The Golden Flashes and Bulls had 19 wins apiece, though Buffalo had one fewer loss after a rainout wasn’t made up. That meant KSU had to beat host Akron, which it did 4-1, and needed Bowling Green to upset Buffalo.

As it turned out, both games entered the bottom of the ninth inning at the same time, 3:15 p.m. KSU had a three-run lead it needed to protect and the Bulls held a one-run lead.

Since these two teams played in late April — Buffalo won all three games by one run — Kent State has been on an 11-1 run to stay alive in the race for the regular-season championship.

Still, KSU needed help, and it wasn’t coming. Buffalo had led the entire game. As Kent State closer Brian Clark took the mound to finish the ninth, players in the KSU dugout were being made aware of what was happening in the final inning of the Buffalo game. KSU coach Scott Stricklin was, too, and through all of them the players on the field were being alerted as well.

Before Clark had recorded the first out of the inning, the Falcons tied Buffalo at 4-4.

“You’ve got guys whispering down the dugout, ‘It’s tied, it’s tied,’ ” Stricklin said.

Once Clark had two outs in the ninth, the big news hit at 3:22 p.m. Bowling Green’s Patrick Lancaster won the game with a walk-off triple, completing an improbable comeback. KSU starting pitcher Casey Wilson put his fingers in a “W” to Evan Campbell, and several players jumped up to the front step of the dugout.

There wasn’t much time to get the word out beyond that. Almost at precisely the time that news came down, Clark got Akron second baseman Derek Sheltrown to hit a weak ground ball back to the mound. Clark bobbled it but made the throw. In a flash, the MAC regular season was over and the trophy was headed to KSU.

Seven minutes earlier, the situation for Kent State was bleak, the hot streak to finish the season not enough. Then there was hope. And then they had done it, before anyone caught their breath.

“We were kind of following it in the dugout to see what was happening and coach Strick said, ‘This out’s for a ring,’ ” said Wilson, who threw six scoreless innings and allowed three hits. “Then Brian [Clark] got the groundout. It was just so crazy at the time it happened like that.”

The two games ending together allowed Stricklin to relieve some pent-up stress. After last season’s historic ride to the College World Series, high expectations had been heaped on the KSU program this year.

“It’s very satisfying to win it just because of everyone expecting us to win because of what we did last year,” he said. “This is a whole new team, whole new group of kids. With those expectations, it can be a heavy weight to bear. ... It’s a relief. The last two weeks we knew we had to be near perfect. I’m just proud of them.”

It’s the third consecutive regular-season title for Kent State and the seventh in eight years.

Left fielder Alex Minklos led KSU offensively, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and hit his second home run in as many days.

Campbell came through with a two-run single that put KSU ahead 3-0 in the third inning.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.

• The Kent State University men’s team will advance to its fourth consecutive NCAA Championships after finishing in fifth place at the Fayetteville Regional.

The No. 22-ranked Golden Flashes had a 13-over 301 round Saturday to finish with a three-day score of 28-over 892, holding off SMU by 3 strokes.

Corey Conners led the Flashes, finishing seventh in the field of 75 with a 1-over 217.

The NCAA Championship runs from May 28-June 2 in Atlanta, Ga.

• Charlie Bull of the University of Akron had his season come to a close with a top-25 finish at the Columbus Regional.

Bull posted a 1-over 72 in the third round to finish with a three-day score of 9-over 222. That left him tied for 25th place.

The top-25 finish was Bull’s tenth of the season.

Football

Mount Union’s schedule has six regular-season road games including a non-conference game against an in-region opponent for the first time in 11 years.

The Purple Raiders open the season against Franklin (Ind.), the reigning Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference champion.

The game will be the first for new head coach Vince Kehres, who takes over after 13 seasons as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator under his father, previous Mount Union coach Larry Kehres.

The Purple Raiders take a 67-game home winning streak into the game. The Purple Raiders have won 110 consecutive regular-season games dating back to 1991.

Volleyball

University of Akron assistant volleyball coach Aline dos Santos was named coach at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Dos Santos has been an assistant on Ron Arenz’s staff for the last five seasons and this past fall helped guide the Zips to their first Mid-American Conference tournament appearance since 2003 and their best record (16-13) since 2003.

Baseball

Mount Union’s season ended with a 5-2 loss to No. 4-seed Illinois Wesleyan in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Mideast Regional.

The No. 4-seed Purple Raiders finished with a 23-18 record.

Softball

Pitcher Lisa Norris will return to the Akron Racers for her fifth season of play, according to an announcement by Racers GM Joey Arrietta.

Norris is 38-32 in four seasons with the Racers and earned National Pro Fastpitch Pitcher of the Year honors in 2010.

The Golden Flashes (33-21, 19-7) were still in the running for the No. 1 seed in next week’s Mid-American Conference Tournament but needed some help from Buffalo (19-6 in the MAC) no matter what. The Zips (15-36, 10-15) were just trying to make the tournament altogether and were hanging on by a thread. Not to mention it’s a rivalry game with the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge (points are given across all 15 sports) on the line.

The Flashes delivered the Zips a blow on Friday. KSU starting pitcher Tyler Skulina held off UA just enough to deliver a 4-3 win and clinch the Wagon Wheel Challenge. As it later turned out, thanks to Eastern Michigan’s win over Toledo a few hours afterward, it was the deciding blow in ending the Zips’ chances of postseason play.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Zips had Jared Turocy on second base with one out and KSU relief pitcher Dan Kopcak on the mound. The Zips never got the ball out of the infield.

“We had a man on second base and it just didn’t seem like we had the giddy-up to get him in,” UA coach Rick Rembielak said.

Not having the “giddy-up” was the recurring theme on Friday. The lead changed hands more than once and each team had chances to score more runs than they did. Even with the excitement of the tournament situations and the game itself, both coaches could feel there was some energy missing from their respective dugouts.

