Flashes sweep season series against Penn State

Zach Harley

Kent State won in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday as the Flashes (31-10) completed the season sweep of the Penn State University Nittany Lions (24-18) with a 6-2 victory.

It was surprising performance from freshman pitcher Joey Murray, who dominated the Nittany Lions over the span of seven innings, his longest outing of the season.

Murray cruised through the opposing line-up, striking out nine while only allowing four hits and a walk.

Wednesday’s performance from Murray was perhaps his most impressive game of the season, with his only other exceptional performance coming in a rain-shortened four-inning game against Canisius College earlier in April.

In that particular performance the freshman right-hander struck out 10 Golden Griffins while allowing one hit before the rain cut his start short.

Coming into the game with a 6.10 ERA, this was just what manager Jeff Duncan needed to see from Murray after repeating all season long that the freshman was only a few tweaks away from putting up solid starts.

On the flip side of the pitching performance was the hitting, which provided six runs throughout the ballgame.

Center fielder redshirt sophomore Mason Mamarella put together a 2-3 game at the plate, knocking in two teammates in the process.

Third baseman sophomore Dylan Rosa and right fielder redshirt junior Luke Burch continued their hot streaks as both Flashes ended up with three hits on the day.

Opposite of Rosa, Burch scored three separate times while Rosa knocked in three batters himself.

Wednesday’s win makes for 10 wins in a row, which ties their season high streak from late February to mid-March.

The Flashes will now come home for six straight home games as they’ll take on Miami University (20-20), who is coming off four straight losses at the hands of Pittsburgh and Kentucky.

Zach Harley is a sports reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].