Baseball

FLY THE FLAG! Golden Flashes Down Buckeyes in Columbus for Second Straight Season

Tuesday’s Baseball Results
Kent State 8, Ohio 5
Central Michigan 18, Mercyhurst 14
Bowling Green 9. Dayton 5
Toledo 12, Northern Kentucky 3
Michigan 3, Western Michigan 2
Kentucky 10, Ball State 3
Austin Peay 18, Ohio 5 (7 innings)
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Kent State 8, Ohio 5
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the second consecutive season, the Kent State Golden Flashes made the trip to Columbus and left with a victory. Behind a dramatic five-run ninth inning, the Flashes rallied past Ohio State 8-5 on Tuesday at the Buckeyes' home park, improving to 12-4 on the year and notching their third win over a Power Four program this season.

Kent State struck first, plating two runs in the opening frame. Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe reached on a hit by pitch, and Sawyer Solitaria doubled him to third, and when Solitaria advanced on a passed ball, Rienstra-Kiracofe scored. Alejandro Covas then singled up the middle to bring home Solitaria and give the Flashes a 2-0 lead.

Ohio State chipped away, tying the game at two by the fourth inning on a Lee Ellis solo home run in the third and an unearned run in the fourth. The Buckeyes then took the lead for good, or so it seemed in the sixth, when Alex Bemis launched a two-run shot to right center to make it 4-2. A Hunter Klotz sacrifice fly in the seventh pulled Kent State to within one, but Henry Kaczmar answered right back with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to push the Ohio State lead back to 5-3 heading into the ninth.

Then Flashes took over. Grady Mee drew a leadoff walk to start the ninth, and Covas followed with a two-run home run to left field to knot the game at five instantly. The Flashes weren't done. After a walk to Nolan Belcher and a Brady Marshall single, Luke Matthews drew a bases-loaded walk to set the table for Max Humphrey, who delivered the knockout blow, a three-run double down the right field line that plated Matthews, Marshall, and Belcher to put Kent State ahead 8-5 for good.

Covas was the offensive catalyst for the Flashes, going 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Humphrey, coming off the bench, provided the decisive blow with his three-RBI double. Jordan Kolenda earned the win in relief, tossing a clean one-third of an inning, and Peyton Williams nailed down his second save of the season with a scoreless ninth.

Central Michigan 18, Mercyhurst 14
Box Score
ERIE, Pa. – War and Peace, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, cousin Eddie's Christmas Vacation visit, Central Michigan's baseball game with Mercyhurst.

We'll take things with seemingly no end for 400 Alex.

Central Michigan scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday to pull out an 18-14 nonconference baseball win over the Lakers at Mercyhurst Baseball Field.

The win lifted the Chippewas to 7-7. Their game scheduled for Wednesday at Youngstown State has been postponed. CMU returns to the field for a three-game Mid-American Conference series at Kent State this weekend.

Tuesday's game, interrupted twice by rain delays, featured 30 walks (20 by Central Michigan pitchers), 12 hit batters (10 by Mercyhurst pitchers), 17 pitchers (10 by CMU), and 24 baserunners (a dozen by each team).

It began at 1 p.m. and finished a few minutes after 6.

"I told the guys at the end that we can clean some stuff up, but I'd rather be cleaning it up after a win than after a loss," CMU coach Jake Sabol said. "We walked out of there with one; I'd rather walk out of there with (a win) playing poorly, than walk out of there with an L (after) playing really good.

"I take a lot of blame for the way we played today. I don't think we particularly had these guys prepared and ready to go. Fortunately, we came out with a W, but we've got to be better motivated and be ready to go."

Down 14-12 entering the ninth inning, the Chippewas scored six runs. Rees Campanale drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, 14-14, and then Miguel Correra Jr. hit a sacrifice fly to put the Chippewas ahead for good.

Cole Prout was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in another run and then Joey Milto hit a two-run single for the final margin.

Max Hammond (1-1), the 10th CMU pitcher, worked the ninth for the win. He got the final out on a groundball, stranding two runners.

"We had to use a lot of guys," Sabol said. "We knew that coming in, and we knew it was going to be tough. The weather conditions were not very good. The weather was definitely a factor for a lot of it.

"No one wanted to kind of step up and take advantage of an opportunity and shut it down when we needed it. An unfortunate scenario where we just couldn't pick each other up."

Brady Krzciok and Harrison Bowman each homered and doubled to lead the Chippewas' 12-hit attack.

The Chippewas scored eight runs in the fifth inning in building a 9-1 lead. Mercyhurst struck back with five runs in the bottom of the inning, and then added seven more over the next two frames to re-take the lead, 13-9.

The Chippewas scored nine runs in their final two turns at bat.