“We didn’t have the energy you’d like to have but it’s kind of understandable after what we went through last night,” KSU coach Scott Stricklin said. “We tried to talk about last year and reflect back when we played our game with Kentucky and played 21 innings. You can argue our best game of the year was the next day. … Today, we were flat. Again, you can understand what we went through last night.”

Losing the game, then, was much tougher.

“I know they [the Zips players] were down yesterday after the game — you don’t want to lose a marathon game like that,” Rembielak said. “That’s a tough one to lose. You keep battling and battling and you come up short.”

With both teams beaten down from Thursday night, it was Skulina’s performance on the mound that separated the two on Friday. He delivered one of his best performances for the Golden Flashes, striking out a career-high 11 in eight strong innings. The Zips came away with only four hits and scored all three runs after trailing KSU 1-0 in the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead.

The Golden Flashes got one of those runs back in the top of the sixth on Alex Miklos’ team-leading fourth home run of the year. Later, a single and a walk, all with two outs, put runners on first and second for second baseman Derek Toadvine, who delivered a game-tying single down the left-field line.

Tied 3-3 into the eighth inning, another extra-innings game was looking possible. Then bad bunting turned out to be a blessing.

T.J. Sutton opened the eighth with a single and was taken out for Troy Summers at first. Cody Koch came in as a pinch-hitter with the sole purpose of bunting him over but was unsuccessful twice and had to swing away. Koch proceeded to blast a double off the base of the wall in center field, putting the go-ahead run 90 feet away. A few pitches later Justin Wagler drove a fly ball to right field deep enough to bring Summers home with the deciding run.

To win the MAC East 
regular-season title, KSU is in a must-win situation on Saturday against Akron and needs Buffalo to lose to Bowling Green.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at http://www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.

• Despite no player shooting below par, Kent State is in fifth place heading into the final 18 holes at the NCAA Fayetteville Regional.

The Flashes carded a 15-over 303 on Friday after starting the regional with an even 288 on Thursday.

Corey Conners is tied for fourth place with a two-day score of 2-under 142 to lead the Flashes.

The Flashes are 4 strokes ahead of sixth-place Tulsa and SMU. The top five teams advance to the NCAA Championships in Atlanta, Ga., May 28-June 2.

•  University of Akron junior Charlie Bull is tied for 33rd with one round to play at the NCAA Columbus Regional.

Bell, the lone representative for the Zips at the tournament, shot a 3-over 74 and is at 8-over 150 overall.

The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships.

Basketball

The University of Akron Department of Athletics will hold a Select-A-Seat event to allow fans to see what seats are available to purchase and upgrade for 2013-14 men’s season.

The event will open to current season ticket holders on May 30 from 4-7 p.m. at Rhodes Arena.

The general public will be able to participate after 6 p.m. on May 31 when the event again runs from 4 to 7 p.m.

Softball

• Kent State sophomore Emma Johnson was selected to the Division I All-Mideast Region second team by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Johnson was the 2013 Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year and finished with a 1.70 ERA, 215 strikeouts in 210 innings and a 20-12 record.

• Kent State will host its summer skills camp June 10-11 at the “Diamond at Dix” softball field at the Kent State Field House.

The available sessions include both offensive and defensive skills sessions for girls 6 to 14 years of age and a pitching camp for girls 11 to 14 years of age on June 10.

A pitching camp for girls 7 to 10 years of age will be held June 11.

Baseball

Morehead State senior Kayla Ashbrook (Jackson) was honored as an All-Ohio Valley Conference second-team selection by College Sports Madness.

Ashbrook tied for the team lead in doubles (10) and was second in home runs (9) and RBI (36).

Tennis

University of Akron senior Prang Pantusart and junior Ksenia Berestetska were named to the 10-person women’s Academic All-Mid-American Conference Team.

Pantusart finished the season with a 22-13 overall singles record and an 18-10 mark in dual-match play.

Berestetska finished the season with a team-high 30 singles victories.

Track and field

The University of Akron track and field program will send a combined 24 athletes from its men’s and women’s teams to the NCAA East Preliminary Round at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C., May 23-24.

The top 12 finishers in each event advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

No extra innings today, but it was close. The Golden Flashes pushed the winning run across in the top of the eighth inning. 

T.J. Sutton singled to open the inning and was replaced by Troy Summers at first base. Cody Koch came as a pinch hitter to try to bunt him over but couldn't get it down. Instead of laying down the bunt as KSU had hoped, Koch had to swing away with two strikes and crushed a double off the base of the wall in center field, putting runners on second and third. 

Justin Wagler allowed Summers to score with a sacrifice fly deep enough to right field. 

Dan Kopcak came on in the ninth inning and closed the door, though it wasn't seamless. Jared Turocy walked to open the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, putting the tying run in scoring position. But Kopcak got Matt LaRocca to pop out and Bryan White to ground out to end the game. 

This puts the Zips in a must-win situation tomorrow in order to qualify for the MAC Tournament. They also need Eastern Michigan to lose its final two games against Toledo. In other words, this might have been the final blow for Akron. 

Kent State's win pushes them to 19-7 in MAC play, half a game behind Buffalo at 19-6. To grab the top seed in the tournament, the Golden Flashes need to win tomorrow and need Buffalo to fall to Bowling Green. 

Through six innings: Kent State 3, Akron 3

The Zips took a 3-1 lead and the Golden Flashes, of course, tied it up again. 

In the top of the fourth, Akron finally got to KSU starting pitcher Tyler Skulina. With two runners on and one out, Tyler Begun put the Zips on the scoreboard with an RBI single to left-center field. Third baseman Matt LaRocca followed by roping a line drive to right field. Golden Flashes right fielder T.J. Sutton dove for the ball but missed and had it trickle away, allowing the Zips to take a 3-1 lead. 

