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May 4, 2003
Phillips' Blast Highlights Seven-Run Eighth, 10-4 Win
Niles, Ohio -- Wright State starter
Casey Abrams had a no-hitter through
six innings and took a four-run lead
going into the bottom of the
seventh, but the Youngstown State
baseball team erupted for three runs
in the seventh and seven in the
eighth en route to a 10-4 Horizon
League victory on Sunday afternoon
at Cafaro Field.
The Raiders (17-29, 8-12 Horizon) broke a scoreless tie with
four runs in the top of the seventh,
but the previously-hitless Penguins
(23-23, 11-9) started the bottom of
the seventh off with four straight
hits that resulted in three runs to
get within one, then tallied seven
runs in the eighth for the victory.
Although the Penguins were held hitless and only saw two
runners reach base through the first
six innings, they put forth a
complete balanced offensive attack
that led to nine hits and 10 runs in
their final two innings. Seven
different players had at least one
hit while eight scored in the
contest.
"We put forth a total team effort today," Head Coach Mike
Florak said. "Today's win was
very encouraging for the team and it
took a lot of guts to come back like
that."
Starter Justin Thomas allowed four runs, only one of which
was earned, and struck out five
hitters through 6.2 innings but did
not factor in the decision.
Chris Dennis
threw 2.1 scoreless innings in
relief in his first victory of the
season while allowing one hit and
striking out three.
"Chris showed a ton of guts out there today," Florak said.
"He's bounced back from some
adversity this season and is
pitching as well as anyone right
now."
Wright State got on the board first in the top of the seventh
by plating four runs on six hits.
With runners on second and third
with no outs, Bill Johnson squeezed
home Kofi Gyimah to give the Raiders
a one-run advantage.
Pinch-hitter Matt Barhorst followed
with an RBI single to left to score
Justin Wilson, then Chris Tuttle and
Trent Matthews provided back-to-back
RBI hits to put the Raiders ahead
4-0. With two outs and runners
on first and second, Dennis came in
and gave up his only hit of the
contest to Pat Masters, but J.D.
Hannan gunned Matthews at the plate
to end the inning.
After the long top of the seventh, the Penguins started off
the bottom half of the inning with
four straight hits that led to three
runs. Charles Schultz got the
offense going and broke the hitless
barrier with a single through the
left side, then Justin Banks, Adam
Cox and Brian Boone followed with
three straight singles to make the
score 4-2. After Hannan
sacrificed Cox and Boone putting
runners on second and third, pinch
hitter Jim Lipinski grounded out to
score Cox and get YSU within one.
Dennis held the Raiders scoreless in the eighth to keep YSU
within one, then the Penguin offense
erupted for seven runs in the bottom
half of the inning to blow the game
open.
After Schlabach drew a leadoff walk, Caipen reached on a
fielder's choice and Schultz singled
through the right side to load the
bases. Two batters later, Cox
drew a bases loaded walk to tie the
game, then Boone hit a single to
left to score Caipen, Schutlz and
Cox, who scored when the leftfielder
failed to field the ball cleanly.
Hannan followed with a bunt single
to put runners on the corners with
one out, then Phillips cleared the
bases and gave the Penguins a 10-4
lead on a three-run blast that
cleared the double-wall in left
field for his fifth round tripper of
the season.
Brandon Osborne reached first to lead off the top of the
ninth for the Raiders, but Dennis
retired the next three hitters to
seal his first victory.
Boone finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Schultz finished
with two hits and two runs scored.
Cox added two runs and two RBIs for
the Penguins.
Abrams, the Horizon League's strikeout leader, finished with
six strikeouts and was charged with
three runs in 6.1 innings but did
not factor in the decision.
Reliever Travis Koehler was tagged
for seven runs on four hits in one
inning of relief to pick up his
first loss of the season.
The Penguins will take a week off for finals, then continue
their 2003 campaign on Friday when
the travel to UW-Milwaukee for a
four-game series with the Panthers.
First pitch on Friday at Henry Aaron
Field is set for 8 p.m. EST. |
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