April 29, 2005
Thomas Pitches YSU to 5-1 Win, First-Place Spot in League Standings
    Fairborn, Ohio -- Junior Justin Thomas allowed two hits and one unearned run in a nine-inning complete game to lead Youngstown State to a 5-1 win over Wright State in a battle of the Horizon League's top two teams on Friday evening at Nischwitz Field.
    With the win, the Penguins improved to 4-1 in the league and overtook the Raiders for the top spot, who fell to 7-2 in the conference.
    Redshirt freshman catcher Erich Diedrich went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Penguins, including hitting a two-run triple in a three-run sixth.
    Down 1-0 through four innings, the Penguins got back-to-back run-scoring hits with two outs in the fifth to go up 2-1. Brian Boone hit a leadoff single, stole second and scored on a Josh Page double to tie the score. One batter later, J.D. Hannan singled to center to bring home Page.
    YSU then got three runs in the sixth on a sacrifice fly and another clutch two-out hit. Charles Schultz and Justin Banks singled to start the inning and advanced on a Jim Phillips sacrifice bunt. Boone then brought home Schultz on a sacrifice fly to right and Brian Dill walked to set up Diedrich's two-run triple to right.
    The Raiders got their two hits in the third inning as Travis Migliorini hit a leadoff single to left and scored three batters later on a Justin Wilson single. Migliorini moved to second on a throwing error by Boone at first and advanced to third on a Dan Biedenharn sacrifice bunt. Thomas struck out John Kopilchack for the second out, but Wilson hit a 2-0 offering into left to put the Raiders up 1-0.
    The Raiders, who came into the game hitting .312 as a team and had been ranked as high as 27th in the country in hitting, had only one baserunner the rest of the evening as Brian Vickers drew a one-out walk in the fourth. But after the walk to Vickers, Thomas forced Amin Abusaleh into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play and went on to retire the final 16 hitters of the game. The junior southpaw also struck out the side in the ninth to finish the game with eight strikeouts.
    Wright State's Kyle Kearcher went the distance, allowing all five runs on 10 hits while striking out two.
    With tonight's effort, Thomas improved to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the Horizon League. In 18 innings against league opponents, Thomas has not allowed an earned run, has allowed only six hits and has struck out 23 hitters.
    The Penguins and Raiders will continue their four-game series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.