Kent State’s baseball team rebounded with two-straight victories over Murray State after an 0-3 weekend. 

The Flashes tallied 10 runs on 19 hits in the two-game series. KSU was successful on the defensive side, striking out 26 batters in just two games. 

Kent State is now at .500 with a 4-4 record. Murray State is 2-7 on the year. 

Game one

The Racers kicked off game one with a two-run homer to center field in the bottom of the first. 

Junior first baseman Aidan Longwell put the Flashes on the board in the top of the third a RBI-single, scoring junior infielder Kyle Jackson to bring them within one. 

Sophomore outfielder Jake Casey continued his hot streak, homering yet again on a solo shot to center field in the top of the fourth. This made it four straight games with a home run. 

Then two batters later, freshman catcher Brody Williams hit his first collegiate home run to left field, giving Kent a 3-2 lead. 

Kent State tacked on another off of senior infielder Mack Timbrook’s solo home run, extending the lead to 4-2. This was Timbrook’s first home run of the season. 

Murray State brought the score within one off an RBI-double to right center in the seventh inning. Then an inning later the Racers tied it with a solo home run to right center. 

Kent State put the game away in the top of the ninth, starting with a Longwell triple to center field, scoring graduate student outfielder Collin Mathews. 

Three batters later senior outfielder Josh Johnson singled home Longwell, securing a 6-4 win.

Longwell not only drove in two runs, but he pitched 4.1 innings and struck out six batters. He surrendered just two earned runs and two hits. 

Kent State had 12 hits in the game and struck out 11 hitters. Murray State also struck out 11 batters but only managed to total five hits. 

Game two 

Game two started off all offense, but it came down to the pitching. 

The Racers hit yet another first inning two-run homer to jump out in front 2-0. 

The Flashes responded in the top of the third inning. Mathews doubled down the left field, scoring Jackson. Right after the double, Longwell hit a two-run home run to take the lead and score Mathews. 

Then junior infielder Michael McNamara stole third and scored after a throwing error to extend the lead 4-2. Murray State scored one in the bottom half of the third on a fielding error to make it 4-3. 

No other team scored the rest of the game as the pitching and defense did the rest of the work. 

Senior pitcher Richie Dell earned the win, going 4.1 innings with six strikeouts and only surrendering two hits. 

Each team had seven hits in the game, but Kent State’s 15 strikeouts made the difference. Longwell went 5-for-9 in the two games driving in four RBIs.

Kent State will travel to University of Tennessee at Martin for a three-game series. Game one’s first pitch is 6 p.m. Friday. 

Jacob Hansen is sports editor. Contact him at [email protected].