KSU outfielder Alex Miklos opened the top of the sixth inning with a home run to left field to bring the score to 3-2. With two outs already in the inning, Jason Bagoly and Justin Wagler each reached base, and second baseman Derek Toadvine singled home the tying run down the left field line. 

Akron starting pitcher John Valek has since been replaced by Joe Vazquez, who recorded the final out of the sixth inning. Skulina is still going strong with seven strikeouts through six innings.

Through three innings: Kent State 1, Akron 0 

Following last night's 17-inning marathon, Kent State holds a one-run lead in the early going Friday. 

Catcher Tommy Monnot reached on an error in the top of the second and advanced to third on a picture-perfect hit-and-run off the bat of T.J. Sutton. Monnot later scored on a wild pitch to score the lone run today. 

The Zips could (and possibly should) be down more than that. Three balls have been smoked but were hit right at somebody (two at Akron third baseman Matt LaRocca). The Flashes also have ran themselves out of some innings. Before Monnot scored, Sutton took off on a line drive from Jason Bagoly. LaRocca caught it, though, and easily doubled him up. 

Later, George Roberts doubled and was thrown out trying to steal third base. 

Golden Flashes pitcher T.J. Skulina hasn't allowed a hit through three innings pitched. 

Neither the Golden Flashes nor the Zips was able to push a run across home plate since the third inning of the seventh annual Diamond Classic for Kids at Canal Park. But with the game 4½ hours old, the Flashes began their rally against Zips reliever Matt LaRocca (who started the game at third base) when second baseman Derek Toadvine walked to lead off the 17th inning.

Toadvine then went from first to third base on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Sawyer Polen, reaching third base safely just ahead of the throw. Toadvine scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by center fielder Evan Campbell.

KSU right-hander Dan Kopcak came on in the bottom of the 17th and allowed a hit before retiring the Zips with the aid of a game-ending double play.

Plenty of major-league scouts were in attendance at the start, each one with a radar gun trained on Kent State starting pitcher Taylor Williams.

Most of the scouts were gone and so was Williams as the game went deep into the night.

Trailing 4-0, UA rallied for a four-run third inning and then the teams matched each other zero for zero until KSU broke through just before 11 p.m.

Williams was solid, except for the rough third inning, giving up four runs on seven hits in seven innings. He walked just one batter and struck out nine and was removed after 95 pitches with the Mid-American Conference Tournament next week.

The Golden Flashes (32-21, 18-7 MAC) staked Williams to a lead in the first inning without the aid of a hit. Toadvine led off with a walk, stole second base, advanced to third base on a passed ball and scored on first baseman George Robert’s sacrifice fly to right field.

In the third inning, Campbell smashed a two-run triple to deep center field, scoring Toadvine and Polen.

Before the inning was over, Roberts scored on an error to push the Flashes’ lead to 4-0.

The host Zips (15-35, 10-14) used a four-run third inning to erase the deficit and pull even. Williams’ temporary meltdown began with a lead-off walk to second baseman James Sheltrown.

After getting designated hitter Daulton Mosbarger out, Williams was battered by hits from the next five batters.

Zips shortstop Matt Rembielak doubled, center fielder Devan Ahart hit a run-scoring single and an infield hit by left fielder Jared Turocy put two men on base. LaRocca took advantage with a two-run double that tied the scored and right fielder Joey Havrilak singled.

After a visit to the mound by coach Scott Stricklin settled Williams down, he rebounded to get the next two batters out to escape further damage.

Williams retired the next eight batters he faced and pitched four more scoreless innings.

But the damage had been done, as the 4-4 tie could not be broken even as each team went deep into their respective bullpens.

Left-handed reliever Brian Clark took over for Williams and gave the Flashes 4⅔ scoreless innings before being relieved by 6-foot-7 right-hander Eric Dorsch.

“It’s awfully encouraging to see the way that, No. 1, our pitching reacted to those situations,” Stricklin said. “Those guys came up big time for us. Brian Clark, Eric Dorsch, Dan Kopcak in relief and then Taylor Williams had one bad inning, but other than that, he was really good.

“Then to go 17 innings and not make an error, not be close to making an error, I mean we were as clean defensively as you can be. So pitching and defense, we’ve said it before, it’s going to win championships and we won that game on that.”

Right-hander Jon Pusateri started for UA and tossed just three innings before giving way to the Zips’ bullpen that pitched 13 scoreless innings before allowing the game-winning run.

Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SStormABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/sports.abj.

“My mom means a lot to me, today was Mother’s Day, so I decided to give her this gift,” Johnson, of Gary (West Side), Ind., told the Columbus Dispatch. “And she said ‘Thank you,’ and gave me a big hug. It was great.”

Bucknuts veteran recruiting analyst Bill Kurelic said the 6-foot-3, 190 pound Johnson could play on either side of the ball.

“He’s got outstanding athletic ability,” Kurelic said. “On top of that, OSU is looking for a couple of big safeties for this class, and he is outstanding on that side of the ball as well.”

The previous seven recruits are Marcelys Jones, guard; Parris Campbell (St. Vincent-St. Mary), wide reciever; Kyle Trout, offensive tackle; Damon Webb, cornerback; Kyle Berger, linebacker; Sam Hubbard, athlete; Dylan Thompson, defensive end.

Buckeyes’ 2014 schedule

The Big Ten released its football schedule for 2014 on Thursday. Ohio State will play host to Kent State and Michigan. It also will be the first season that Rutgers and Maryland are in the Big Ten.

As part of the new alignment, the Buckeyes, who will be in the East Division, will not play Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Purdue and Northwestern.

