TOLEDO, Ohio (Interstat) — Kent State and Toledo meet Friday afternoon at Scott Park Baseball Complex in a Mid-American Conference series opener, with first pitch scheduled under cloudy skies and a temperature of 64 degrees.

The Golden Flashes (38-12 overall) enter with the conference’s best record and have won five straight, including a 4-3 decision over the Rockets on Thursday. Kent State’s pitching staff has been dominant, holding opponents to two earned runs or fewer in eight of the past 10 games.

Toledo (28-26) has lost four of its past six but remains in contention for a postseason berth. The Rockets are 3-5 in one-run games this season.

Right-hander Evan Holewinski is a key figure for Kent State. Across his past five appearances, he has not allowed an earned run in four of them, including a four-inning, scoreless outing Thursday against Toledo. In his last five outings, he has struck out 20 batters in 19 innings while allowing only three earned runs.

For Toledo, right-hander Nathan Leininger will be the pitcher to watch. He threw seven innings Thursday against Kent State, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts. Leininger has worked at least seven innings in three of his past four starts, posting a 3.60 ERA over that span while striking out 19.

Thursday’s game (Interstat) — which Kent State won 4-3 behind a 1-for-4, two-RBI performance from catcher Brody Williams and combined six-inning, three-run pitching from Holewinski and Easton Tumis (Interstat) — gives both teams a quick turnaround. The Golden Flakes’ offense has been consistent, scoring at least five runs in 10 of their past 12 games. Toledo’s lineup showed power in a 15-5 win at Bowling Green on Tuesday but managed only three runs Thursday.

According to Interstat’s game simulator, the projected final score is Kent State 8, Toledo 7, with the Golden Flashes holding a 65.6 percent win probability based on ELO ratings.

The teams will meet again Saturday in the series finale at the same venue.