May 18, 2007

Engle's Gem, Early Offense Lead Penguins to 7-3 Victory in Game One

    Lorain, Ohio -- Lucas Engle allowed one earned run in 8 2/3 innings and Youngstown State scored the first seven runs of the game to defeat Cleveland State 7-3 in game one of Friday's doubleheader at Pipe Yard Stadium.
    Cleveland State scored the final six runs of game two and benefited from six errors to win the nightcap 10-3.
    Engle was a bad-hop single away from a three-hit shutout, but Bobby Cash's grounder with two outs in the ninth hopped over second baseman Sean Lucas. Vasili Pahoulis followed with an RBI double, and the Vikings added two unearned runs before Ryan Sellman came in and got the final out.
    Engle retired 14 straight hitters at one point and mowed down the Vikings in order in four innings.
    The Penguins got two runs in the first inning on three of its 12 hits in the game, and Cleveland State committed its first of five errors. Josh Page hit a one-out single and scored on Erich Diedrich's double and an error in center. Lee Bainbridge then drove in Diedrich two batters later on a single to left.
    Diedrich and Lou Gattozzi hit back-to-back singles to start the third, and Gattozzi scored when Eric Marzec's grounder to first was bobbled.
    Engle allowed the first two hitters to reach in the fourth, but Cleveland State was caught stealing three times in the inning. With runners on first and second, catcher Dustin Wachter nailed Pahoulis trying to steal third. Then, with runners at the corners, Josh Hungerman and Rich Ranells were both tagged out on a delayed double steal.
    YSU went up 5-0 in the sixth when Marzec scored on a fielder's choice and John Koehnlein singled home Anthony Munoz.
    Lee Bainbridge hit a solo blast, his third of the season, with two outs in the seventh, and Tom Clayton scored on a fielder's choice in the eighth to up the margin to seven.
    Diedrich, Bainbridge and Marzec had two hits apiece for the Penguins.
    In game two, YSU scored two runs on three hits in the first inning, but Cleveland State starter Brandon Hewitt held the Penguins scoreless until the sixth.
    The Vikings scored a run in each of the first four innings to take a 4-2 lead, and they countered a YSU run in the sixth with four runs in the bottom half.
    Koehnlein and Page hit back-to-back singles to start the game, and Koehnlein scored on a passed ball. After Diedrich's groundout, Page scored on Gattozzi's sacrifice fly.
    Koehnlein singled and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to make the score 4-3, but CSU erupted for four runs on four hits and an error in the bottom of the sixth. The Vikings tacked on two more runs in the eighth for the final tally.
    Koehnlein and Page had three hits apiece, and Bainbridge had two for the Penguins.
    Hewitt allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on nine hits and five walks in seven innings of work.
    Corey Vukovic suffered his first loss as a starter, allowing four runs on seven hits in four innings.
    The Penguins stranded 13 runners in the game.
    YSU and Cleveland State will play another doubleheader Saturday at noon at Pipe Yard Stadium.