After another rainout at the beginning of the weekend in Athens, and what was the sixth game Kent State has been forced to miss in the last two weeks, the Flashes were able to sweep Akron and move to 16-14 on the season.

The Flashes manufactured a seven-run sixth inning in the first game of the weekend at Akron en route to a 8-3 victory.

Kent State second baseman Abbey Ledford delivered a grand slam in the sixth inning to help the Flashes come from behind and win.

“Maddy [Grimm] has been hitting so many home runs all year,” Ledford said. “So I assumed they were going to walk her again, and I needed to step up and help everybody out.”

“I’m really excited for Abbey [Ledford] coming through in the clutch,” Kent State Coach Karen Linder said. “They walked Maddy, and Abbey came through with the big hit we needed. This was a huge win. I was really proud of the way we fought back.”

Pitchers Emma Johnson and Lauren McNeil pitched well and held the Zips to eight hits on the day.

“Emma kept battling throughout the day with runners on base, and then Lauren entered in the seventh and went 1-2-3, which was huge for us too,” Linder said.

In the final game of the weekend, the Flashes were able to rally late again and finish off the weekend with a sweep of the Zips, 3-1.

“I’m ecstatic that we’re coming away with a win,” Linder said. “Obviously, that sixth inning was huge for us. Michele [Duffy] got hit, and Dani drew a walk. Then Maddy came through with a big hit and took advantage of a mistake they made to put runners on base.”

Grimm hit a three-run homerun in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach for the Zips.

“I didn’t know what they were going to do,” Grimm said. “I knew that if I got on that Abbey would have hit anyway. With runners on it was important to at least get a hit, but the fact that it went over was just a bonus.”

With the sweep, the Flashes now move to 2-2 in conference play and will return home for a six-game home stand.

“I think this weekend will really help turn our season around,” Ledford said. “Last week was kind of hard on all of us. To come back and get both of these wins means a lot to start the rest of the MAC season.”

Contact Taylor Rosen at [email protected].