Flashes newcomer Nick Stricklen sets school record in men's 5,000 meters

Graduate student Nick Stricklen set the Kent State record in the men's 5,000-meter run while finishing sixth at the Indiana Invitational last Friday.

In just his second race as a Golden Flashes student-athlete, and his first outdoor 5K as collegian, Stricklen etched his name in program history with a record time of 14:06.57.

Fellow graduate student Stephanie Ward recorded the fifth-fastest women's 5K time in program history, finishing in 17:11.75 to place 22nd. Baidy Ba moved to fifth on Kent State's all-time list in the men's 1,500-meter run with a personal-best time of 3:45.77 to finish 11th.

Alexander Shields won the men's 110-meter hurdles in 14.22 seconds, while Benja Duff ran KSU's second-fastest women's 100-meter hurdles time in the prelims (13.51). Duff finished second in the finals (13.57).

Jake Wickey took third in the men's weight throw with a personal-best toss of 220 feet, which ranks sixth in KSU history. Alexandre Malanda placed third in the men's triple jump with a mark of 51-3.

Gabby Bailey finished fourth in the women's shot put (53-4.5) and discus (175-6), while Bradley Heck took fourth in the men’s javelin (195-3) and Asa Hodrick finished fourth in men's 100 (10.69). Hodrick ran the second leg of Kent State's fourth-place 4x400 relay team that also included Kyle Sommer, Korie Davis II and Jonathan Solomon (season-best 3:12.76).

Softball: Brenna Brownfield slams Zips

Senior Brenna Brownfield’s pinch-hit grand slam home run in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie and gave Kent State a 5-2 victory over rival Akron on Tuesday at the Diamond at Dix.

Brownfield, the 2019 MAC Player of the Year, has been limited by a knee injury sustained in early March at Kentucky. She had gone 1-of-8 since returning to action on April 15 before Tuesday’s homer, her first of the year.

Flashes sophomore Emily Lippe ripped three homers and drove in six runs last weekend at Toledo, with all of that production coming in the last two contests of the three-game series. Lippe has hit a team-leading nine homers this season, with five coming in the last 10 games, and also leads the Flashes with 27 RBIs and a .629 slugging percentage.

Baseball: Flashes put on power display against RedHawks

After losing the first two games of the series, Kent State’s baseball team salvaged a split with visiting Miami by scoring 27 runs to win the final two contests last weekend.

The Flashes rallied to win game three 10-9, scoring a run in the ninth inning to tie it then claiming the win on junior Josh Johnson’s RBI single in the 10th. Johnson (3 singles, 3 RBIs), sophomore Aidan Longwell (3 singles, 2 RBIs) and junior Mack Timbrook (double, 2 singles) each had three hits in the game.

Kent State then belted six home runs while winning the final game of the series 17-10. Sophomore Michael McNamara hit two-run homers in each of the first two innings, and also singled while driving in six runs. Also homering for the Flashes were Johnson, junior Peyton Pennington, senior Justin Kirby and senior Collin Mathews.

Kent State now averages 1.49 homers per game, which leads the MAC. McNamara leads the team with nine round-trippers, followed by Mathews and Kirby with eight and Longwell with six.

The Flashes will play four games at Akron this weekend, beginning with Friday’s 3 p.m. contest. The top four teams in the final MAC regular season standings advance to the MAC Tournament, and Kent State (15-20, 10-12) is currently one game behind Ohio (18-17, 10-10) with 16 to play.

Golf: Price picked to play in Curtis Cup again

Kent State senior Emily Price had been selected to represent the Great Britain and Ireland team at the 42nd Curtis Cup, set for June 10-12 in Merion, Pa. Price is one of six players returning from the GB&I squad that lost to the United States team last year.

Price and the Flashes won their 23rd consecutive MAC championship last weekend, and will take part in the NCAA Regional May 9-11.

Beyond KSU: Booman Williams, Troy Simons lead Plymouth into playoffs

Former Kent State star point guard Antonio “Booman” Williams finished the regular season ranked among the top three in three major statistical categories while playing for the Plymouth City Patriots in the British Basketball League.

Williams ranked third in the BBL in scoring at 18.6 points per game, second in assists at 8.3 per game, and third in steals at 2.1 per contest.

Former KSU teammate Troy Simons joined Plymouth City late in the season and wound up averaging 14.1 points while shooting 36% from 3-point range.

Williams and Simons helped the Patriots qualify for the BBL playoffs. They will face regular season champion Leicester in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Baseball | Eric Lauer strikes out 13 in Brewers' victory

Eric Lauer, an All-American pitcher for Kent State in 2016, struck out a career-high 13 batters while tossing six scoreless innings on Sunday to help the Milwaukee Brewers defeat Philadelphia 1-0. Lauer had never reached double-digit strikeouts in a Major League game until Sunday, when he tied Clayton Kershaw for the high strikeout total in the MLB this season.

On the season, Lauer is 1-0 with a 2.20 ERA. He’s pitched 16.1 innings in three starts, allowing 13 hits and five runs (4 earned) with only four walks compared to 23 strikeouts. The 26-year-old lefty was never considered a power pitcher while with the Flashes, but Lauer’s fastball approached 96 miles per hour against the Phillies and stayed around 95 throughout the contest.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Nick Stricklen set a Kent St. record in the 5,000 meters last weekend