The Kent State Golden Flashes needed more than double the time to win their first game in the double-elimination NCAA Regional tournament on Friday, beating the Kentucky WIldcats 7-6 in 21 innings. That effort earned Kent State (42-17) a matchup with the No. 1 seeded Purdue Boilermakers (45-12) on Saturday night in the winners bracket.
Due to the Kent State and Kentucky marathon, the Boilermakers had to wait until 10:40 p.m. to start their game, but then took care of business, beating the No. 4 seeded Valparaiso Crusaders, 7-2. Starting pitcher Joe Haase went seven innings to keep the Boilers bullpen fresh for Saturday's game. Purdue expects to start senior right-hander Lance Breedlove.
Kent State had to use five pitchers to make it through their wild game with Kentucky so the Golden Flashes will have to battle through the fatigue and hope for strong effort on the hill from junior right-hander Ryan Bores.
The winner of this game advances to the Regional championship game on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. while the loser will have to win an elimination game against the Valparaiso/Kentucky winner at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday to advance to the championship game.
Here's the info for Saturday's game:
WHEN: Saturday, June 2, 2012
WHERE: U.S. Steel Yard, Gary, IN
TIME: 8:00 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network
For more on the Kent State Golden Flashes and other local teams playing in the college baseball postseason, check out this SB Nation Cleveland StoryStream.