Here is the 2014 OSU schedule: Aug. 30, vs. Navy (at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium); Sept. 13, Kent State; Sept. 20, Virginia Tech; Sept. 27, Cincinnati; Oct. 4, at Maryland; Oct. 18, Rutgers; Oct. 25, at Penn State; Nov. 1, Illinois; Nov. 8, at Michigan State; Nov. 15, at Minnesota; Nov. 22, Indiana; Nov. 29, Michigan.

Golf

Junior Corey Conners shot a 5-under-par 67 to lead Kent State to a fourth-place finish after the first round of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional at the University of Arkansas’ Blessings Golf Course on Thursday.

The No. 22-ranked Golden Flashes shot an even-par 288 as a team, the fourth-lowest NCAA Regional opening round score in school history.

Conners is currently tied for second and junior Taylor Pendrith is tied for ninth after shooting a 1-under-par 71. Senior Kevin Miller and junior Kyle Kmiecik are tied for 39th and Sophomore Nick Scott is tied for 58th.

• University of Akron junior Charlie Bull is tied for 46th place after the first round of the NCAA Columbus Regional on Thursday at the Scarlet Course in Columbus. Bull shot a 5-over-par 76 and had six bogeys and one birdie in the round. The second round begins today at 8 a.m. with Bull teeing off at 10:10 a.m.

Lawrence, 6-foot-8, 200 pounds, is the first big man in the class of 2013 for coach Rob Senderoff. According to Rivals.com, Lawrence already had offers from Albany and James Madison, and was connected with Xavier to some extent as well. 

This is the second commit for KSU in a month's time after JUCO guard Devin Carter committed. 

Below is a video of Lawrence's highlights from last season. 

The Golden Flashes (31-21) trailed 3-1 after the second inning but scored four runs in the top of the sixth on two-run singles by Jason Bagoly and Sawyer Polen. The Panthers tied the score with two runs in the seventh inning.

Starting pitcher Nick Jensen-
Clagg allowed three runs on five hits and struck out two in the no decision. Reliever Eric Dorsch got the win and Brian Clark earned his ninth save of the season.

KSU will play Akron at Canal Park on Thursday night in the Diamond Classic for Kids.

• The University of Akron scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning to tie the score 4-4 but allowed a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth in a 5-4 loss to Xavier on Tuesday at Hayden Field in Cincinnati.

The Zips (15-34) trailed 4-0 in the eighth inning before Brady Stewart, Bryan White and Daulton Mosbarger each singled to load the bases with one out. An RBI single by Matt Rembielak began the rally and Devan Ahart, Billy Salem and Jared Turocy each followed with an RBI single to tie the score.

Freshman starting pitcher J.T. Burbaker went 5⅔ innings in the no decision and reliever Pat Dyer took the loss.

Wilson, who earned his sixth win of the season, allowed six runners in 6⅔ innings. Dorsch and Clark combined for three strikeouts and just one hit in 2⅓ as Clark earned his eighth save of the season.

Evan Campbell went 2-for-2 with a double and a triple, an RBI and two runs scored to lead Kent State. Campbell also had two walks and a stolen base.

Zarley Zalewski drove in a run and had two singles. Zalewski’s RBI single in the eighth inning was the only run Kent produced by a sacrifice fly.

The Flashes now have recorded at least 30 wins in a season for 15 consecutive years. Kent remains in second place in the Mid-American Conference behind Buffalo, which defeated Miami 12-0 on Sunday.

More Baseball

The University of Akron gave up seven runs in both the fourth and fifth innings as the Zips fell 18-8 to Central Michigan in the series finale.

Akron (15-33, 10-13) took the lead in the top of the first inning on Matt LaRocca’s RBI double to right-center field. The host Chippewas (23-27, 10-14) wasted no time in taking the lead as Nick Regnier hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first.

Akron regained the lead in the top of the third when Brady Stewart drove in two following a LaRocca walk and a Jared Turocy single. Turocy extended his hitting streak to 18 games.

Central Michigan recorded 13 hits in the third and fourth innings to score 14 times and take a 17-3 lead.

Stewart, who was named MAC East Player of the Week for the past week, went 5-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.

• Kent State and Akron wrap up conference play against each other Thursday-Saturday. Thursday’s game will be played at Canal Park at 6:30 p.m. and is the annual Diamond Classic for Kids. This charity game benefits the Akron Children’s Hospital. Both Friday and Saturday’s games will be played at Akron’s Lee R. Jackson Field at 1 p.m.

The winner of the series will clinch the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge, an all-sport rivalry competition between the two schools.

— Beacon Journal staff report

Winning events for the Zips were Shawn Barber in the pole vault with a jump of 17 feet, 8½ inches, Nicholas Banke with a 182-9 in the discus throw, and Martel Durant with a high jump of 6-11.

Finishing runner-up for the Zips were Vince Turnage in the 100 meters, Sean Weems in the 400 hurdles, and the 1,600-meter relay team of Weems, Jake Hiltner, Gabriel Genovesi and Nick Owens.

Taking home top honors for the Golden Flashes were Michael Heller in the 5,000 (14:39.72), Wayne Gordon in the 100 (10.48) and the 200 (21.00), Brandon Bailey in the 400 (47.47), Jacob Swords in the 800 (1:49.93) and the 1,600-meter relay team of Miles Dunlap, Laron Brown III, Jacob Swords and Brandon Bailey (3:11.11).

The Kent State women’s team won its fourth consecutive MAC outdoor title, finishing 50 points ahead of second-place UA.

Winning events for the Flashes were freshman Hannah Fleck in the 1,500 with a time of 4:24.22 and freshman Dior Delophant, who was named the women’s most valuable performer, with a high jump of 5-10½ and a triple jump of 41-0.

