Kent State baseball edges Miami in weekend road series
Freshman Luca Fuscardo at bat during the game against Ball State on Saturday April 11, 2015. Kent State lost to Ball State 4-2.
April 26, 2015
The Kent State baseball team won the first two games of its series against Miami over the weekend before dropping the final game in a pitcher’s duel.
Game 1: Kent State 4, Miami 3
The Flashes got right back on track Friday after a difficult loss against Penn State earlier in the week.
Junior Nick Jensen-Clagg took the hill and recorded the win, moving to 7-3 on the season. Jensen-Clagg pitched 8.2 innings and only allowed three earned runs across the plate, striking out 10.
Senior Josh Pierce came in to record the final out and pick up his third save of the season.
Kent State was down 2-0 heading into the fifth inning when they started to do damage.
Freshman Dylan Rosa hit a clutch two-run double to tie the game, and senior Tommy Monnot’s home run put the Flashes ahead 3-2.
Monnot and sophomore Conner Simonetti hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning.
Miami got their last run on a wild pitch in the sixth inning but Kent State clinched the first game of the three-game series against Miami.
Game 2: Kent State 1, Miami 0
Kent State won a defensive struggle as the team beat Miami in game one of a doubleheader on Sunday.
Kent State scored the only run of the entire game in the first inning off a fielder’s choice hit from Monnot.
Sophomore Eric Lauer (3-3) picked up his third win on the season after pitching a masterpiece. Lauer didn’t allow a single run during the game, pitching a complete game and only allowing four hits and striking out 12 batters.
The Flashes were only able to get five hits during the game but the pitching performance by Lauer was enough to secure the win.
Game 3: Miami 2, Kent State 0
Kent State lost the same way they won in the second game of the doubleheader, by a defensive struggle.
Sophomore Andy Ravel (6-2) picked up his second loss of the season even though he pitched six innings and only allowed two earned runs on four hits. He struck out five in the loss.
Kent State only managed six hits, but went 0-5 with runners in scoring position, a key factor that led to the loss.
The Flashes will take on Oakland University for a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at home.
Contact Andrew Bugel at [email protected].