May 24, 2007

Record-Setting Day Lifts Penguins Past Butler, 20-7

    Chicago -- Youngstown State found out why Chicago is called the "Windy City" on Thursday afternoon, and it took advantage of it.
    The Penguins hit five home runs and banged out 23 hits into a stiff wind blowing straight out toward center that gusted up to 35 miles per hour to defeat Butler 20-7 in an elimination game at the Horizon League Championship.
    Youngstown State advances to play the lowest seed of Thursday's losers Friday at noon EST in another elimination game.
    John Koehnlein broke school and tournament records with six hits in the game, and the Penguins' 42 total bases also broke a tournament record.
    "I'm just hitting what they throw at me," Koehnlein said. "The ball looked like a beach ball today. I just saw everything perfectly."
    "I just hope that this momentum carries on for us the rest of the tournament. I think everyone is in the same situation that I am. We're just seeing the ball very well."
    Mike Turjanica got the Penguins on the board in the second with his first of two home runs, and his two-run homer in the third put YSU ahead 6-1.
    The Penguins then sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, and Tom Clayton's grand slam just inside the left foul pole highlighted the eight-run fusillade.
    Rick Betsch's three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth cut the margin to 14-5, but Erich Diedirch and Lee Bainbridge each homered in the fifth to put YSU up 17-5.
    YSU added three runs in the ninth, including two on Koehnlein's single up the middle with the bases loaded, for its final tally.
    Koehnlein also had two hits in Wednesday's game and has eight hits in 11 at bats in the tournament. He upped his season hit total to 105, which ranks as the third-most in Horizon League history. Curtis Granderson, a former first-round draft and current starting center fielder for the Detroit Tigers, previously held the third spot with 100. Koehnlein needs 10 more to tied the record.
    Koehnlein also drove in a career-high five runs to match Clayton's total. Diedrich and Brent Parks added four hits apiece.
    Betsch finished 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs for Butler.
    YSU starter Chuck Schiffhauer threw 123 pitches and held the Bulldogs to seven runs on 11 hits in eight innings despite the wind.
    "Schiffhauer was outstanding. He really stepped up and was a real leader today," head coach Mike Florak said. "He was the key. If you get in a game like that with those conditions anything can happen."
    Brian Deter allowed 10 runs, eight of which were earned, on nine hits to suffer the loss.
    The 20-run output matched YSU's previous season-high against Notre Dame College on May 2. The Penguins' 23 hits were the second-most in school history and the most since a 24-hit outing at California (Pa.) in 1988.

    "I think we're in pretty good shape," Florak said. "We have a lot of pitching left, and we're swinging the bats well. Anything could happen."