KENT, Ohio – The Saint Joseph's baseball team split a pair of games at Kent State on Sunday, falling to the Golden Flashes by a 3-2 score in the opener before three Hawk pitchers combined for a four-hit shutout in a 5-0 win in the series finale.
 
Game 1: Kent State 3, Saint Joseph's 2 (F/7)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kent State (11-12) got on the board in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Tim Orr.
 
• Ryan Picollo drew the Hawks level in the top of the fourth, singling home Ryan Weingartner, before a sac fly by Connor Ashby gave the Golden Flashes a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the frame.
 
• That's where it stayed until the seventh, when four walks – three with two outs – tied things up for the Hawks.  Conlan Wall worked the final free pass to bring home Tim Dickinson with the tying run.
 
• Unfortunately for the Crimson and Gray, a walk, a stolen base, and a pair of wild pitches led to the winning run crossing the plate for the hosts.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Jordan Kolenda tossed a third of an inning of relief to earn the win for Kent State, while Luke Gabrysh allowed a run without a hit in two and two-thirds to take the loss.
 
• Ryan DeSanto started the game for the Hawks, allowing two runs in one hit in four innings.  Calvin Bickerstaff allowed an unearned run on three hits in five innings for KSU.
 
Game 2: Saint Joseph's 5, Kent State 0
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (9-12) jumped out to a big lead with a four-run third inning.  Walks to Joey Gale and Jakob Reed and a bunt single by Wall loaded the bases with nobody out for Weingartner, who singled home Gale for the game's first run.
 
• Three batters later, Dickinson laced a single to right to score Reed and Wall to triple the advantage.  Weingartner would then score on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 4-0.
 
• Wall would then hit into a fielder's choice in the sixth to score Luke Zimmerman, who had walked to start the inning, to push the margin to five.
 
• That's all the Hawks would need, as Matt McShane and Alec Rodriguez would hold the Golden Flashes to just two base runners over the final four innings to secure the win.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Domenic Picone got the start in the nightcap, allowing three hits while striking out 10 in five shutout innings to earn the win.  Joe Miceli allowed four runs on five hits in three innings to take the loss.
 
• Dickinson and Weingartner had two hits apiece for the Hawks, while Dickinson drove in a pair of runs as well.
 
• The Hawk pitching staff held the Golden Flashes to just five hits on the day across both games, and 11 hits in the three-game series.  The win for Saint Joseph's also ended Kent State's 21-game home winning streak, which had been the second-longest active run in the country (North Carolina, 23 games).
 
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's visits Lafayette on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Liberty Bell Classic.