The Kent State baseball team will look to continue the momentum from their Tuesday night road win over Penn State from the Big Ten, as they prepare for Northern Illinois this weekend in Dekalb. The win over the Nittany Lions Tuesday came in a hostile environment with over 5,000 fans in attendance, a PSU program record.
Going back to last weekend, the Flashes were able to salvage a game on Sunday in Toledo in a series filled with wind, home runs and wild run scoring. The Flashes hit a program record 10 home runs on Sunday with contributions coming from everyone, winning 18-12 in extra innings.
Jeff Duncan was a guest on Flash Talk this week and said the team is battling the injury bug, as well as getting accustomed to left handed starting pitching. The KSU lineup, which features several left handed batting regulars, got contributions from switch hitter Lance McDonald and right handed hitting Payton Ebbing on Sunday.
McDonald was 3-6 with two home runs and four RBI Sunday while Ebbing was 2-5 with a home run.
Injuries can give opportunities to others and build depth, while trying to combat left handed pitching can also provide more at bats for right handers as Duncan navigates the lineup the rest of the season.
“Because I feel like we have a lineup that’s suited well against a righty and we’re trying to figure it out against a lefty, and we haven’t seen a whole lot of lefties until this weekend, and we’re always growing and learning as the season goes on and we haven’t hit our stride yet,” Duncan said on the weekly show that airs on Bally Sports. “Obviously we’re 8-7 in the league, we’re in the mix in the tournament. However, I’m looking forward to hopefully hitting our stride soon.”
The Flashes will look to hit that stride this weekend in Dekalb against a NIU team that comes in at 6-9 in the league and 11-24 overall. The Huskie starting pitching has struggled this year, with no starters with an ERA under seven.
After a wild, windy last weekend, Duncan says Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park at NIU can also be an adventure to play in.
“It’s another park, between Toledo, Bowling Green, Ball State and Northern, those four parks can get real finicky at times, but sometimes it can play the opposite. I’ve been at Northern where it’s really nice, warm weather, the wind blows in and the ball goes nowhere. When it’s cold the ball flies out, so the field is backwards literally. So that’s a really tricky field to play in.”
Game times are set for this weekend at 4, 3 and 2pm. The weekend series will be streamed on NIU All-Access, fans can purchase a weekend pass to watch the stream.
ROAD TO AVON: The Flashes currently at 8-7, are tied for fifth place with Eastern Michigan, who KSU holds the tiebreaker with. Bowling Green (15-0), Western Michigan (11-4), Toledo (12-6) and Ball State (10-8) hold the top four spots.
BGSU at 15-0, is one of the top stories in the nation. They are off to the best start in MAC history. Led by former Kent State pitcher Kyle Hallock, the Falcons program was shut down momentarily in 2020. KSU hosts BGSU next weekend.
The tournament is back in Avon this year after a brief hiatus. The way the Flashes have the potential to play, and should they qualify, nobody will want to see the MAC’s perennial power in a tournament setting that usually sees them with the most fans due to the proximity of the tournament and the past success.