Earning second-place honors for KSU were Ann Marie Duffus in the 100 hurdles with a time of 13.69, Danniel Thomas with a 172-8 discus throw and Keri Dantley with a triple jump of 40-0.

The runner-up Zips won events with the performances of Shauniece Steele in the 400 with a time of 54.11 and Alexis Cooks with a discus throw of 175-0.

Baseball

• Cale Giddings hit two home runs, scored three runs and drove in three runs to lead UA to an 11-2 MAC win over host Central Michigan.

Zips starter John Valek (4-7) took a shutout into the ninth inning before the Chippewas (22-27, 9-14) got their two runs.

Valek allowed two runs on five hits and one walk and struck out five for the Zips (15-32, 10-12).

The Zips got four runs in the third, two in the fourth, one each in the fifth and eighth and three in the ninth.

Joey Havrilak finished a homer shy of a cycle, scored two runs and had two RBI and Jared Turocy had a double, a single and two RBI for the Zips.

• Kent State pounded out 13 hits in a 13-4 win over host Western Michigan (15-34, 7-16).

George Roberts hit a two-run homer and Tommy Monnot had three hits for the Golden Flashes (29-21, 16-7).

Tyler Skulina (5-3) went six strong innings to get the win for the Flashes.

Skulina allowed one run on four hits and two walks and struck out six.

• Case Western Reserve seniors and Tallmadge graduates Matt Keen and Paul Pakan were two of five Spartans named to the 2013 All-University Athletic Association Baseball Team.

Keen has started all 173 games in his four seasons and holds the school record in runs.

Golf

• Kent State’s women’s team finished 12th out of a field of 24 in the NCAA Division I West Regional at Stanford’s par-71 golf course with a team score of 45-over 897. The top eight teams advance.

Leading the Golden Flashes was Jennifer Ha with a 1-over 143, earning her a tie for eighth place. She advanced as an individual to the NCAA championship.

Erin Hawe tied for 39th with a 10-over 223. Josee Doyon tied for 87th with a 19-over 232 and Natalie Goodson tied for 94th with a 20-over 233.

• University of Mount Union men’s golf coach Dan MacDuffie was named Ohio Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Coach of the Year.

In his nine seasons as the Purple Raiders’ coach, they have never finished worse than third in the OAC, with a second-place finish this season.

MacDuffie has now earned the award for the third time in his nine years as coach (2008, 2011).

Softball

• Hiram College sophomore outfielder Miranda Wright was named to the 2013 All-North Coast Athletic Conference Team as an honorable mention.

Wright started all 36 games for Hiram this season, finishing second on the team in batting average, runs scored and doubles.

After pitching a great game in Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Central Michigan, Golden Flashes sophomore pitcher Emma Johnson got off to a rocky start.

Johnson hit leadoff batter Tessa Bailey in the helmet and then gave up a single to junior shortstop Erin Lashley.

Johnson struck out the next two batters swinging, but then something strange happened.

An inside pitch was thrown to Adrienne Gebele that appeared to hit her and roll toward the pitcher. However, it was ruled that it hit the handle of the bat and that it was a live ball.

Johnson fielded the ball cleanly after some confusion, but first basemen Lauren Balodis had charged in to make a play. With Balodis backpedaling toward first, the Flashes had a difficult play. Johnson’s throw sailed over Balodis’ head, and both runners scored.

“It’s a freak thing,” KSU coach Karen Linder said. “I guess it hit the knob of the bat. They didn’t know how to react to it and it was costly, obviously.”

The score remained 2-0 until the fourth inning when the Flashes (27-21-1, 16-6 MAC) were finally able to string some hits together, an inability that was a deciding factor in Thursday’s loss.

Junior second basemen Abbey Ledford singled and freshman third basemen Michele Duffy walked. Freshman No. 9 hitter Lauren Kesterson laced a triple off the left-field wall to tie the score 2-2.

Leadoff hitter Jessacca Gironda then drove in Kesterson with a single and Dani Ramos followed with a single to score Gironda and give the Flashes a 4-2 lead.

“We’ve done that all year, where we have innings that we don’t do anything and then all of a sudden we’ll put things together,” Linder said. “The disappointment is that they came back.”

KSU’s lead didn’t last for long — the Bobcats struck back in the fifth.

A double and a walk put two runners on with one out and Lashley at the plate for Ohio (27-28, 9-13).

Lashley hit a line drive to right-center field that tipped off the end of KSU center fielder Lauren Grimes’ glove. Both runners scored.

Two batters later, KSU again came within inches of another great defensive play that would have saved a run. Kesterson went deep into the hole at shortstop, dove and the ball tipped off her glove in a similar fashion. That allowed Lashley to score, giving Ohio a 5-4 lead.

“It’s a game of inches,” Linder said. “[Grimes] makes that catch in center field and they don’t score those runs.”

Johnson took the loss for the Flashes, finishing the season with a record of 20-12. She struck out 14 in six innings, walking two and giving up just four hits.

A five-plus hour rain delay ensued following the bottom of the fifth inning and neither team was able to do much of anything once they got back on the field.

Kesterson led the Flashes at plate with a single, triple, two RBI and a run scored.

Ramos added two singles and an RBI.

Hirschman was 55-of-93 passing (59.1 percent) for 589 yards and threw two touchdowns and seven interceptions last season. In four Colorado spring scrimmages, he threw seven touchdowns and one interception on 32-of-52 passing (61.5 percent). He will be eligible to play this fall and, per the source, will have a chance to compete for the starting job.

Track and field

Alex McCune won first place in the decathalon after finishing first in the javelin, first in the pole vault, third in the 110-meter dash and fourth in the discus to lead the University of Akron in the second day of the MAC Meet at UA.

Nicholas Banke finished second in the shot put and second in the hammer throw for the Akron men.

