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Freshman Kayla Haslett scattered seven hits in an impressive complete-game outing and clobbered a pair of home runs with her bat to lift the Youngstown State softball team to a 7-1 victory and a series sweep of Cleveland State on Sunday at McCune Park.

After allowing a run in the top of the first inning, Haslett, settled in and did not allow a Cleveland State runner past second base the rest of the game.

The Penguins, who improve to 19-6-1 overall and 5-1 in the Horizon League, again were added by the long ball to get back in the game.

Senior Kristen Philen, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, led off the bottom of the third with a solo homer – her fourth of the year – to left-center field to tie the game at 1-1.

Two battters later, senior Haley Thomas punched a one-out, 3-2 pitch over the left-center field fence to put the Guins ahead 2-1.

A two-out double by senior Jordan Ingalls and an RBI-single by junior Vicky Rumph added a third run for YSU in the bottom of the third.

The Penguins expanded their lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth with two bases-loaded walks and a sacrifice fly by Ingalls.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Guins tacked on one more to close out the scoring. Philen led off with a single and was replaced by pinch runner Kelly Fox. Fox advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on Brooke Meenachan‘s bunt single and scored on a throwing error.

Brian Campbell‘s Penguins host Saint Francis (Pa.) in a doubleheader, Tuesday, April 3, at 3 p.m. at McCune Park.

Butler scored four runs before recording an out in the first inning and stayed hot offensively all afternoon to defeat the Youngstown State baseball team 18-5 in the series finale on Sunday at Eastwood Field.  After the Penguins held the Bulldogs to one earned run on five hits Saturday, Butler’s offense erupted for 18 earned runs on 18 hits.

Bulldogs designated hitter Pat Gelwicks posted five hits, three runs and three RBIs, and Bob Akin also drove in three. Jason Shirley had three hits and scored twice, and Drew Dosch added two hits for the Penguins.

The first six Bulldog hitters reached base on three singles, two walks and a hit batsman, and that ended the day for YSU starter Pat Shedlock. All five runs in the first were charged to him.

The Penguins got the first two runners on in the bottom of the first, but a strikeout and caught stealing resulted in a double play. Marcus Heath singled in Shirley to make the score 5-1, but the Guins couldn’t put together a big inning to keep pace. YSU had the leadoff runner on in the second and sacrificed him to second and failed to score.

Butler hit three doubles and had a sacrifice fly in the third to go ahead 7-1, and Dosch drove in David Leon for an unearned run in the bottom half of the inning.

The Bulldogs added a run in the fourth to go up 8-2, and they scored six times in the sixth. Craig Goubeaux brought in Shirley on a sacrifice fly, and Dosch scored on an error in the eighth to make the score 14-4. Butler added four more runs to its total in the ninth, and Dosch singled in Jack Graham in the bottom half for the final tally.

Butler starter Mike Hernandez allowed one earned run on six hits in six innings to earn the win for Butler.

Youngstown State will play four road games next week, starting with a game at Pittsburgh on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Kelly Pavlik answered a lot of questions about ring rust and time away, as well as how he would feel fighting back at 170 pounds.  Pavlik (38-2, 33 KO’s) knocked Aaron Jaco down in the first round and kept him down with another sharp left hook just 45 seconds into the second round.  Pavlik connected with a shot that landed flush and sent Jaco into la-la land (above).  The Youngstown native will now hope to have a bigger exposure fight, possibly on ESPN2 in early June.

“I felt terrific tonight”, said Pavlik.  “After I hit him a couple of times, he felt my power and started just trying to throw wildly, and that left him open and a little off balance, and I caught him with a good left hook in the first.”

Pavlik looked very sharp in his first in-ring action in over a year.  The former champion felt fresh and showed little ring rust during the fight.  The impressive performance almost guarantees Pavlik a June date on ESPN.  The Ghost also hinted bigger things to come by the end of September in his quest to regain championship gold.

“I will sign to fight someone in June on ESPN, probably June 8th.  The big one is going to be in September though.  I don’t know who I will be fighting in either fight, but hopefully the one in September will be for a belt.”

The knock on Pavlik the last time he fought was that he looked slow and rusty despite winning.  When asked about ring rust, Pavlik set the record straight.

“There was no rust tonight.  I did everything I set out to do.  My punches felt crisp, back to where they should be.”

Pavlik will return to Youngstown for a couple of weeks and then head back to Oxnard, California around the 17th or 18th of this April to start working for the June fight, which should be announced in a couple of weeks.  Top Rank is itching to get one of their most recognizable stars back in the spotlight, and Pavlik seems ready to accept the chance.  The dominant performance he put on in Texas should do plenty toward both the June and September proposed fights.

