI single down the right field line and was followed by McNamara’s two-RBI double and Kibler’s RBI single up the middle, giving the Flashes a 6-2 lead.

In the fifth inning, freshman designated hitter Payton Ebbing drove in a run on a single to left center field, and Kibler gave the Flashes an 8-2 lead on a fielder’s choice RBI.

The lead was later extended on Johnson’s solo home run down the left field line, just missing the pole.

It was Johnson’s ninth home run of the season and his 46th RBI of the season.

Junior Hunter Klotz leads off of third base during the game against Bowling Green on April 28, 2024. (Matthew Brown)

In the seventh inning, the Flashes scored the game’s final three runs on Reese’s fielder’s choice RBI, Johnson’s RBI single and Orr’s RBI single.

The game ended in the seventh inning after KSU run-ruled the Falcons, meaning KSU scored 10 more runs than BGSU.

KSU outhit Bowling Green 12-5, walked 12 times, and struck out more hitters.

Eight of KSU’s total strikeouts came from junior starter Eric Chalus (5-2), who earned his fifth win of the season, which leads the team.

“He mixed,” Duncan said. “Fastball, changeup, slider, curveball; four-pitch mix, was in the zone, elevated with the fastball and went down underneath their barrel with the changeup. He was really good. He just competes — he’s got a lot of wins in this league, and he’s just a proven winner.”

He pitched 6.1 innings, allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks, and the game’s final two outs were achieved by junior reliever Caden Leonard.

“[It was] a really good win and a great performance by Eric Chalus,” Duncan said. “We needed that — obviously, yesterday wasn’t our best day. It started on the mound with Chalus and then Caden Leonard navigating through that bases-loaded jam was huge. A really good team win, we have a really good culture and I’m proud of the guys.”

The Flashes scored 12 runs on 12 hits and seven walks, and the team only used one home run (a solo home run) in the win.

“We had traffic all day,” Duncan said. “We had baserunners all day, and we had some really timely hits, and one through nine, moving the baseball and taking their walks was the difference. Ripken Reese started us off with that double the other way, and he had a couple of big hits for us this weekend.”

In less than 24 hours, the Flashes went from scoring zero runs in nine innings to putting 12 runs on the board in seven innings, but Duncan said the team made no adjustments in between games.

“We just started the game off by getting off the field,” he said. “That’s big. We didn’t get off the field yesterday. They took a 2-0 lead, and we can handle that. We responded really well all day long.”