Archive for the ‘YSU Baseball And Softball’ Category

Youngstown State senior Kim Klonowski was named the Horizon League Player of the Week for April 11, the league announced on Monday.

It marks the third time in the last five weeks a Youngstown State player has garnered the award from the league, and the fourth time this season that a YSU player has received a weekly honor. Junior Jordan Ingalls, who will be featured in a Paneech.com Profile later this week, was named the player of the on March 21 and March 28, and freshman Casey Crozier was named the pitcher of the week on Feb. 28.

Klonowski batted .467, went 7-for-15 on the week, crushing her first two home runs of the season, driving in four while recording a hit in four of the five contests.

Youngstown State went 4-1 last week, collecting a key road series win at UIC over the weekend. Holding a 19-14 record, the Penguins sit just one victory from their first 20-win season since 2006.

In the Penguins’ doubleheader versus Toledo, the senior belted her first homer of the season in a 10-0 rout that capped the sweep. Her second long ball of the week came in the opener of the League series on Saturday, helping push Youngstown State to a 6-3 win over UIC.

A day after the Youngstown State baseball team was beaten 15-1, a pair of Phil’s helped the Penguins respond with a doubleheader sweep of Butler on Saturday afternoon and win the series.

Starting pitcher Phil Klein won his fourth straight start in game one of the double dip and led YSU to a 5-1 victory.  Phil Lipari‘s walk-off single in the ninth capped a series of late heroics in game two as YSU won 4-3.

The pair of wins improved YSU’s Horizon League record to 3-3, and Butler dropped to 4-5 with the pair of defeats.

“I’m happy for our guys because we showed a lot of character to come back and win two today after how we lost last night,” YSU head coach Rich Pasquale said.  “It was a long day mentally and physically, and for us to win in the last at bat was awesome.”

After Klein allowed one unearned run on four hits in seven innings in game one, the Penguins had to rally from a three-run deficit in game two.

In the second game, Lipari (top photo) had a game-high three hits, and four of his teammates added two hits apiece.

“Klein is putting us on his back, and we’re going with him,” Pasquale said. “He located his fastball tremendously well, and he was dominant for us again against a team that had 18 hits last night.”

Klein struck out 10 batters in his seven innings. He became the seventh player in school history to strike out at least 200 batters over a career.

Youngstown State senior pitcher Phil Klein won his third straight start and got plenty of offensive help to lead the Penguins to a doubleheader split at Le Moyne on Saturday.

Klein, who has allowed five earned runs in the last 27 innings, allowed one run on five hits in posting the seven-inning complete game. The Penguins won Klein’s start 5-1 in game two but fell 8-4 in game one.

“Phil was dominant today,” YSU head coach Rich Pasquale said. “He worked ahead and stayed ahead of hitters all day. We played well defensively behind him, and we had a much better approach at the plate in game two than we did in game one.”

Klein did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the third, and three of Le Moyne’s five hits came consecutively in the seventh inning.

The Penguins gave Klein all the help he would need in the top of the third when they scored three runs on five hits and an error to go up 3-0. YSU had five straight hits in the inning, and all three of its runs scored after there were two outs. After Armani Johnson was thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning, Joe Iacobucci singled in Padraic Williams for the game’s first run. Greg Dissinger then singled in Iascobucci, and Dan Hurlimann drove in Jeremy Banks.

Dissinger singled in Iacobucci, and Banks scored on a passed ball in the fifth to give Klein a 5-0 cushion.

The Dolphins’ lone run came with two outs in the seventh when Ryan Mahoney singled, stole second and scored on Kody O’Connor’s single.

Iacobucci was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Dissinger was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

In the early game, Le Moyne built a 4-0 lead and through four innings and matched the Penguins the rest of the way in an 8-4 victory.

Mahoney hit a solo homer in the second to give Le Moyne a 1-0 lead, and the Dolphins scored twice in the third. O’Conner’s solo blast in the fourth made the score 4-0.

Williams brought in Johnson with an RBI groundout for YSU in the top of the fifth, but Le Moyne equaled that with a run in the bottom half.

