Published: Thursday, May 3, 2007
Penguins explode for a 20-3 victory
Youngstown State hosts UIC in a three-game Horizon League series beginning Friday.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STRUTHERS — Baseball is a funny game, but for a change the Youngstown State team finally got the last laugh.
The Penguins reached a season-high in runs and hits as they pounded out a 20-3 victory over Notre Dame College Wednesday night at Cene Park.
But the Penguins (14-26) know that the NAIA Falcons are nowhere near the competition that they'll be facing this weekend when they return to Horizon League play against Illinois-Chicago at Eastwood Field.
"It was a good game, we hit the ball well and scored a lot of runs and we didn't make any stupid mistakes," said YSU junior shortstop Josh Page, who had four hits, scored three runs, drove in four and started the Penguins rare triple play in the sixth inning.
"Hopefully we can carry over some of this into the weekend," added Page. "We lost three one-run games to UIC earlier this year, three games that we should have won.
Junior Erich Diedrich, who had two hits and two RBIs while playing only three innings, echoed Page's comments.
"We've got some great players on this team and we showed some of that tonight, but we've just got to keep it going," Diedrich said.
Second on RBI list
Diedrich's two RBI's gave him 126 for his career at YSU and now stands in second place on the school's all-time list. Jim Lipinsky is the career leader with 138.
The Penguins pounded out 20 hits with Page and sophomore John Koehnlein each getting four, while freshman Anthony Munoz, who came in to play in the fifth inning went, three-for-three and scored twice.
"It was a much better effort and we didn't make the mental mistakes that have been killing us lately," said coach Mike Florak.
"We've lost so many close games, six by one run and five others by two runs," he added. "It's the reason that I've continued to have confidence in this group. If we were getting blown away every game then I'd be concerned."
"We've still got plenty of time to get this thing turned around, but we've just got to keep after it and keep playing like we did tonight," Florak said.
Streak continues
Koehnlein has now hit safely in his last 13 games, the second time this season he has had a 13-game hitting streak.
In the 40 games the Penguins have played this year, Koehnlein has hit safely in 36 of them and dating back to last season has hit safely in 42 of the team's last 46 games.
He has 74 total hits on the year, while the school record for most hits in a season is 80, currently held by Kendall Schlabach and Kellen Dixon in 2001 and Mark Thomas in 1999.
The Penguins scored nine times in the first three innings, including a five-run third. They scored five more in the fifth and four in the seventh against the Falcons.
Freshman Ryan Dunlap pitched the first three innings to get his first win of the season. He retired all nine batters he faced, giving up one single which was erased on a double play.
Redshirt freshman Tom Clayton had a solo home run to centerfield in the sixth inning.
Triple play in sixth
Page came up with the defensive gem in the sixth when he grabbed a line drive off the bat of Michael Wilsey with no outs and runners on first and second. He doubled the runner off second and threw to first to complete the triple-play.
"That was pretty neat," Page said. "We were just talking about that an inning before after we had watched one on TV. That's the first one I've ever been involved in."
Notre Dame, which is only in its third year of varsity baseball, scored all three of its runs in the seventh inning when it also got five of its nine hits off the Penguins.
"Give Notre Dame credit, they are not that bad a team, they just caught us on a good night," said Diedrich.
The Penguins weekend series against Illinois-Chicago will begin Friday night with a 7 p.m. clash at Eastwood. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
mollica@vindy.com
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Youngstown State hosts UIC in a three-game Horizon League series beginning Friday.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STRUTHERS — Baseball is a funny game, but for a change the Youngstown State team finally got the last laugh.
The Penguins reached a season-high in runs and hits as they pounded out a 20-3 victory over Notre Dame College Wednesday night at Cene Park.
But the Penguins (14-26) know that the NAIA Falcons are nowhere near the competition that they'll be facing this weekend when they return to Horizon League play against Illinois-Chicago at Eastwood Field.
"It was a good game, we hit the ball well and scored a lot of runs and we didn't make any stupid mistakes," said YSU junior shortstop Josh Page, who had four hits, scored three runs, drove in four and started the Penguins rare triple play in the sixth inning.
"Hopefully we can carry over some of this into the weekend," added Page. "We lost three one-run games to UIC earlier this year, three games that we should have won.
Junior Erich Diedrich, who had two hits and two RBIs while playing only three innings, echoed Page's comments.
"We've got some great players on this team and we showed some of that tonight, but we've just got to keep it going," Diedrich said.
Second on RBI list
Diedrich's two RBI's gave him 126 for his career at YSU and now stands in second place on the school's all-time list. Jim Lipinsky is the career leader with 138.
The Penguins pounded out 20 hits with Page and sophomore John Koehnlein each getting four, while freshman Anthony Munoz, who came in to play in the fifth inning went, three-for-three and scored twice.
"It was a much better effort and we didn't make the mental mistakes that have been killing us lately," said coach Mike Florak.
"We've lost so many close games, six by one run and five others by two runs," he added. "It's the reason that I've continued to have confidence in this group. If we were getting blown away every game then I'd be concerned."
"We've still got plenty of time to get this thing turned around, but we've just got to keep after it and keep playing like we did tonight," Florak said.
Streak continues
Koehnlein has now hit safely in his last 13 games, the second time this season he has had a 13-game hitting streak.
In the 40 games the Penguins have played this year, Koehnlein has hit safely in 36 of them and dating back to last season has hit safely in 42 of the team's last 46 games.
He has 74 total hits on the year, while the school record for most hits in a season is 80, currently held by Kendall Schlabach and Kellen Dixon in 2001 and Mark Thomas in 1999.
The Penguins scored nine times in the first three innings, including a five-run third. They scored five more in the fifth and four in the seventh against the Falcons.
Freshman Ryan Dunlap pitched the first three innings to get his first win of the season. He retired all nine batters he faced, giving up one single which was erased on a double play.
Redshirt freshman Tom Clayton had a solo home run to centerfield in the sixth inning.
Triple play in sixth
Page came up with the defensive gem in the sixth when he grabbed a line drive off the bat of Michael Wilsey with no outs and runners on first and second. He doubled the runner off second and threw to first to complete the triple-play.
"That was pretty neat," Page said. "We were just talking about that an inning before after we had watched one on TV. That's the first one I've ever been involved in."
Notre Dame, which is only in its third year of varsity baseball, scored all three of its runs in the seventh inning when it also got five of its nine hits off the Penguins.
"Give Notre Dame credit, they are not that bad a team, they just caught us on a good night," said Diedrich.
The Penguins weekend series against Illinois-Chicago will begin Friday night with a 7 p.m. clash at Eastwood. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
mollica@vindy.com
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Baseball is a funny game, but for a change the Youngstown State team finally got the last laugh.
The Penguins reached a...
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