Kent State collected 16 hits en route to a 13-5 win over FIU in the opener of a four-game series Friday night from the FIU ballpark.

The Golden Flashes (4-0) won the second-ever meeting with the Panthers (1-3). The teams' lone previous game occurred in 1998 – an 11-8 KSU win in Miami.

Kent State, the preseason favorite in the Mid-American Conference, scored seven runs through the first three innings -- highlighted by a two-run home run by Dylan Rosa off FIU starter Chris Mourelle (1-1). The FIU senior right-hander went three innings, allowed eight hits and six earned runs. Rosa was 3 for 6 and fell a double shy of the cycle.

FIU rallied to close within 7-5 of KSU. Panthers designated hitter JC Escarra hit a two-run home run off Flashes starter Eli Kraus (2-0) in the bottom of the third inning. Irving Lopez cut the deficit to two runs with an RBI single in the fourth.

Kraus lasted 6 1/3 innings, allowed six hits and four earned runs. Robert Zeigler pitched the final 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the Flashes.

KSU added three runs in the fifth, two runs in the seventh and one run in the eighth to pull away from FIU.

Lopez went 2 for 4 for the Panthers. FIU freshmen Derek Cartaya and Adam Sevario each got their first college hits in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

FIU and Kent State resume the four-game set Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. from the FIU ballpark. FIU left-hander Dominic LoBrutto faces KSU right-hander Zach Willeman in the first game. Left-hander Andrew George gets the ball for the Panthers in the nightcap. The Flashes' starting pitcher in the nightcap is to be determined.

There are no PantherVision broadcasts of Saturday's doubleheader. PantherVision will broadcast Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m.