May 25, 2006

Cleveland State Rallies Late to End YSU's Season, 6-4

    Fairborn, Ohio -- The Youngstown State bullpen let a lead slip away in the eighth inning for the second straight day as the Penguins fell 6-4 to Cleveland State in an elimination game at the Horizon League Championship at Nischwitz Field.
    The loss ends YSU's season with a record of 26-29 while Cleveland State advances to play tomorrow at 11 a.m.
    The Penguins got a solid performance out starter Eric Shaffer, but, just as the day before against Butler, the offense quieted down after an early outburst and the Vikings rallied late. Shaffer allowed two runs on just four hits in seven innings of work and left with a 4-2 lead in the final outing of his career.
    In the eighth, Cleveland State got three runs on four hits to turn a two-run deficit into a 5-4 lead. Josh Geric greeted reliever Kevin Libeg with a leadoff single and scored two batters later when Ryan Baechel hit a game-tying two-run home run to left. After a single, a double and a walk, reliever Chris Dennis came in and issued a bases loaded walk to Michael Babin that made the score 5-4. Dennis got Bobby Cash to ground into an inning-ending double play to keep the deficit at one.
    The Penguins failed at a chance to tie it in the eighth as they put runners at the corners with one out. Josh Page singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a Dustin Thomas sacrifice bunt. Charles Schultz then hit one of his three singles in the game to move Page to third, but reliever Jeremy Hartman got J.D. Hannan to pop up to the right of the mound and John Koehlein to force out Schultz at second to preserve the lead.
    The Vikings added an insurance run in the ninth when Vasili Pahoulis hit a leadoff double, moved to third on Geric's sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch.
    Hartman earned his third save of the season, holding the Penguins to one hit in 1 2/3 scoreless innings. CSU starter Stephen Procner earned his first win in nine decisions as he allowed four runs on 11 hits and four walks in 7 1/3 innings.
    The Penguins did all of their scoring with two outs in the second inning on five hits and one walk. Erich Diedrich hit a leadoff double to left center and advanced to third on a one-out single from Brent Parks. After Diedrich was gunned down at the plate on Page's chopper to third, Thomas walked to set up Schultz's two-run single to left. Hannan then brought in Thomas with a single to right, and Koehnlein plated Schultz with an infield single.
    Procner pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth by getting a force at the plate and a diving catch from centerfielder John Westra on Brandon Caipen's sinking liner. He also benefited from inning-ending double plays in the fifth and sixth innings, and YSU left the bases loaded again in the seventh.
    The Vikings got on the board in the sixth with two runs on two hits and two walks off of Shaffer. Baechel plated Pahoulis on a one-out fielder's choice, and Rich Ranells drove in Steve Chinn on a bloop single to center.
    Schultz went 3-for-4 for the second straight game and had two RBIs to lead YSU's 12-hit attack while Koehnlein, Diedrich and Page all had two hits apiece. Geric had three of Cleveland State's 10 hits while Ranells added two.
    With Butler's three-run rally in the eighth and two runs in the 10th inning yesterday and Cleveland State's six runs in the final four frames, YSU was outscored 11-0 after the fifth inning in the tournament.
    The loss ends the collegiate careers of YSU's 10 seniors, who led the program to 104 victories and its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in 2004. Justin Banks finished his career as YSU's all-time leader in games played, doubles and total bases, and Caipen finished as the all-time leader in at bats.
    YSU's 12 hits today also brought its season total to a school-record 592.