Pierce

Winning a game for the first time at the College World Series isn’t supposed to easy.

Just ask Kent State.

The Golden Flashes survived shaky relief pitching to protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning and beat Florida 5-4 on Monday. The loss eliminated the top-seeded Gators, who made it to the finals a year ago.

“It wasn’t the prettiest thing in the end,” Kent State coach Scott Stricklin said. “It was gut-wrenching no matter who you were rooting for. Even if you weren’t rooting for anybody, that was tough to watch. But we found a way. That’s what this team has done all year long, and we’re still here.”

The Flashes (47-19) bounced back from an 8-1 loss to Arkansas to post what Stricklin called the biggest win in program history.

“We belong here,” he said. “That’s the most important thing that we wanted as a team, as a program and as a university was to make a statement that we belong here. We’re not a fluke. We’re a really good baseball team.”

Kent State scored four unearned runs and another on a wild pitch, then held on as Florida chipped away at the lead with a run in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh.

The Gators loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against Michael Clark and Josh Pierce, an Avon graduate. 

Pierce fought back from a 3-0 count to strike out Casey Turgeon when Turgeon couldn’t check his swing and got called out on an appeal to the third-base umpire. Justin Shafer flew out to right to end the game, with Pierce pumping his right fist once the ball landed in right fielder T.J. Sutton’s glove.

“It’s an unfortunate way to end the season, but I think Kent State deserves a lot of credit for the way they played today,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “They hung in there, got a big strikeout at the end, and our guys hung in there right to the last out. So we have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Courtesy of Associated Press

Arkansas’ DJ Baxendale bounced back from one of his worst starts of the year to turn in his best.

The junior right-hander held Kent State hitless into the fifth inning and combined with Brandon Moore on a four-hitter Saturday in the Razorbacks’ 8-1 victory that spoiled the Golden Flashes’ first appearance in the College World Series.
Baxendale’s performance was a lot different than his previous outing, when he was hit for five runs in four innings in an 8-1 loss to Baylor in the super regionals.

“Against Baylor, I really felt like I let the team down,” Baxendale said. “To come out here at this stage and be able to get us a victory in Game 1, it was huge for not only my confidence but I think for the team’s as well. We know any time you can win the first game, it just keeps building off that.”

Baxendale and Moore got some unexpected help from the bottom of the lineup. No. 9 batter Jake Wise homered for the first time since February and also hit a two-run single. No. 8 batter Matt Vinson hit a two-run double that gave Arkansas (45-20) a 5-1 lead in the sixth.

“My 3 and 4 holers didn’t get a hit today and we scored eight runs. Somebody got it going,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “That’s a good sign.”

Kent State (46-19), the first team from the Mid-American Conference to make it to the CWS since Eastern Michigan in 1976, couldn’t get much going against Baxendale.

Baxendale didn’t allow a hit until Sawyer Polen’s infield single with two out in the fifth. He held the Flashes scoreless until Jimmy Rider homered in the sixth.

“DJ Baxendale was outstanding,” Kent State coach Scott Stricklin said. “He kept us off balance. His fastball was sharp and he throws the breaking ball when he’s behind in the count. He really competes.”

courtesy of Associated Press

Kent State became the first team to advance from the Mid-American Conference to the NCAA Regional Championship and a berth in the national tournament’s round of 16 known as the Super Regionals.
 
Ranked No. 25 in the nation according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the Golden Flashes (44-17) ran their nation-long winning streak to 20 games – including seven in the post-season – courtesy of the victory over Kentucky (45-18). The 2012 MAC Regular Season and Tournament champions, Kent State has won 35 of its last 42 games – including 24 of 26. The Flashes won a wire-to-wire regular season title and followed it up by going a perfect 4-0 in the MAC Tournament to clinch their fourth straight conference tournament crown.

Kent State, the regional’s No. 3 seed, advanced to its second straight NCAA Regional Winner’s Bracket Final by outlasting Kentucky, 7-6, in 21 innings in the regional opener Friday (June 1) – the second-longest game in the history of the NCAA Tournament – then knocked off the regional host and top seed, No. 16 Purdue, 7-3, Saturday (June 2).

The Golden Flashes now will travel to Eugene, Ore., to square off with No. 10 Oregon next weekend (June 8-11) in a best-of-three-games NCAA Super Regional series at PK Park.