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April 28, 2001
Baseball: YSU Splits Pair of One-Run Games With Cougars
Niles, Ohio -- The
Youngstown State baseball team used
a solid performance in game one by
Brad Hennessey and then almost
overcame a seven-run to deficit in
game two, but had to settle for a
split of a doubleheader against
Chicago State on Saturday afternoon
at Cafaro Field. YSU (17-23-1 and
6-11) won game one 1-0 but came up
just short in game two losing 8-7.
Hennessey tossed a two-hit shutout walking just four as the
Penguins scored with no outs in the
bottom of the ninth to win the first
game. It was Hennessey's fourth
complete game of the year and the
first complete-game shutout by a YSU
hurler since Gary Gubanich shutout
C.W. Post on May 4, 1996. In the
second game, YSU trailed 7-0 before
tying the game in the eighth. But
the Cougars (9-28 and 4-12) scored a
run in the 10th to earn the win.
In game one, Hennessey threw 119 pitches in picking up his
fourth win of the season. In a
pitchers duel with Nick Gaitano, the
Penguins finally broke through
offensively in the bottom of the
ninth. Matt Lucki opened the inning
with a single off Gaitano. The hit,
YSU's eighth off of the Cougar ace,
knocked Gaitano out of the game and
he was replaced by Nick Troy.
After Ty Furino pinch ran for Lucki, James Swearengen hit a
grounded to second and reached on
fielding error by Michael Smolka.
Kendall Schlabach followed with a
sacrifice bunt attempt, but Troy
could not field the ball cleanly.
With the infield in, Kellen Dixon
hit a chopper through the right side
to score Furino with the game
winner.
In the second game, Chicago State jumped on YSU starter Matt
Brumit for seven runs in 4.1
innings. Trailing 7-0 in the bottom
of the fifth, the Penguins clawed
back scoring a run in the fifth, two
in the sixth, two in the seventh and
tied the game with two in eighth.
Reliever Frank Santore kept
Youngstown State in the game
allowing just one hit in 3.2 innings
of work.
Trailing 7-5 in the bottom of the eighth, Swearengen and
Schlabach walked against reliever
Matt Wendleken. Swearengen
eventually scored on ground out by
Dixon and Shalbach came home with
the tying run when Todd Santore was
caught in a run down in a
double-steal attempt.
In the 10th, Mike Abdalla hit John Jensen with a pitch to
open the inning. Jensen advanced on
a wild pitch and with two outs
scored on a bloop single by Jerrold
Brock. Brock was 3-of-4 in the
second game.
In the bottom of the inning, YSU put two runners on base with
two outs, but Todd Santore popped up
to short to end the game.
The Cougars and Penguins play a doubleheader on Sunday at
Cafaro Field at noon. |
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