The Penguins mounted a rally with three runs in the sixth, but the Dolphins scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to maintain their four-run edge. In YSU’s half, Craig Goubeaux drew a bases loaded walk, Johnson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Phil Lipari singled in a run.

YSU starter Kevin McCulloh allowed six earned runs on 12 hits while striking out three in 5.1 innings. Reliever Blake Aquadro allowed one run on four hits in 2.2 innings.

Le Moyne’s Mark Kuzma earned the win despite allowing four runs on four hits and five walks in 5.1 innings. Reliever Casey Cannon surrendered two hits and struck out six in 3.2 innings to earn the save.

Johnson had two of YSU’s six hits in the opener. Pat Wiese and Don Schaaf had four hits apiece for Le Moyne, which posted 16 hits as a team.

For the second consecutive week, Youngstown State junior Jordan Ingalls has been named the Horizon League Softball Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday.

Ingalls’ back-to-back awards mark the first time since joining the Horizon League that a Youngstown State player has won the award in consecutive weeks.

Ingalls led the Guins to a 6-2 mark last week and batted an impressive .548 with four extra-base hits. Ingalls had a double, two triples and a home run for the week.

She recorded a hit in each game and had multi-hit games six times. She also had three hits in three contests.

She also drove in 12 runs in eight games, including the game-winner against Colgate to cap a 6-5 victory after trailing 5-0 after five innings.

Ingalls leads the team with a .458 batting average with five doubles, four triples, three home runs and team-bests 26 runs batted in and a .764 slugging percentage.

*Photos Courtesy of YSU Sports

Youngstown State senior Phil Klein has been named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week for the week of March 14, the league office announced.

Klein carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and did not allow a base-runner until the fifth in leading YSU to a 7-1 victory over Toledo on Sunday. Klein struck out a career-high 13 of the 29 batters he faced in eight innings of work. He allowed one earned run on three hits and one walk.

Klein earned the weekly honor for the first time in his career.

Over his last two starts, Klein has a 1.38 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 13 innings.

The Youngstown State softball team rallied from 5-0 deficit and scored five in the top of the seventh inning for a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over Colgate on Friday afternoon at the Rebel Games. The Guins also defeated Bucknell, 9-2, earlier in the day.

The Guins, who improved to 15-7 and surpassed the 2010 win total of 14, trailed 5-0 after five innings, scored one in the top of the sixth before the game-changing seventh inning.

Sophomore Caroline Krombach led off the frame by reaching on an error and moved to third on senior Kim Klonowski‘s second double of the game. Freshman  Samantha Snodgrass followed with a double to right-center field to drive in Krombach and Klonowski to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Junior Haley Thomas doubled home Snodgrass to bring the Guins within one, 5-4, and moved to third on a throwing error. After a walk to Kristina Rendle, Thomas scored on a wild pitch to tie the game, 5-5, and Rendle advanced to third on a throwing error by the Colgate catcher.

Junior Jordan Ingalls, who went 3-for-4, plated Rendle with the go-ahead run with a single up the middle.

Freshman Casey Crozier, who pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of relief, retired Colgate in order in the bottom of the seventh to pick up her ninth win of the season.

Against Bucknell, the Guins used a 12-hit offensive assault to knock off the Bison, 9-2.

Sophomore Vicky Rumph went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in while Rendle, who had a 17-game hitting streaksnapped against Colgate, Ingalls and Krombach each tallied two hits for the Guins.

Crozier notched her eighth win of the season by pitching 3.2 innings of relief against the Bison.

The Guins trailed Bucknell, 2-1, before tying the game in the fourth before exploding for three runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth.

Sophomore Hana Somogyi and freshman Casey Crozier each turned in solid pitching performances to lead the YSU softball team (3-3) to two victories at the NCCU Lady Eagles Classic on Saturday afternoon. The Guins defeated North Carolina Central, 3-1, and Delaware State, 3-2.

In the first game, Somogyi allowed just five hits and one run in 6.1 innings pitched for her first victory of the season. Crozier notched her first career save pitching 0.2 scoreless innings with a strikeout.

