Bowling Green State University Athletics
Golden Flashes Continue Offensive Trend, 18-8
May 23, 2002 | Baseball
May 23, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Kent State University continued a trend that started with the first game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Golden Flashes pounded out seven homeruns, tying a tourney single-game record, in an 18-8 win over Central Michigan University Thursday (May 23). The tournament is being held at Bowling Green's Steller Field.
With the win, the Golden Flashes (35-19) are the tournament's lone undefeated team, and advance to Friday's (May 24) third game. The Chippewas (30-24) drop to the loser's bracket, and will meet host Bowling Green in an elimination game at 10:00 a.m. Friday. The middle game of the day will pit Miami vs. Ball State.
The Flashes tied a tourney homer record that was set earlier in the day. Miami had seven round-trippers in a 14-13 victory over Eastern Michigan.
KSU scored in every inning except the fifth and ninth. The Flashes got four runs in the top of the first on three hits, all homers. Eric O'Brien led off the game with a homer to center, and Brady Glass and Tom Martin had back-to-back homers later in the inning.
KSU scored twice in the second, before the Chippewas got on the board in the bottom of the inning on a long homer by Keith Sampsell that cleared the scoreboard in right-center. Sampsell homered twice in the game, clearing the scoreboard each time.
Kent State took an 8-1 lead after a two-run shot by Chad Kinyon in the third. Kinyon was one of four Flashes with three hits in the game, joining Phil LoCascio, Chris Welsch and Eric Holick.
Central responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on a two-run single by Mike Gates. Gates (three) and Sampsell (four) combined for seven of CMU's eight RBI on the day.
The Flashes scored a single run in the fourth, on LoCascio's leadoff homer, but the Chippewas pulled to within 9-7 with a four-run fifth. After a Gates RBI single, Sampsell hit his second homer, a three-run shot.
But, KSU got a single run in the sixth, then scored four runs in each of the next two innings. In the seventh, a two-run homer by Holick was followed by a pair of bases-loaded walks. O'Brien hit his second homer of the day in the eighth.
In Thursday's three games at the MAC Tournament, hitters smashed a total of 28 homers, bringing the tourney total to 39 in six games.
Chris White got the win for KSU. White (5-3) allowed seven runs (five earned) and seven hits in five innings, walking two and striking out four. Three KSU relievers combined to allow just one run and three hits over the final four frames.
Starter Jeff Garner (4-4) took the loss for CMU, allowing eight runs and seven hits in three innings.
Tim Bullinger had three hits for the Chippewas, while Gates, Sampsell and Scott Pickens had two apiece.
Brady Glass had four RBI for KSU, while Eric O'Brien had three. Every batter in the Flashes' lineup had at least one hit.
The winning team has scored at least 13 runs in each of the tournament's six games. There have been at least 17 runs scored in each game, including 26 or more in each of Thursday's three contests. The six teams have combined for a total of 146 runs in the six games (24.3 runs per game).