“I hit him [Jaco] with two very clean shots, two left hooks that sent him down twice.  It was the best I have felt in the ring in a very long time and I look forward to getting back to it and preparing for what comes next.”

Granted, Aaron Jaco is not a household boxing name, but he was 15-2 entering the fight, so he had to do something right although his opposition had never been the likes of a Kelly Pavlik.  The fight accomplished exactly what Pavlik and trainer Robert Garcia wanted it to, showed the world that he still has ‘it’ and wants more of ‘it’.

Kelly Pavlik is fighting more than Aaron Jaco (15-2, 5KO’s) on Saturday night.  Pavlik is fighting his critics, again, and looks forward to both challenges.  I got a chance to interview The Ghost via telephone Saturday night and he seems very focused on getting back to the sacred heights he controlled just three short years ago.

“I feel fantastic”, said Pavlik.  “I weighed in at 169.2 today and that was great because we were shooting for 170.  Everything is really smooth and I am very anxious to get back in there.”

Pavlik (37-2, 32 KO’s), in all probability, will win the fight.  What he wants to accomplish is to deliver a polished performance to leave an impression on the powers that be to get him back on television in June.  He realizes that this is just step one and knows anything can happen.

“I would like to get the rounds of work, but I will not take any chances.  If the opportunity to score a knockout is there, I will not drag it out, I want to win convincingly.  He has two hands and has boxed before, anything can happen.”

When asked if anything was different in training under Robert Garcia‘s watchful eye, Pavlik responded by saying, “There is a little bit of a different approach.  We are doing more rounds with the pads on and more punches.  There is no change in style.  We are only fine-tuning my style and getting back to countering and moving the head.”

The fight is  a scheduled 10-round, 170 pound match that will not be televised.

Details and pictures of the fight will be posted here tomorrow night, check back!

After all of the trash talking, a couple of good fighters met in Connecticut for the NABF Championship.  Hank Lundy (22-1-1) got the best of Dannie Williams (21-2) in an entertaining slugfest of a main event on national television.

Williams got out of the gate fast with a knockdown, putting Lundy on the canvas in the first round.  However, Lundy, who is used to getting off of the canvas and finishing strong, dominated the middle rounds with a good jab and got the decision.

Williams was bleeding around the nose after the first, but scored a 10-8 round with the knockdown.  The second round, on my card, was even.  Lundy probably took the lead on the judges cards in about the fifth round and never really looked back.

The judges scored the fight 98-91, 97-92, and 97-92 for Lundy who came away with the unanimous decision.

The upsetting part of the whole night was the rotten commentary of the ESPN2 announce team.  Between rounds seven and eight coming back from a commercial, the announcers said, “This is why Lundy will win this fight”, as they showed him throw four jabs, landing one of them.  Very critical and obviously had some cash on Lundy.  In fact, Teddy Atlas and Joe Tessitore should try to be a little less presumptuous.

“He is the boss”, said Tessitore.  “Lundy is the boss and he has Williams working for him right now.”

Maybe they should quit crying about the controversy in boxing and focus on being a little more unbiased.

Give Williams an A for effort, he hung with a champion and even knocked him down.  He will be back in action soon.

Last August, Dannie Williams was fighting outside in the parking lot of the Covelli Centre.  In that bout against a journeyman named Oscar Cuero, Williams struggled. He fought a good fight, but his hair kept getting into his face, blinding him from oncoming punches.  By the sixth round, his trainer, Jack Loew, grabbed a roll of white athletic tape and turned his fighter into Gene Simmons.  Williams went on to win the fight.

As you can see by the picture, the hair is gone.  One must wonder if that was by Williams’ choice or if Loew slid the barber an extra twenty to lower the blade a bit. Either way, Williams (21-1, 17 KO’s) faces his toughest challenge to date in Hank Lundy (21-1-1, 11 KO’s) on Friday night in Connecticut at the Foxwoods MGM.  The fight will be nationally televised on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.

Williams, since the Cuero fight, has had a couple of tune-ups and stayed very active to set up this payday.  Now fighting out of the DiBella camp, a win could spell even bigger things like HBO in June.

“He brings some skills to the table, but he also brings the NABF title to the table”, said Williams.  “This is also a WBA eliminator, so something big can happen for the winner.”