Freshman Samantha Snodgrass collected two singles for the Guins and scored once while sophomore Sarah Gabel went 2-for-2 with a double that drove in the go-ahead run.  The Guins scored the first three runs in the game – one in the bottom of the second and two in the bottom half of the fifth.

In the second, Snodgrass singled, stole second, moved to third on an error and scored on Kim Klonowski‘s (pictured, top) sacrifice fly.  Junior Kristen Philen led off the fifth with a walk and scored on Gabel’s double down the left-field line. Freshman Kelly Fox pinch-ran for Gable, stole third and scored on Haley Thomas‘ ground out.

In the second game, Crozier fired a five-hit complete game with five strikeouts to pick up her first career victory.

The Guins scored three runs in the top of the first inning keyed by Klonowski’s two-run single that plated Jordan Ingalls, who singled, and Vicky Rumph, who walked.  Kristina Rendle ignited the early rally with a single and scored YSU’s first run on Sarah Ingalls’ bases-loeaded walk.

Delaware State answered with one in the bottom of the first and one in the bottom of the seventh, but Crozier hunkered down and forced a line out to end the game with the tying run on third base.

East Carolina scored six runs in the bottom of the second and got seven strong innings from preseason All-America pitcher Seth Maness to defeat the Youngstown State baseball team 11-3 on Friday in the season opener for both teams.

Junior leadoff hitter David Leon gave the Penguins a 1-0 on the second pitch of the game when he homered to right field off Maness, but that’s the only baserunner the senior right-hander allowed until there were two outs in the fourth. By that time, the Pirates led 8-1.

YSU starter Phil Klein worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Pirates scoreless in the bottom of the first, but the home team scored six runs on five hits and an error in the second. Zach Wright reached on a throwing error to lead off the inning, and he scored a batter later on Chase McDonald’s double to left center. Jack Reinheimer singled in McDonald for the second run, and leadoff hitter Trent Whitehead brought in two more runs with a one-out single. Austin Homan singled in Whitehead, and McDonald drew a bases loaded walk his second time up during the inning for the final run.

After another YSU throwing error prolonged the third inning, Corey Thompson hit a two-run double to left to put the Pirates up 8-1. ECU added two more runs in the fifth off reliever Blake Aquadro.

YSU got on the board again in the eighth when Armani Johnson reached on an infield single and scored on a two-out wild pitch. East Carolina got the run back with an RBI double in the eighth, and YSU’s final run came in the ninth when Leon singled in Neil Schroth.

Maness, a preseason All-America selection by multiple media outlets, allowed just one run on Leon’s home run in seven innings. He surrendered four hits without walking a batter and struck out seven to earn the victory.

Klein suffered the loss for YSU, allowing four earned runs on six hits and four walks in four innings. Aquadro allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings of relief.

Leon, who redshirted last year, went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBIs in his first game since the 2009 season to lead YSU. Drew Dosch, Jeremy Banks, Padraic Williams, Johnson and Schroth also had hits.

Thompson had three hits and drove in three runs to lead East Carolina.

The Penguins and Pirates will continue their three-game series on Saturday. First pitch at Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium is set for 2 p.m.

Junior Jordan Ingalls‘ two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning forced extra innings and junior Kristen Philen‘s two-out single in the bottom of the eighth lifted the Youngstown State softball team (1-2) to a 6-5 victory over Kent State on Sunday morning.

The Golden Flashes broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-3 advantage.

Senior Kristina Rendle singled down the left-field line with one out and scored on Ingalls’ first home run of the season which knotted the game at 5-5.  With the international tie-breaker rule in effect, Erin Gilmour was placed on second base as a pinch-runner and advanced to third on Samantha Snodgrass’ sacrifice bunt. Gilmour then scored the game-winning run on Philen’s infield single.

Freshman Haley Knight picked up her first win of the season tossing a scoreless eighth inning in relief of freshman Casey Crozier, who pitched seven innings and struck out three.  After Kent State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, junior Haley Thomas put the Guins ahead with a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom half of the frame.

