Kent State’s baseball team avoided slipping to .500 on Friday in Lynchburg, Virginia with a 3-2 victory versus Liberty University.

Kevin Dobos supplied the offensive scoring for the Flashes as the junior was able to rake all three RBI, including his second home run of the season. Juniors Ben Carew and Michael Turner had two hits in the victory. Sophomore Justin Kirby contributed two as well.

Dressed in their powder blue uniforms, the Flashes were led by starting pitcher Luke Albright, who won the team’s Victory Belt after the game. The right-handed sophomore pitched six and two-third innings, allowing only one earned run and adding four strikeouts. Sophomore Jack Zimmerman shined in his two innings of relief, striking out five batters. 

Friday’s victory snapped a two game losing streak for the Flashes.

On Saturday, Liberty ruined Collin Romel’s 3-0 season, defeating the Flashes 7-2.

Romel pitched an impressive five and two-third innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out seven batters in the loss. The junior lefty ran into problems in the fifth inning, giving up back to back doubles that resulted in two runs for the Flames of Liberty. Junior Tyler Drabick came in to relieve Romel, but gave up three earned runs of his own in just one and two-thirds of an inning.

Kent’s offense was limited to senior Patrick Ferguson, who had a home run in the second inning. 

On Sunday afternoon, the Flashes were shutout in the series rubber match, losing the game 7-0.

Liberty scored in the fifth inning, and then piled on insurance runs late to take the series away from Kent. Ryan Lane worked out of trouble early in the game, but a run-scoring double allowed the Flames to jump on the board and end the junior’s day. 

The loss drops the Flashes to 7-7 in their non-conference road swing to start the 2020 campaign. The road games continue on Friday in Evanston, Illinois for a matchup with Northwestern University. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. eastern time.

Contact Nick Pedone at [email protected].