“From here on out, every fight is the biggest fight of my career.  To beat Lundy, I want to score a knockout.  I will test his heart, if he can stand there and take the pressure, then this main event fight might go longer than I want it to, but I see a knockout, and it comes free with the basic cable.”

Williams is starting to get some national recognition.  Call it stronger promoting, better exposure, and defeating quality opponents the last few times out.  He has earned this chance and is anxious to be impressive and look like the more dominant fighter.

“I am real humble”, said Williams.  “However, after March 30, the fan base is gonna get real big.  Everything is going great and I am focused.  I got a nutritionist now, I am eating three times a day, just not eating the same stuff anymore, and I feel a difference, I feel much stronger.”

“It’s on…  I promise you wont want to miss it!”

Senior Haley Thomas became Youngstown State’s all-time runs leader as the Penguins softball team defeated, 7-6, and tied, 5-5, Akron in a doubleheader at Lee Jackson Field.  Thomas scored the record-breaking run when she belted a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to give the Penguins a 6-5 advantage.

Thomas’ blast etched her name in the YSU record books, but junior Sarah Gabel‘s two-out, bases-clearing triple in the top of the third capped a four-run inning and put the Guins ahead 4-3.  Gable went 3-for-4 with a triple, double and single and drove in three runs to lead the Penguins’ 11-hit arsenal.

Sophomore Sarah Ingalls also collected three hits with a double and scored twice for the Penguins, who improved to 16-6-1.

The Zips took a 5-4 lead after plating two runs in the bottom of the third inning before Thomas’ home run in the sixth.

The Guins added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Sarah Ingalls drove in Samantha Snodgrass with two outs to put YSU up 7-5. Ingalls clutch hit proved to be the difference after Akron’s Allison Dorr belted a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh.

Freshman Kayla Haslett, though, relieved winner Casey Crozier (7-3) and shut down the Zips to collect her first career save.

Game two was called due to darkness after six innings with the game tied at 5-5.

The Youngstown State baseball team got five shutout innings from starting pitcher Ryan Krokos and scored five runs in the sixth inning to beat Akron 8-4 on Tuesday afternoon at Eastwood Field.  Krokos pitched five scoreless innings in his first career start, holding the Zips to three hits while striking out one. Marcus Heath had two hits and scored twice while Jason Shirley, Drew Dosch and Kevin Hix all drove in two runs.

Tyler Begun and Brady Stewart had three hits apiece for Akron, which outhit YSU 10-7.  Akron pitchers walked nine batters, and four of them came around to score.

Dosch gave the Penguins the lead early by smacking his third home run of the season in the first inning. David Leon led off YSU’s half of the first with a walk, and Shirley sacrificed him to second. Dosch then hit a full-count pitch into the right-field bullpen to put the Guins up 2-0.

Krokos worked around two-out doubles in both the first and third innings, and he got out of a bigger jam in the fourth. He beaned Begun to start the inning, and a single by Stewart put runners at the corners with nobody out. Begun was then thrown out in a rundown when Dan Burant hit a one-hopper to first. Krokos then induced Bryan White into a 4-6-3 double play that ended the inning.

Akron got an unearned run in the sixth, and Blake Aquadro was able to escape with the bases loaded. He walked Joey Havrilak to start the inning, and he was safe at second when Jack Graham’s flip from second base was wide. YSU got an out at second on a fielder’s choice to leave runners at the corners with one out, and Stewart singled in Havrilak to put the Zips on the board. Aquadro hit Burant to load the bases, but the junior lefty got White to line out to center and struck out Darius Washington to end the inning.

The Penguins answered Akron’s run by scoring five runs and sending 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the sixth. After retiring the leadoff batter, reliever Jason McPeek allowed walks to Craig Goubeaux (above) and Dan Hurlimann and a single to Heath to load the bases. Hix brought in Goubeaux with a weak ground out to second, and Phil Lipari walked to re-load the bases. McPeek then beaned Graham on a 3-0 pitch to plate Heath. Andrew Fanning then came in to pitch and walked Leon on a 3-2 pitch to bring in Hurlimann for the third run of the inning. Shirley then brought in Lipari and Graham with a two-run single up the middle that made the score 7-1.

Heath doubled and scored on Hix’s sacrifice fly in the seventh to give the Guins an 8-1 lead. Akron made it 8-2 when Jared Turocy singled in Devan Ahart in the eighth, and the Zips scored on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly in the ninth for the final tally.

Akron starter Matt Gebacz allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out four in five innings. All five runs in the sixth were charged to McPeek.

YSU and Akron will play again on Wednesday at Canal Park. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.