Kent State took a 3-2 lead after plating runs in the top of the of the third and sixth innings.  Sophomore Vicky Rumph tied the game at 3-3 with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Rendle, Jordan Ingalls and Philen each finished the game with two hits apiece.

The Guins were also scheduled to play Elon at 3:30 p.m.

Anyone who drives on Route 422 to get to or from Youngstown State University will notice a huge structure being erected.  That structure will be called the WATTS, as many of the local readers already know.  Tim Stuart (above) will be in charge of many of the scheduling and personnel decisions as well as the day-to-day operations of the center.  I recently got a chance to interview Stuart about the facility and learned many interesting points that I did not know.

Paneech: I called the new facility the WATTS Center when I first learned about the plans to build it, and Matt Morrone nearly took my head off correcting me.  Why is it wrong to call this place the WATTS Center?

Stuart: WATTS stands for Watson and Tressel Training Site.  So if you called it the WATTS Center, you would be calling it a training site center.  It would get a little redundant, so we just call it the WATTS.

Paneech: How long before it opens and what will it be used for?

Stuart: We anticipate the facility not being used until May.  With some of the inclement weather we have had this past Fall and so far, this Winter, things have gotten backed up a little bit.  Once it opens, it will be used for all of our sports and we anticipate it being used 365 days a year.  It will be used by recreation and intramural sports.  There will be a 300 meter track, a 7500 square foot mezzanine on top of our offices that we will be utilizing for batting cages and stuff like that.

Paneech: Was the concept developed as a way to keep up with the Joneses or was it designed out of necessity?

Stuart: A little bit of both actually.  It will most definitely be used as a recruiting tool against the Kents and Akrons.  It is a great tool for us.  Regardless of weather, it allows all of our athletes to train in a climate-controlled environment.  If we get a week of rain in April, our baseball and softball teams can be in there practicing.

Paneech: The average distance of a centerfield fence is about 400, is there space for all that, or will it just be fungo and cages?

Stuart: There is netting that will be draped.  The netting is so tight that you will not be able to hit a golf ball through it.  It contains a full-length football field, or 120 yards from the back of one end zone to the back of the other end zone.  Obviously, they will not be able to play a baseball game because it isn’t a full field, but many simulations can be accommodated by the great amount of space between the walls.  Hitting, pitching, and fielding practice will be just like practicing outside.

Paneech: So how long before Hively Construction throws you guys the keys and says you can start moving in?

Stuart: We are still, a few months away.  The in-ground heating is in. (*Note – The heat will be on the ground and move upward toward the ceiling not to lose much for optimum temperature control. )  We are almost done with the windows and once everything gets enclosed we will be able to really get rolling.

Paneech: Tell me what your role is.

Stuart: I have been appointed to be the manager of the facility.  I will be overseeing the scheduling as well as coordinating what will simultaneously take place in Beeghly and Stambaugh.  Whether that is scheduling practices, basketball events at Beeghly, football events at Stambaugh, or whatever is coming must be coordinated by us.  With the renovation of Kilcawley Center, all three of these facilities are going to be used more than ever.  We will be in charge of scheduling camps for our programs as well.  In the past, camps have always been restricted to the two facilities and trying to coordinate intramural activities and regular practices was becoming more and more of a challenge.  The WATTS will eliminate many of these overcrowding problems and time conflicts.

Paneech: Because it generates the most money traditionally, will football be the top priority or is there more of an even-split attitude about who gets first use of the facility?

Stuart: It is an all-sports facility.  Obviously when football is in-season, it will take precedence over other sports, but it is so big that as long as there is coordination between the coaches, there will be enough room for multiple sports at any time.  Football can be on the field having practice and baseball pitchers and hitters can be throwing and hitting on the mezzanine at the same time.  We now can stretch things out a little with the extra facility so everyone will have a place for adequate practice times and conditions.

Tom Morella, the Assistant Athletic Director, spoke about the WATTS opening soon as well.  “I really can’t wait for the day we can get in there.  It will make everything in the two existing buildings smoother as far as time commitments.  It is a nightmare in Stambaugh and Beeghly Center some days because there just isn’t enough space for everything.  This facility is a tremendous asset to not only the sports programs, but also for the students.