The University of Akron Athletics
Flashes Down Zips in Diamond Classic For Kids
May 21 | Baseball
For the fourth time in program history, the Akron and Kent State baseball programs came together for a noble cause, competing in the annual Diamond Classic for Kids. Unfortunately for the Blue and Gold it was all Flashes as Kent State downed Akron, 9-2 in front of 1,827 fans at Canal Park.
The Zips struck first, putting a pair of runs up in the first but were held scoreless across the next eight frames as Kent proceeded to score nine unanswered runs and walk away with today's victory.
Akron drops to 21-32 overall and 3-22 in Mid-American Conference play with the loss while Kent State improves to 32-22 and 16-9 in the MAC to remain tied atop the MAC East standings.
Sophomore David Starn (7-2) was lights out for the visitors to earn the win, surrendering just two earned runs on six scattered hits while striking out five Zips. Andrew Brown (4-6) worked four frames and surrendered seven runs on eight hits striking out two in today's loss.
Drew Turocy and Jake Plata each finished with two hits apiece while Plata registered his team-leading 27th walk in today's loss.
The afternoon began on a promising note for the Zips as back-to-back singles from Turocy and Plata set the stage for a RBI double off the bat of Kyle Hallett. John Turk's RBI groundout would account for the second run of the stanza and give Akron the early 2-0 lead.
After Kent State plated a run in the second, four hits combined with an Akron error enabled the Flashes to plate three atop the fourth and gain a 4-2 advantage.
The trouble continued for Akron in the fifth as the Golden Flashes saw five runs cross the plate to blow the game open and take today's contest 9-2.
Junior Kevin Kumazec represented a bright spot in today's game as he entered in relief and was stellar, surrendering just one hit to Kent State in four frames while striking out a pair of batters.
Akron and Kent State take the series back to Lee Jackson Field tomorrow at 3 p,m. for Senior Day. The game will be broadcast on the Akron ISP Network and live stats will be available on www.GoZips.com.
