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Rapid start powers Kent State baseball team past YSU
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Youngstown State center fielder Mike Accardi can’t hang on to a fly ball in the rain during Wednesday’s game against Kent State at Schoonover Stadium in Kent. The Penguins fell to the Golden Flashes, 10-2, in six innings.
By Tom Williams
KENT
Few sports require patience quite like baseball.
About 20 minutes after it began, the outcome already was determined in Wednesday’s Youngstown State-Kent State game at Schoonover Stadium. The Golden Flashes (9-8) scored seven times in their first at-bat on their way to a rain-shortened 10-2 victory.
But the game was far from over as the score presented teaching opportunities for YSU head coach Steve Gillispie and his staff.
Although Penguins starter Ryan Krokos faced 10 batters in the first inning. Gillispie sent him back to the mound.
“We made a couple of tweaks in his mechanics and a little bit in his arm slot,” Gillispie said. “We felt he needed to face more hitters.”
Errors and shaky defense played a role in the Penguins (2-14) getting roughed up. After Jon Wilson drew a leadoff walk, Penguins center fielder Mike Accardi dropped a fly ball for a 1-0 Golden Flashes lead.
Zarley Zalewski’s RBI double was followed by T.J. Sutton’s RBI single off second baseman Phil Lipari’s glove for a 3-0 score. Left fielder Alex Larivee then waved at Tommy Monnot’s RBI double, allowing Sutton to score.
An error by third baseman Brent Gillespie and a walk set up Wilson’s two-run triple to right-center field for a 7-0 advantage.
“Obviously, he ‘mislocated’ a couple of times and walked a couple of guys that you just can’t [allow for a] quality start,” Gillispie said.
Given a second chance, Krokos faced four batters in the second inning and six in the third. Conner Simmonetti’s solo homer gave the Flashes an 8-0 lead.
“I thought he threw the ball well,” said Gillispie of the second inning. “As we were trying to make that change, the reward far outweighed the risk in getting him back out there.”
In his third start, Krokos (0-2) allowed four earned runs to drop his ERA to 17.28.
Golden Flashes freshman Andy Ravel (2-1, 5.02 ERA) earned the victory, allowing no runs in the five innings he pitched.
“He set the tone for us on the mound,” Kent State head coach Jeff Duncan said. “He threw strikes, he had very good stuff.
“For a freshman, he’s a very dynamic pitcher.”
The Penguins tagged reliever Jared Skolnicki for two runs in the sixth inning. Jake Ross opened the frame by reaching second base on an error by second baseman Justin Wagler. He scored when Lipari doubled off the left-field wall.
Lipari came home on pinch-hitter Kevin Hix’s ground out.
Much of the game was played in a light rain. Before the bottom of the sixth inning could begin, rain forced a suspension. Over the next 50 minutes, the tarps for home plate and the pitcher’s mound were put on and removed three times.
A tornado test siren went off, adding to the weather confusion because the umpires weren’t sure if it was a test.
“Once we did get confirmation that it was a test, it started raining again when the radar looked fairly clear,” Gillispie said. “It was kind of a tough thing to call. There was a window and we wanted to play, to get in as much as we could.
“Whatever the forecast was, it was throwing us change-ups,” Gillispie said. “It’s tough to predict that part of playing in early spring.”