Still locked-in at the plate after their 21-inning thriller victory against Kentucky on Friday night, the Kent State Golden Flashes pulled off yet another upset with an impressive 7-3 win over the No. 1 seeded Purdue Boilermakers in Saturday's Regional winner's game.
The two teams opened the game each sending a runner across the plate in the first inning, but it quickly became evident that Kent State was merely warming up, as they pounded Purdue starter Lance Breedlove for five more runs in the second inning alone to break the game wide open. In an early 6-2 hole, the Boilermakers would manage to score just one more time throughout the final seven innings against Kent State starter Ryan Bores.
Bores, who went all nine innings and scattered nine hits to pick up the win, fanned only two Purdue batters during a performance that featured a bevy of both ground and fly ball outs. Offensively, the Flashes racked up 13 hits as a team against a usually stout Purdue pitching staff, as seniors Jimmy Rider and David Lyon each tallied three-hit games. Clean-up hitter George Roberts also continued his strong postseason with a clutch three-RBI game.
Kent State will now await the winner of Kentucky and Purdue's elimination game for a Saturday evening tilt at 8:00 pm EST. With a win there, the Flashes would punch their ticket to next week's Super Regionals. Due to the fact that Kent State has not yet lost a game however, a defeat on Sunday would set up a winner-take-all game on Monday evening.
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