April 30, 2010
Final Stats
KENT, Ohio-The Kent State baseball team got five runs in the seventh inning on the strength of back-to-back homers by right fielder Ben Klafczynski and left fielder Anthony Gallas to slip by visiting Ohio 5-4 Friday afternoon at Schoonover Stadium.
Kent improved to 26-18 overall and 11-5 in the Mid-American Conference, while Ohio dropped to 13-28 and 6-10 in league play.
KSU center fielder Jared Humphreys went 3-for-4 at the plate, while shortstop Jimmy Rider and third baseman Travis Shaw each registered a pair of hits.
Ohio was led by two hits and two runs from first baseman Jerod Yakubik, who extended his hitting streak to 22 games. Center fielder Gauntlett Eldemire and third baseman Bryan Barnes knocked in two runs apiece.
Kent State reliever Brennen Glass (4-0) secured the win, tossing one and two-thirds innings, allowing one run on two hits. Kyle McMillen nailed down his fourth save, allowing just one hit in the ninth inning. Starter David Starn also had a quality start for the Golden Flashes, allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks in six innings of work.
Ohio starter Jason Moulton (1-3) fell victim to Kent’s big seventh inning after keeping the home team off the scoreboard for the game’s first six frames. He went six and one-third innings, allowing all five runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Bobcat reliever Rex Ingham got the final five outs, surrendering two hits with a strikeout.
Eldemire blasted his eighth home run of the season with a shot to center in the first inning, plating Yakubik, who was hit by a Starn offering a batter earlier.
The game remained 2-0 Ohio until the fifth inning when Yakubik led off the frame with a double to right center, went to third on a flyout to right by left fielder Robert Maddox III and came home on an RBI groundout to first by Barnes.
After Kent’s seventh inning runs, Ohio was able to slice the deficit back to one when Maddox and Barnes led off the eighth inning with back-to-back doubles to left and center, respectively. Pinch-hitter Tyler Backstrom nearly tied the affair when he ripped the first pitch he saw from KSU reliever Brett Weibley back through the middle, but Barnes was thrown out at home after Humphreys cut him down with a pinpoint throw from center to end the inning.
Ohio threatened again in its last at-bat when pinch hitter Matt Keller led off the inning with a bloop single to center and was sacrificed over to second by shortstop Wesley O’Neill. Keller then went to third on Yakubik’s groundout to first, but wound up stranded there when McMillen coaxed a Bobcat flyout to end the game.
Due to inclement weather in the forecast for Sunday, the two teams will wrap up the series Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at noon.
