May 25, 2007

Baseball: Late Offensive Spurt Allows Guins to Stave Off Elimination, 15-9

    Chicago, Ill. -- Senior Lou Gattozzi needed only one swing to spark a late offensive surge and keep Youngstown State alive in the Horizon League Baseball Championship.

    Gattozzi hit a pinch-hit two-run home run in the eighth inning that gave YSU the lead, and the Penguins went on to score seven times in the ninth inning to defeat Cleveland State 15-9 in an elimination game at Les Miller Park.

    The Penguins will now get another crack at UW-Milwaukee, which defeated YSU 16-6 in the tournament’s opening round, today at 4 Eastern Time.

    Youngstown State led three different times before Cleveland State went ahead for the first time when three-run sixth made the score 6-4. YSU got a run across on John Koehnlein’s single, and Gattozzi’s first home run of the season in the eighth put the Penguins up for good at 8-6.

    Brent Parks’ three-run double highlighted the seven-run ninth. Cleveland State scored three times in the bottom half before bowing out of the tournament.

    The Vikings finished the season 14-44.

    Josh Page had a game-high three hits for YSU while Parks drove in four runs and scored three times.

    Three different players had two hits apiece for Cleveland State.

    Aaron Swenson picked up his third win of the season, holding the Vikings to one hit in 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Andy Svitak earned his ninth save after coming in with a slim two-run lead in the eighth.

    Koehnlein had one hit in five at bats, but was able to extend his school-record hitting streak to 27 games.