The Kent State baseball team went up early, but its bats went dry after the third inning of its 7-4 loss at Wright State.

Junior shortstop Emmanuel Burriss opened up the game with a triple to left field and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior center fielder Joe Tucker. Senior left fielder Kurt Eichorn hit a double, advancing senior first baseman Drew Saylor to third, who got on base from a walk. Junior third baseman Andrew Davis grounded out to third and sent Saylor in to score, putting Kent State (21-13, 8-4 Mid-American Conference) up 2-0 in the first inning.

The second inning went scoreless, but both offenses woke up in the third. The Flashes picked up another two runs off four hits and a Raider error. Kent State freshman left-hander Alan Morrison walked Wright State (19-15, 10-8 Horizon League) freshman shortstop Justin Parker and let runners advance on a wild pitch, which led to two Wright State runs.

The Raiders scored single runs in the fourth and fifth to tie the score. Then they took the lead in the sixth after opening up the bottom of the inning with two consecutive hits, forcing Kent State to bring in sophomore right-hander Dominique Rodgers. Wright State freshman first baseman Jeremy Hamilton scored on Rodgers’ throwing error to put Wright State up 6-4.

The Raiders extended their scoring streak to five consecutive innings when Raider sophomore outfielder John Kopilchack was walked and sent home on sophomore outfielder Justin Wilson’s triple down the right field line.

Playing catch-up in the ninth inning, the Flashes sent freshman hitter Jason Patton in to pinch hit for junior right fielder Will Vazquez. He doubled to left and advanced to third on a single by Burriss. With two on and one out in the ninth, Tucker struck out swinging, and Saylor grounded out to the pitcher, handing the Flashes the loss.

Kent State remains tied with Bowling Green for the No. 1 spot in the MAC East Division, since today’s loss did not affect conference standings. The Flashes open up a three-game homestand against the Miami RedHawks at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Contact baseball reporter Sean Joseph at [email protected].