"I was proud of the offense today," Sabol said. "They just kept plugging away, and they kind of carried us through the entire game.

"We did some great things early in the game and we had to kind of regroup and do it again a couple different times after they came back."

Bowling Green 9. Dayton 5
Box Score
DAYTON, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team registered their second win in the last three games, topping the Dayton Flyers Tuesday afternoon (March 10) by a score of 9-5. Dayton jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Falcons found their footing and battled back to tie it, 4-4, in the sixth. A four-run seventh inning put Bowling Green in front, rolling into the 9-5 final score. As a team, the Orange and Brown registered 12 hits with all nine players in the starting lineup reaching base at least once. Eight of the nine logged a hit as well as eight of the nine drawing a walk. The Falcons will turn back to conference play for their next contest, opening a three-game series at Miami (OH) on Friday (March 13) with a 3 p.m. first pitch. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Bowling Green put the first runner of the game on base in the first with Anthony Mitta drawing a two-out walk for the Falcons. Dayton tallied the first runs of the day with a three-run first for a 3-0 lead.
  • The Falcons tallied their first hit in the top of the third with Lance Vickers dropping a single into shallow left center. With two outs in the inning, Griffin Scheiderer drew a walk with a wild pitch moving both runners. Mitta stepped up and laced a triple off the center field wall, scoring both Vickers and Scheiderer to cut into the lead, 3-2.
  • Bowling Green kept it rolling in the fourth inning. Carter Mottice led off with a double to left center. Vickers came through again, this time singling to first. The ball ricocheted off the fielder's glove into the outfield, scoring Mottice for a 3-3 tie. 
  • Dayton broke the tie with a run in the bottom of the fifth for a 4-3 advantage.
  • The Falcons answered in the sixth. Mottice was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a Brayden Curlis bunt. A walk to Vickers put two on with a throwing error on a pick-off pushing Mottice to third. Sam Seidel laid down a bunt to try and score Mottice, but a bang-bang play at home went Dayton's way. Scheiderer stepped in and delivered a single through the left side of the infield to score Vickers and tie the game, 4-4, nonetheless.
  • In the bottom of the sixth, Dayton worked the bases loaded with one out, but CJ Boudreaux entered from the bullpen and worked out of the jam without damage to keep the tie intact. 
  • In the seventh inning, Zack Horky reached on an infield single, setting up a two-run home run off the bat of Pauly Mancino that landed well beyond the left center wall for a 6-4 Bowling Green lead.
  • Mottice kept it going by drawing a walk and forcing a pitching change for Dayton. Curlis welcomed the new arm with a double into the left field corner, scoring Mottice from first. Seidel continued the rally with a single through the right side to bring home Curlis, making it an 8-4 BGSU lead at the seventh inning stretch. 
  • Dayton added one in the eighth, moving the score to 8-5.
  • The Falcons responded in the ninth. Mancino drew a walk and Mottice was hit by a pitch to put two on. Curlis lifted a ball into center, but a stumble from the center fielder resulted in the ball dropping, bringing home Mancino for a 9-5 lead.
Toledo 12, Northern Kentucky 3
Box Score
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Behind a dominant bullpen effort combined with timely hitting and speed on the bases, the Toledo baseball team took a midweek contest at Northern Kentucky, knocking off the Norse, 12-3 at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex on Tuesday.

The Rockets (7-8) won their fourth game in the row. Toledo took a 2-0 lead in the third inning and re-took the lead an inning later, 4-3. UT then held the one-run advantage until the eighth, when Toledo plated two more runs, and exploded for sixth more in the ninth.

Six Rockets tallied multi-hit games, including four from Carson McCaleb and three from Cade Baker. Toledo also stole 12 bases as a team, its most in a game since at least 2011, with three swipes each coming from Baker and Charlie Scholvin, and two from Saborn Campbell. The Rockets have now scored double-digit runs in the last three games.

After Michael Fliss worked the first four innings, the trio of Nate Langbehn, Arturo Ormaza and Braden Curry combined for five scoreless and hitless innings to finish off the game.

How it Happened
  • Carson McCaleb's RBI single in the second put Toledo up, 1-0. Saborn Campbell delivered a two-out RBI single in the third to double the lead.
  • A two-run single tied the game, before a sac fly gave NKU a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third.
  • With two outs, Troy Sudbrook singled to tie the game, then came around to score on a wild pitch to give Toledo a 4-3 lead midway through the fourth.
  • Toledo loaded the bases in the eighth before Luke Walton smashed a two-run single for a 6-3 Rocket lead.
  • Sudbrook and Alex McCranie delivered two-run doubles before Campbell and McCaleb added two-run singles for sixth-run ninth and a 12-3 Toledo lead.