PORT CHARLOTTE, FL- Ryan Lane went five strong innings and Patrick Ferguson continued his strong start to the season with three more runs driven in to help Kent State to an 11-3 victory over the Saint Joseph's Hawks on Sunday at the Snowbird Classic.

The Flashes got off to a hot start on Sunday, striking for two in the first and three more in the second. Cam Touchette started things off with his first of two doubles on the day. He'd come around to score on a Mack Timbrook single. After a walk to Ferguson, Collin Mathews drove home Timbrook with a two-out single. Kent State piled on three more in the second. Alex Ronnebaum started things off with a single and moved to second on an error. Touchette's second double of the day brought home Ronnebaum and Ben Carew singled home two more. The Flashes led 5-0 after two. 

That would be more than enough for Ryan Lane. The righty went five strong, scattering seven hits and allowing three runs while striking out four. The Flashes' bullpen kept up its stellar start to the season as Peyton Deats and Jaren Smetana each threw two scoreless innings of relief. 

Kent State added insurance runs late, plating three in the sixth and two more in the eighth. Timbrook added his second rbi single of the day and Ferguson had the first of his two run-scoring singles to make it 9-1 through six. In the eighth, Carew walked and Timbrook was hit by a pitch. After a fly out and a steal, Ferguson brought home two more. The senior has a team-best five driven in so far this season. 

Smetana would work around a one-out single in the ninth, his only blemish in his two scoreless innings to seal the victory. 

The victory moves Kent State to 2-1 on the season. They will stay in the Sunshine state this week, traveling to Coral Gables to take on the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and can been seen on ACC Digital Network Extra, part of the Watch ESPN app. 

FLORENCE, Ala. – The Ohio baseball team (3-1) clinched the series victory after taking down North Alabama (1-3), 6-4, on Sunday afternoon at Mike Lane Field.
Sophomore RHP Braxton Kelly (Ulysses, Ky.) tossed 5.0 innings in relief out of the bullpen for his first win of the year. Kelly allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out five batters.

Junior LHP Brett Manis (Port Huron, Mich.) shut the door in the ninth for his second save of the weekend. Manis struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning to earn the save.

Junior RHP Chace Harris (New Marshfield, Ohio) started the game for Ohio and tossed 2.0 innings and struck out two batters while allowing two earned runs. Junior RHP Edward Kutt IV allowed one run in the eighth inning and fanned one batter.

At the plate, Ohio was led by senior RF Trevor Hafner (Perrysburg, Ohio) with three RBI. Hafner was 2-for-5 with two singles, a run scored and a sacrifice fly.

Redshirt sophomore RF Michael Richardson (Cambridge, Md.) and redshirt sophomore LF Trevor Lukkes (Tustin, Calif.) each drove in one RBI. Richardson finished 1-for-4 with a single, a run and a walk while Lukkes was 1-for-4 with a single.

Redshirt freshman 2B Xavier Haendiges (Salem, Ind.) reached three times with a single and two walks and scored two runs. Redshirt junior SS Joe Weisenseel (Strongsville, Ohio) scored one run after reaching on a single.

As a team, Ohio had seven hits and reached six times on walks.

Ohio took the lead in the first on a Hafner single that scored Richardson.

UNA scored twice in the third inning on a sacrifice fly from Ben Kiefer and a groundout to the pitcher.

OU scored four times in the fifth inning. Weisenseel reached on a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher after an error which brought home redshirt junior Dan McCauley (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to tie the game. Richardson then brought home Haendiges, who reached on a single. Hafner immediately singled to score Weisenseel to go up 4-2. With two outs in the inning, Lukkes singled to bring home Hafner, who had advanced to second base on a balk.

Ohio extended its lead to 6-2 in the sixth inning when Hafner hit a sacrifice fly to left field that brought home Haendiges, who reached on a walk, advanced to second on a Weisenseel single and to third on a passed ball.

UNA scored in the seventh and eighth both on doubles but was unable to overcome the Ohio advantage.

Manis came in at the top of the ninth and fanned all three batters to give Ohio the 6-4 win.

Ohio will continue nonconference play against Saint Louis next weekend in Lexington, South Carolina. First pitch on Friday is set for 3 p.m.??

WINTER HAVEN, FL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team earned its first win of the 2020 season Sunday with a 12-3 win over the Boston College Eagles at Chain Of Lakes Park.
 
"I'm extremely proud of our guys to bounce back and get the win today," said head coach Mike Kunigonis. "We showed toughness and resilience all weekend. Yesterday was a tough day. We lost two games we could have won and these guys didn't allow a letdown to affect them today. It showed some great mental toughness."
 
The win marked NIU's third victory ever against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. Senior first baseman Jordan Larson (Dodgeville, Wis./College of DuPage) was 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and four runs scored. Alex Rodriguez (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) was 2-for-3 with a game-high three RBI. Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) also was 2-for-3 and scored four runs.
 
"Jordan had a really good approach at the plate today," Kunigonis said. "He really stayed within himself and had a great day. Alex had a big two-out hit for us today as well. That's what ends up winning games. We scored three runs on two-out hits which is great."
 
Boston College (3-1) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first on an RBI groundout from Joe Suozzi. The Huskies got that run back in the top of the second as Rodriguez delivered a two-out run-scoring single to score Larson from second base. NIU then took the lead in the top of the third. Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) led off with a double, followed by a double from Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) to score Dunham and put the Huskies up 2-1. After a Lonteen walk, Larson loaded the bases with a bunt single up the third base line. With one out, Rodriguez drew a walk to score Szczasny and make the score 3-1.
 
NIU (1-3) put the pressure on Boston College to get out of the inning. After a strikeout for the second out, Eagles catcher Peter Burns threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt allowing Lonteen to score and Larson and Rodriguez to advance 90 feet. Matt Barnes (Bloomington, Ill./Heartland C.C.) drew the third walk of the inning to load the bases and chase Eagles starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan from the game. Reliever Michael Marzonie came in the game and promptly threw a wild pitch that allowed Larson to score and give the Huskies a 5-1 lead.
 
The Eagles scored a run in the bottom of the third to make the score 5-2, but that would be the last run Boston College scored off of NIU starting pitcher Erik Hedmark (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown). Hedmark allowed just two runs on four hits in six innings, walking two while striking out four. The Huskies gave Hedmark all the run support he needed with a run in both the fourth and the fifth to go up 7-2.
 
"Erik threw a ton of strikes and that's the key to the weekend," said Kunigonis. "He pounded the zone and put the defense in a good rhythm and the next thing you know, everyone's playing well. It was the start we needed out of him and he did a fantastic job."
 
NIU put the game away in the sixth, scoring three runs to take a 10-2 lead. Lonteen and Larson led off the inning with back-to-back doubles to make the score 8-2.  After a one-out walk by Rodriguez, Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) and Barnes hit consecutive RBI singles to make the score 10-2.  The Huskies tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh to cap a stretch of seven unanswered runs that put NIU ahead 12-2.
 
Next weekend NIU heads to Southeast Missouri State for a four-game series against the RedHawks, starting Friday, February 21 at 3 p.m.