Brittany Cheese took first place in the javelin throw heptathlon event to lead the UA women. Cheese finished third overall in the heptathlon after placing fourth in the long jump and fifth in the 800-meter run. Bjorn Johansson finished first in the men’s decathlon discus throw. Johansson also finished second in the pole vault, second in the javelin and second overall in the decathlon.

Matthias Tayala finished first in the men’s hammer throw and Joh’vonnie Mosley placed first in the women’s shot put to lead Kent State. Dexter Shreve took second in the 1500-meter run and fourth in the 110-meter hurdles for the Golden Flashes.

Golf

Jennifer Ha shot a 3-under-par 68 and Erin Hawe shot a 1-under-par 70 to lead Kent State in the second round of the NCAA West Regional at Stanford.

The Golden Flashes are now in ninth place after shooting 10-over-par 294 as a team in the second round. Ha posted the lowest round of her career and is tied for fourth place, 3 strokes off the lead, and Hawe is tied for 17th place with a 3-over-par two-day score.

Baseball

Brady Stewart hit a sacrifice fly to score Jared Turocy in the top of the 11th inning to break a 7-7 tie and give the University of Akron an 8-7 win over host Central Michigan on Friday.

The Zips trailed 6-1 after the second inning and 7-2 after the fourth inning and scored a run in the fifth, seventh, eighth and two in the ninth inning to tie the score and send the game to extra innings.

Sophomore Devan Ahart had an RBI double in the ninth and scored the tying run in the ninth on a wild pitch. Sophomore Matt LaRocca had an RBI groundout in the fifth inning and freshman Cale Giddings had an RBI single in the eighth inning for the Zips.

• Taylor Williams allowed two hits and struck out seven in a complete game shutout to lead Kent State to a 3-0 win over Western Michigan on Friday in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Williams won his ninth game of the season and earned his third complete game win of the season.

The Golden Flashes (28-21, 15-7) scored three runs in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie.

The inning began with back-to-back errors that allowed Derek Toadvine and Sawyer Polen to reach base. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Evan Campbell before George Roberts reached base on an error that scored Toadvine and Polen. Roberts scored when Zarley Zalewski reached base on an error.

Basketball

The University of Akron men’s team has been selected as the eighth and final team for the 2013 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 22-25 at the Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaii.

The Zips join host Hawaii, Boise State, George Mason, Iowa State, Oregon State, Saint Mary’s and South Carolina in the tournament.

Knoop, batting ninth for the Chippewas (30-18, 15-7 MAC), hit a third-inning homer that was the first hit that Golden Flashes sophomore starting pitcher Emma Johnson gave up.

Johnson pitched effectively, giving up six hits and two walks and striking out five in her seven innings.

She worked efficiently, too, staying ahead in the count by generating first-pitch strikes to 28 of the 31 batters she faced, but dropped to 20-11 with the loss.

However, her counterpart outdid her.

Central Michigan senior Kara Dornbos tossed a shutout, allowing three hits, three walks and striking out four to improve to 14-11.

“[Dornbos] is a very good pitcher,” KSU coach Karen Linder said. “Besides Emma, I believe she’s one of the top two or three pitchers in the conference. She’s a senior and she did a great job.”

The issues that plagued the Flashes (27-20-1, 16-6) were hit sequencing and sacrifice bunt efficiency.

The Flashes got their leadoff runner on base in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings, but failed to bring them home every time.

This was largely a result of going 0-for-4 in advancing base runners with sacrifice bunts. One of them resulted in a double play when Chippewas third baseman Trista Cox doubled Chloe Kesterson off first base.

“We did a very poor job of executing bunts,” Linder said. “It’s something that we struggled with early in the season. Lately, we’ve been doing a better job, and then tonight, I think with the excitement, they put them down a little too hard. That was the difference in the ballgame.”

Linder had no intention of straying from her game plan. The Flashes are not built on power. Their season home run leaders, Kim Kirkpatrick and Lauren Balodis, have only three each.

“It was just the circumstances,” Linder said. “The right people weren’t up to bat in order to [swing away]. We are not a home run hitting team. We’re the type of team that we’ve got to get a runner on second so we can drive them in with a single.”

Junior second basemen Abbey Ledford was the only KSU player to reach base twice, drawing a leadoff walk in the second and singling to lead off the fourth.

Senior center fielder Macy Merchant singled three times atop the Chippewas lineup.

Kent State will take on Ohio University at 1:30 p.m. today in an elimination game at Firestone Stadium.

The Flashes split their season series with the Bobcats, winning 2-1 and losing 8-0 in a doubleheader March 29.

“You play to win,” Linder said. “That’s what I just got done telling them. Tomorrow, we go and try to put it all together. We had three and a half of our four phases there. We just have to bring the offense and string things together. I’m very much looking forward to playing an Ohio University team. [After] the last time we played them I wanted another opportunity to go up against them.”

At 5 p.m. today, Central Michigan will face Northern Illinois, which is coming off an upset of top-seeded Ball State.

Winners of the MAC East Division, the Golden Flashes (27-19-1, 16-6) are the No. 2 seed in the tournament and begin play in the second round at 7:30 p.m. today.

MAC West Division champion Ball State (35-15, 18-3) is the tournament’s top seed.

“We’re playing well and we’ve got all phases of the game going,” Flashes coach Karen Linder said. “Our offensive numbers are up, our defense has been solid and our pitching has been doing a great job. We earned the No. 2 seed instead of having to rely on tiebreakers and such. We’re looking forward to the tournament.”

Not bad for a team that started the season with 10 new players.

“You never know what’s gonna happen when you don’t have much experience,” Linder said. “But this group matured quickly this year.”

Kent State has momentum heading into the tournament thanks to winning four of its past five games and eight of its past 11 overall. Further, during their past eight conference games, the Flashes went 7-1.

