KENT, OH — The Golden Eagle baseball team went on the road for one of the bigger upsets in recent program history, defeating Division I Kent State by a 10-5 score at Schoonover Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Golden Eagles stunned the Golden Flashes in the top of the second inning, taking advantage of a crucial error and a handful of wild pitches to put up six runs and take a significant lead. Connor Booth led off with a single and advanced on the on the first wild pitch of the inning from Andrew Hendrickx, and later he and Will Martinez moved into scoring position on the second errant throw from the Kent State hurler.
Tyler Meachum plated the first run of the night with an infield single to shortstop, and Scotty McManamon hit a chopper to third base that was mishandled by Kolton Schaller and allowed Martinez to make it 2-0.
With the inning extended, the Golden Eagles were not done. With two outs and runners on the corners, Clarion executed a double-steal that allowed Meachum to sprint in from third and make it 3-0. Ethan Giangiulio rapped a two-run single up the middle of the infield to bring home Kasey Shughart and Caden Contant, and Daren Byers closed out the second inning, scoring with a double to bring Giangilulio across.
Starting pitcher Griffin Snyder ceded a run in the bottom of the second inning, but that would be one of only two times the Golden Flashes would get a run across against him. Snyder went 4.2 innings and allowed just two runs, picking up his first pitching win of the season. The bullpen helped the lead hold up as well. After Kent State loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, trailing 6-2, Clarion lefty Bobby Curry entered and quickly got ahead of Aidan Hinds with two strikes. He induced a weak tapper to shortstop that McManamon flipped to second base for the third and final out.
Nolan Just and Reilly Shafer went on to throw four innings of effective relief, with the latter going 2.1 innings and allowing just one hit and one run.
Clarion looked for a spot of insurance, though, and they got it in the sixth inning. Meachum led off the inning with a triple to center field and Contant—a Kent native—brought him home with an opposite field single to right field. Shughart later scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-2, and Meachum wrapped an RBI single in the seventh inning to give the Golden Eagles a 9-3 advantage.
The Golden Flashes crept back into the game in the late innings, pulling to within 9-5 after a Clarion error helped Tim Orr to score. The Golden Eagles got one more insurance run in the ninth, with Shughart pushing a ball to right to score Alfredo Hurtado and make it 10-5. Shafer walked the leadoff batter in the bottom of the ninth but settled after that, whiffing Ripken Reese and forcing a shallow fly ball from Josh Johnson that Shughart gloved for the final out.
Contant celebrated the return to his hometown with an excellent effort at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and three walks drawn. He was one of six Golden Eagles with two or more hits, led by Meachum’s 3-for-5 day that included two runs scored and two RBIs. Giangiulio also drove in a pair.
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