KENT, Ohio – The Western Michigan baseball team could not dig out of an early hole in a 12-5 loss at #23 Kent State on Saturday at KSU's Schoonover Stadium.
 
FINAL SCORE: #23 Kent State 12, Western Michigan 5
LOCATION: Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium (Kent, Ohio)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (16-26, 13-9 MAC) | #23 Kent State (33-13, 18-5)
W: Joe Whitman (7-1) | L: Dane Armbrustmacher (6-4)
 
For the second consecutive day Kent State grabbed an early lead, as it pushed across two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
 
Western Michigan loaded the bases in the third, but could not score.
 
The Golden Flashes took advantage, adding to their lead with two in the bottom of the frame to make it 4-0.
 
Kent State then plated five in the fourth and three in the fifth to extend the margin to 12-0.  
 
WMU got its offense going in the late innings. In the eighth, Jackson Kitchen walked, stole second, his second steal of the day, and scored on a Cade Sullivan single. After a Gavin Doyle double, Sullivan came around to touch home on a Bobby Dearing sacrifice fly.
 
In the ninth, Kitchen brought in the first Bronco run of the frame with a sacrifice fly. Avery Thielman then ripped an RBI double to score Connor Ostrander. Ostrander's single earlier in the inning and Thielman's double were both the first collegiate knocks for the pair of true freshmen. Thielman scored Western Michigan's final run of the contest on a passed ball.
 
The Broncos and Golden Flashes wrap up their three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1 pm.