BOX SCORE

Rock Hill, SC - Kent State scored four runs over the first two innings and never looked back en route to a 13-2 victory over Wagner in the Seahawks' fourth and final game of the Johnny Gill Memorial Classic at the Winthrop Ballpark. In defeat, the Green & White fall to 1-3 while the Golden Flashes improve to 4-2 with their fourth-straight victory.

Kent State struck for an unearned run in the top of the first on Travis Shaw's sacrifice fly, plating Evan Campbell for the game's first run.

The Golden Flashes extended their lead with three runs in the top of the second inning. Derek Toadvine delivered a two-run double before Jimmy Rider made it 4-0 with a RBI single. The damage could have been worse had it not been for senior Kevin McDonnell (Bristol, CT / Avon Old Farms), who gunned down Campell at the plate for his first outfield assist of the year after pacing the entire NCAA ranks with 13 a year ago.

Kent State tacked on another run in the top of the fourth inning. Campbell led off with a triple to right center before Rider brought him around with a run-scoring double to left field.

Wagner finally got on the board in the bottom part of the frame. Senior Seth Boyd (Perth Amboy, NJ / Perth Amboy) drew a one-out walk before advancing to second on a ground out. Boyd moved to third on a wild pitch and would come around to score on an error by the third baseman, drawing the Seahawks to 5-1.

Kent State added three more runs in the top of the sixth inning, extending the lead out to 8-1. In the bottom of the frame, Wagner had a chance to further dent the lead when Boyd singled and McDonnell doubled with two outs, but the pair was left stranded when Golden Flash righthander Ryan Mace coaxed an inning-ending ground out.

In the top of the seventh inning, the Golden Flashes scored two more runs in extending the lead out to 10-1. The Seahawks got one of those runs back in the bottom part of the frame as freshman Cliff Brantley led off with his first collegiate hit before coming around to score on junior Tommy Higgins' (Port Monmouth, NJ / Red Bank Catholic) RBI ground out.

In the top of the ninth inning, David Lyons hit a three-run home run while providing the final 13-2 tally.

RHP Jon Lucas (Hackettstown, NJ / Hackettstown) assumed the loss, allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits and three walks over 4.0 innings. Mace improved to 1-0, yielding just one unearned run over 6.0 innings while scattering four hits and two walks.

Senior Jack Rice (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) led the way for the Seahawks, who were outhit 14-6, with a pair of hits in three at-bats while Boyd hit safely for the fourth straight game, going 1-for-3 with a run and a walk. The first five players in the Golden Flash line-up each recorded multiple-hits, paced by Rider, who went 4-for-6 with two doubles and three RBI.

Wagner is next in action at 6:30 pm on Friday, March 4 when the Seahawks play at Jacksonville.