April 28, 2007

Koehnlein's Five Hits Lead Penguins to Doubleheader Split

    Niles, Ohio -- John Koehnlein had five hits and Adam Kalafos pitched seven strong innings to lead Youngstown State to a 6-4 victory over Butler in game one of a doubleheader Saturday at Eastwood Field.
    Koehnlein, who upped his batting average to .411, became the eighth player in school history to post five hits in a game. Josh Page added four hits in the second game, which Butler won 9-6 in 11 innings.
    Butler took a 1-0 lead in the second when Jason Jamerson singled in Joe Dempsey, but the Penguins answered in the third when Koehnlein scored on Erich Diedrich's RBI single. The Penguins then erupted for four runs with two outs in the fourth inning to go up 5-1.
    The Bulldogs climbed back within one with three runs on three hits in the eighth, and Sean Lucas scored on Diedrich's sacrifice fly in the eighth for the final tally.
    Andy Svitak came on with two outs in the eighth and threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his seventh save of the season. That is the second-highest season total in school history, and Svitak's 11 career saves ranks third.
    Kalafos earned his fourth win, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out four. He also fielded his position well with four assists.
    In game two, the Penguins fell behind 5-1 but rallied to tie the score at five and got a run in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.
    After Dustin Bucalo's two-run homer in the first inning gave the Bulldogs an early lead, Page doubled home Koehnlein in the third to make the score 2-1. The Bulldogs got two runs across in the fourth and another in the fifth, but YSU rallied with two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to tie the score at 5-5.
    Jamerson's RBI single in the seventh put Butler up 6-5 until the Penguins got an unearned run in the ninth when Sean Lucas' two-out grounder to second snuck under the glove of Jamerson. Butler got three runs on three hits and an error in the 11th for the final tally.
    The Penguins stranded 14 runners in the nightcap, including six in the seventh through ninth innings.
    YSU will play host to Kent State on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Eastwood Field.