Over the past few years, the facilities have improved, some coaching changes have been made, and school spirit is as high as it has been in about twenty years.  Ron Strollo (above) is finally getting to see the benefits of his hard work.  The athletic director at Youngstown State had come under fire three years ago.  When Jon Heacock was failing, both basketball programs were declining, and all the other sports we had to have for scholarship and conference alignment purposes, no one was sure if Strollo could survive.

Not only has he survived, he has prospered.  The whole athletic community has prospered.

Ask Eric Wolford.  Wolford was appointed to be the savior of a football program that seemed to cater to individuals instead of team.  All Wolford has done in two years is put a program in place, recruited like it is his last day on Earth, surrounded himself with good coaches, and worked on good character and life skills tirelessly for his players.  The expectation on Wolford’s 2012 Penguins is to win.  With a victory over FCS Champion North Dakota State last season, expectations on the coming season are very high.

Perhaps no coach is more misunderstood than Jerry Slocum.  Recently completing his seventh season at the helm, the reserved, but opinionated, coach proved he can win. Strollo rewarded Slocum with a contract extension, and Slocum paid back when he put the best product of his tenure on the court last season.  Slocum is in the Top-10 list for wins of active coaches and knows the game of basketball.  People are sometimes critical of his personality, but no one should ever question his ability to coach.  Strollo made the right decision in rewarding Slocum a few more years as the program continues to move forward.

Bob Boldon probably couldn’t get the pen out of his pocket soon enough to sign a contract to coach women’s basketball at YSU.  It is a nice place to start, following a departed coach who went 0-30 the year before.  Boldon has had good success in installing a three-point shooting offense and is always preaching defense, he is a good choice, another feather in Strollo’s cap.

Rich Pasquale will endure some growing pains with his 2012 YSU baseball squad. Pasquale has a very young team with only two seniors and is another tireless recruiter.  Don’t be surprised to see this team in the hunt next season as they get their bearings and learn to play together.  Coach Campbell is at that point now with the Lady Penguins softball team.  These girls can flat out play.  He has pitching, he has hitting, and he is proving very proficient at managing both.

Recently, the Penguins hosted the Horizon League Indoor Track Meet.  The WATTS proved to be a terrific venue for the event and Strollo reflected on the feedback.

“The feedback has been positive.  Obviously there are a few things, as we will go through growing pains, that need fixed.  We will address those minor issues. Fortunately, we ran college and high school meets a month and a half prior to tune up for that event.”

The weekend of the Horizon Meet, there were also basketball home games and the swimming home finale.

“There is no question we don’t mind being busy if that is what it takes.”

Strollo has surrounded himself with outstanding personnel.  This department has evolved into a prototype of how a collegiate athletic department should be run.  The marketing and sports information departments have exemplified consistency, which can be tough with subpar products.  Fortunately, the products are ‘new and improved’ and will continue to draw bigger crowds.  Keep up the good work Ron Strollo, and thanks for what you have done so far.

Three UIC pitchers combined to hold the Youngstown State baseball team to five hits, and the Flames completed a three-game sweep of the Penguins with an 8-0 victory on Sunday at Les Miller Field.

Flames starter Charlie Weinberg allowed four hits and struck out six batters in seven innings, and Mike Schoolcraft and Tim Suminski both threw scoreless innings of relief. UIC’s pitchers also did not issue a walk or a hit batsman on the afternoon.

YSU starter Pat Shedlock had his first off outing in three weeks, allowing five earned runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings. Four relievers combined to hold the Flames without an earned run over 4.2 innings. YSU had four errors that led to three unearned runs.

David Leon and Kevin Hix both had two hits for the Penguins, and YSU’s Drew Dosch was kept off base for the first time in 25 games, dating back to last season.

Ryan Boss was a single away from hitting for the cycle for UIC. The sophomore designated hitter was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

Boss homered with two outs in the first to give UIC a 1-0 lead, and Jon Ryan scored on a two-out error in the second as the Flames built a two-run advantage. Boss and Alex De LaRosa then hit back-to-back RBI doubles, and Joe Betcher added a run-scoring single in the third to make the score 5-0. A sacrifice fly by Ryan Shober and an RBI triple from Boss in the fourth put the Flames up 7-0. UIC got an unearned run on a fielder’s choice ground out in the eighth for its final run.

YSU will play Akron in a home-and-home series during the upcoming week. The Penguins will host the Zips at Eastwood Field at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, and they’ll play at Canal Park in Akron on Wednesday at 3 p.m.