A big reason for KSU’s success this season was the standout pitching of sophomore right-hander Emma Johnson, who was honored as the MAC Softball Pitcher of the Year and named to the All-MAC First Team on Tuesday.

Overall, Johnson went 20-12 with two saves and a 1.67 ERA in 34 appearances (including 24 starts). Johnson, a riseball pitcher, stepped up her efforts in league play, going 12-3 with a 1.58 ERA in 18 appearances (12 starts), striking out 95 in 106⅔ innings while allowing MAC opponents to hit just .196.

“Emma was very good last year as a freshman, but this extra year of experience has really helped her mature,” Linder said. “What stands out about her this year is her mental toughness, she’s better with her command and she’s learned how to make adjustments.”

On the offensive side, sophomore right fielder Kim Kirkpatrick was named to the All-MAC Second Team after leading the Flashes in batting average (.347), runs scored (28), hits (50), doubles (11), slugging percentage (.486) and on-base percentage (.454) while starting all 47 games.

“As a freshman Kim was just out there playing,” Linder said. “She’s such a talented athlete, her skill level allowed her to do that. But this year, she’s become more of a leader by example with a very positive attitude. Even in difficult situations, she’s very confident. She’s the kid you want up to bat when the game is on the line.”

Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Kent State blog at http://www.ohio.com/flashes. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SStormABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/sports.abj.

Brittany Cheese, senior, Hilliard: MAC Indoor pentathlon champion; one of three UA women to surpass 20 feet in long jump.

Alexis Cooks, sophomore, Colorado Springs, Colo.: 2012 MAC discus champ.

Brittany Funk, junior, Jeromesville: Defending MAC Outdoor hammer throw champion ranks seventh in nation.

University of Akron men

Alex McCune, sophomore, Pittsburgh: MAC Indoor heptathlon champ ranked first in league.

Gabriel Genovesi, junior, Mequon, Wis.: Member of Zips’ 2010 national champion soccer team is four-time MAC 800-meter champ.

Kyle Cochrun, sophomore, Cuyahoga Falls: Ranked first in league in 5,000 meter; set UA indoor mark in 2012, 2013.

Kent State women

Dior Delophont, freshman, Nancy, France: Ranked 10th nationally in high jump, first in MAC in high, triple jump.

Roseanne Erickson, sophomore, Alexandra, Minn.: 28th nationally, first in league in long jump.

Shanequa Williams, junior, Kenmore: 200-, 400-meter entrant; MAC Indoor’s outstanding female track performer in 2012, 2013

Kent State men

Matthias Tayala, sophomore, McDonald (Ohio): Ranked first in MAC and nationally in discus (34th), hammer throw (eighth).

Brandon Bailey, senior, Pittsburgh: Indoor all-MAC first team; ranked first in the MAC in the 400.

Michael Heller, senior, Stow: Owns second-fastest time in school history in 5,000 meter outdoor.

— Marla Ridenour

The women won their 15th consecutive Mid-American Conference golf championship last Sunday.

First up for the Flashes on their quest to advance to the NCAA Championship for just the fifth time in program history is the par 71, 6,130-yard Stanford Golf Course. There, the top eight teams from each of the three regionals compete to advance to the NCAA Championship, held this year at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga.

It’s never easy being fresh after a long trip to the West Coast, but it wasn’t anything close to as tough as it was for the team to overcome suddenly losing their 15-year coach Mike Morrow halfway through the season in late January — just a few weeks before the start of the spring season.

“With Mike retiring unexpectedly, the girls were in a little bit of shock, a little bit down,” said associate head coach Rob Wakeling said. “It was hard on them. It took a couple tournaments to get used to having a different coach.”

In between, the Flashes finished last and second-to-last in two tournaments in February before Wakeling started to notice an upward trend.

“[Interim head coach] Herb [Page], myself and [assistant coach) Maddi [Swaney] started running the practices. I’m not saying it’s been better or worse, just that things were a little different and it took some time to get acclimated. But once they did, the girls have responded awesome.”

What Morrow’s departure put most in jeopardy was KSU’s streak of having won 14 consecutive MAC tournament titles — all coming under his reign.

“I think in the preview for the tournament, we weren’t even mentioned at all,” Wakeling said. “It was all about Eastern Michigan and maybe another team and how this was the year that maybe another team would win it.”

But the Flashes rallied after the slow start to the season, increasingly getting better in each tournament before winning the nine-team league tournament April 28 to keep the streak alive.

The Flashes are looking to advance to the NCAA Championship for just the fifth time in program history.

They’ll do so by relying heavily on the hot hand of sophomore Jennifer Ha, who earned individual medalist honors after shooting 222 in the MAC Tournament at Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport.

“She’s worked hard with Herb on her putting stroke,” Wakeling said. “That’s Herb’s thing — make your weakness a strength. And she’s done awesome lately, finishing third, second and first in her last three tournaments.

“Elite players can win without being perfect and I think Jennifer realized that. She can hit the ball a long, long way and it gives her a really nice advantage. She’s not really big, but she’s got a really nice golf swing, has good fundamentals and she can really power that power that ball a long ways.”

Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Kent State blog at http://www.ohio.com/flashes. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SStormABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/sports.abj.

The Zips (13-31) led 2-1 after the first inning but scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to blow the game open. The Zips added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth against the Nittany Lions.

Matt Rembielak, Devan Ahart and Matt LaRocca each had three hits and Rembielak and Brady Stewart each had two RBI. Ahart, Gerrad Rohan, Jared Turocy and Anthony Bova each had an RBI.

The Zips will travel to Central Michigan for a three-game series this weekend.

Softball

Kent State sophomore Emma Johnson was named the 2013 Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year and was selected to the All-MAC first team Tuesday.

