KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Graduate student right-hander
Ricky Kidd delivered 8.0 strong innings to lead the Western Michigan baseball team to a 4-3 victory over Kent State on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the two teams' MAC weekend series.
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 4, Kent State 3
LOCATION: Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (21-18, 15-9 MAC) | Kent State (31-11, 17-7)
W: Ricky Kidd (6-1) |
L: Ben Rabatin (5-2) |
Save: Turner Doran (9)
Western Michigan took advantage of a Kent State error to pick up the game's first run in the bottom of the first.
Drew Howard reached on the miscue, and then came in on a two-out single by
Avery Thielman to open the scoring.
The visitors answered with one in the second to tie it up, 1-1.
The Broncos got Kidd the lead back for good in the third when
Michael Maloney brought
Tanner Mally in to score with a ground ball. With two outs in the frame, another Kent State error allowed Howard to come around. Maloney delivered another two-out run for WMU in the fourth, going the other way for one of his three hits, an RBI single, to make it 4-1.
Kidd faced the minimum in the first after a one-out hit was erased on a double play, one of six frames in which he faced the minimum. The righty tied his career high with 8.0 innings of work, giving up two runs and having three double plays turned behind him. He picked up his team-leading sixth win of the campaign for his efforts.
The Golden Flashes notched a run in the fifth and one in the ninth to trim the margin to 4-3, but
Turner Doran picked up two strikeouts in the ninth inning to close the door and earn his league-leading ninth save of the season. The nine saves are tied for the third-most in a season in WMU history, and his 13 career saves are the fourth-most in program history.
Western Michigan continues its homestand next weekend with a three-game series against Miami. First pitch for Friday's series opener against the RedHawks is scheduled for 3:05 pm. For tickets to any WMU baseball home game, visit
wmubroncos.com/tickets.