Baseball takes three-game series at CMU
Sophomore pitcher Chris Martin pitches to a University of Pittsburg batter during the home opener against the University of Pittsburg at Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium on Wednesday, March 16, 2016. Kent State lost 9-4.
March 27, 2016
A soggy weekend up in Michigan didn’t alter the Flashes’ plans too much as the Kent State baseball team went up against Mount Pleasant to start Mid-American Conference play.
After Friday’s game was moved from Mount Pleasant to Grand Rapids, Michigan, rain didn’t stop affecting the weekend plans.
Saturday’s 13-10 loss to the Chippewas couldn’t finish up until Sunday morning as rain determined when and where this series would be played.
The match-up on Sunday went the smoothest out of the three as far as playing conditions and the outcome for Kent State.
The Flashes walked away from the weekend with a 2-1 series win after winning on Friday and Sunday, dropping their first MAC game on Saturday.
Hits weren’t plentiful in Sunday’s match, but Kent State’s Eli Kraus made sure that the Flashes’ five runs on four hits were enough.
Kraus on the day threw seven full innings allowing only one earned run on four hits, walking only one and striking out three.
Thanks to Central Michigan’s three errors, four hits was what the Flashes needed to walk away with their first conference series win.
Luke Burch led the way for the Flashes driving in three of the five runs thanks to a two run single to left in the seventh and a sacrifice fly to drive in one more earlier on in the fifth.
The red-shirt junior on the day also was able to steal two bases in the process and scored another run, adding up to four runs produced or scored by the right-fielder.
On the season, Burch is hitting a solid .276 while driving in 18 runs and totaling 10 stolen bases.
Kent State now moves to 16-6 on the season with a record on 2-1 in conference play with a home-game coming up against Lake Erie College on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s home-game will be a one-game set as the Storm will come in with a 5-12 record after dropping three of four against Malone this weekend.
Zach Harley is a sports reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].