Johnson, who was honored with her fourth MAC East Division Pitcher of the Week award Monday, finished the regular season 20-10 overall with two saves and a 1.67 ERA in 34 appearances (24 starts). Johnson struck out 196 batters in 197 innings and held opponents to a .191 batting average.

Johnson went 2-1 during the final week of the season to lead the Golden Flashes to the MAC East Division title and the No. 2 seed in this week’s MAC Tournament.

Sophomore right fielder Kim Kirkpatrick was named to the All-MAC second team.

Kirkpatrick leads the team in batting average (.347), runs scored (28), hits (50), doubles (11) and slugging percentage (.486). Kirkpatrick is tied for the lead in home runs with three and has 18 RBI, third best on the team.

• University of Akron freshman Erin Seiler has been named to the 2013 MAC All-Freshman team.

Seiler earned MAC East Pitcher of the Week honors twice this season and had a 17-19 record with a 2.32 ERA. Seiler threw 24 complete games and pitched more innings than any other pitcher in the MAC with 250.

Seiler led the MAC in strikeouts with a school-record 219 against 39 walks.

Golf

Junior Charlie Bull will represent the University of Akron at the NCAA Central Regional Championship on May 16-18 at the Ohio State University Golf Club.

Bull was named first-team All-MAC and was named to the MAC All-Tournament team for the second consecutive season.

Bull finished in third place in the MAC Championship, the third highest finish in the event by an Akron player.

Bull had nine top-25 finishes in 11 events this season, including his first win at the Kenny Perry Invitational in October.

In addition, the MAC East Division champion Golden Flashes also had sophomore right fielder Kim Kirkpatrick (Olmsted Falls) selected to the All-MAC Second Team.

Johnson, who earned her fourth MAC East Pitcher of the Week award of the season Monday, was the conference's most dominant pitcher this spring. She finished the regular season 20-10 overall with two saves and a 1.67 ERA over 34 appearances (24 starts). She also struck out 196 batters in 197 innings and limited opponents to a .191 batting average.

Come conference play,  Johnson stepped up her game even more. She led the league in wins with a 12-3 record and posted a 1.58 ERA in 18 appearances (12 starts). Johnson also struck out 95 batters in 106.2 innings and held opponents to a .196 batting average.

During the final week of the regular season as KSU clinched the MAC East Division title and the No. 2 seed in this week's MAC Tournament, Johnson went 2-1, including starting and winning both games May 3 in a doubleheader at Miami to lead the Flashes to their first division crown since 2010. Johnson did not allow an  earned run while scattering 10 hits. She also struck out 10 in 14 innings in the two games.

Kirkpatrick led the team in batting average (.347), runs scored (28), hits (50), doubles (11), slugging percentage (.486) and on-base percentage (.454) and started all 47 games. She also tied for the lead in home runs (3) and her 18 RBI were third best on the club.

Like Johnson, Kirkpatrick saved her best play for league opponents. In 22 MAC games, Kirkpatrick batted .388 (26-67) with 14 runs scored, six doubles, a home run, nine RBI, a .522 slugging percentage and a .506 on-base percentage.

Sunday afternoon was a different story.

The Golden Flashes, unable to get timely hits, left base runners stranded throughout their 8-2 loss to the Broncos at Schoonover Stadium on Senior Day. They also committed four errors in the loss.

The Golden Flashes left 12 men on base for the second consecutive game, leaving the bases loaded in the second and fifth inning.

“I’m just disappointed in the way we played,” coach Scott Stricklin said. “To come out and play like that on Senior Day isn’t representative of our program. To make four errors, to make mental mistake after mental mistake, it’s just really disappointing.”

“We have to go on to the next game, but, yes, it’s certainly something to be concerned about. Our guys are tightening up in scoring position. We haven’t had good at-bats. We’ve had great at-bats with no one on base, but when guys get on base, guys struggle and it’s been going on all year. It’s not just the past couple of days.”

Stricklin said that the problem is more of a mental issue as his players are trying to do too much in those situations.

But that wasn’t the only challenge the Golden Flashes (27-21, 14-7 MAC) faced. Although their offense struggled, the Chippewas got a home run by Dylan Goodwin in the top of the seventh inning. Mostly, they sprayed hits throughout the game that weren’t exactly powerful.

Conversely, Kent State hit the ball hard and hit it directly to fielders.

“(The Chippewas) battled and found a way and we threw a ball away in the first inning,” Stricklin said, “…which can’t happen and it did. And it happened later in the game. It’s one thing to make a mistake, it’s another thing to make a mistake twice.”

That manifested itself in the first inning when Central Michigan (20-25, 9-12) scored first courtesy of two bloop singles and a wild pitch by the Golden Flashes’ Casey Wilson.

The Chippewas produced three runs in the top of the third. Chippewas second baseman Tom Lally had a one-out single and center fielder Nick Regnier reached on a fielding error. Wilson then hit third baseman Jordan Adams, loading the bases for first baseman Cody Leichman, who smacked a double down the right-field line to drive in two runs.

The inning sealed the Golden Flashes’ fate and left them with work to do as they trail the Buffalo Bulls in the Mid-American Conference’s East Division by a game and a half with six left.

“In order to be the team we want to be, we’re going to have to do things the right way,” Stricklin said. “We’re going to have to play with a purpose. We’re going to have to have better approaches at the plate, on the field and on the mound. Everything we do we’re going to have to do a better job at it.”

Stricklin referred to the season as a roller coaster because of series such as the one against Central Michigan.There are times, such as Friday night, when Kent State looks unbeatable.

Other times, it’s almost the opposite.

“We were two different teams,” Stricklin said. “In order for us to be a championship team, we’ve got to find a way to be consistent. Right now we’re just an inconsistent baseball team.”

George M. Thomas can be reached at gmthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/GeorgeThomasABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.