Story courtesy of Kent State Sports Information
Kent State 9, No. 2 Mississippi State 5
Boxscore
STARKVILLE, MS- Luke Albright pitched into the seventh and Ben Carew and Michael McNamara had multi-rbi games as Kent State knocked off #2 Mississippi State 9-5 on Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.
The victory is the first win over a ranked program since Kent State topped #7 Arkansas in March of the 2018 season. The second-ranked Bulldogs are the highest ranked team Kent State has defeated since toppling the top-seeded Florida Gators in the 2012 College World Series. The nine runs scored are the most against Mississippi State this year.
Albright held the Diamond Dogs to five hits over six and two-thirds innings. The righty allowed one run while walking and striking out four. He was efficient in his outing, retiring the side in order in the first, second and fifth. Albright departed after 90 pitches in the seventh inning and two runners on. Jack Zimmerman got the out of the inning and took it the rest of the way. The Bulldogs scored late but the lefty slammed the door in the ninth for the victory.
Kent State took advantage of runners in scoring position on Saturday, knocking out five hits. Michael McNamara started his memorable day in the second, singling home a run with the bases loaded. Cam Touchette followed with a bases-loaded walk and the Golden Flashes took a 2-0 lead and would never look back.
Colin Matthews led off the fourth with a homer to left field to make it 3-1. After a Kevin Dobos single and a McNamara walk, Touchette reached on a bunt single to load the bases for Ben Carew. The senior delivered a single to left to stretch the lead to 4-1. Kent State blew it open in the fifth, Mathews followed a Mack Timbrook single with a double down the left field line. That set up McNamara with a wall-scraping double to left. Two batters later, Carew singled home McNamara and when the dust settled, it was 7-1 Kent State.
It stayed that way until the eighth when Mississippi State scratched home a run to make it 7-2. The teams traded runs in the ninth as both teams scored runs on infield throwing errors. With runners on first and second, Zimmerman got the ground ball he needed, and the force play to cap the win.
Albright got the win to improve to 2-1 on the season as Kent State moves to 4-3 overall. The loss drops the second-ranked Bulldogs to 7-3 overall. The teams will meet for the rubber match on Sunday, with a 1 p.m. ET first pitch.
