The Kent State Golden Flashes baseball team came back from a 5-0 first inning deficit to take the rubber match over the Ball State Cardinals by a score of 10-6.

With the Kent State win there is now a three-way tie at the top of the standings in the Mid-American Conference with Kent State, Ball State, and Miami (OH) all sitting at 18-6 in conference play.

The Cardinals jumped on Kent State starter Evan Holewinski and tagged him for five earned runs in the bottom of the first inning. But the right-hander settled in quite nicely after and pitched two more shutout innings.

The Flashes would get their first run on the scoreboard in the top of the third thanks to a Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe sacrifice fly out to right field. Another run would come across for the Flashes in the top of the third thanks to a Sawyer Solitaria RBI ground out. Jake Casey would bring in the third run of the day for Kent State on an RBI double in the fourth.

Kent State would take the lead in the fifth thanks to a Dom Kibler RBI single through the left side and a Landon Tiesing two-run single that dropped in front of the defender in left field.

The two MAC powerhouses exchanged single tallies in the sixth with Casey hitting a solo shot over the wall in right field.

Two more runs would cross home in the seventh on a 2-run throwing error by the Cardinals shortstop. Brody Williams would go on to add some more insurance in the eighth thanks to an RBI double off the wall in left.

Eric Chalus was dominant again for the Flashes out of the bullpen. The senior pitched the final 5.1 innings allowing just one run on three hits en route to his fifth win on the season and third is his last three outings.

On Deck for the Flashes

Kent State will return to the friendly confines of Schoonover Stadium next weekend as they host the Western Michigan Broncos for senior weekend. The two teams are set to meet May 9-11 with a 6 p.m. start on Friday, 3 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday.