March 13, 2007

Penguins Rally to Earn First Win at Marshall, 5-3

    Huntington, W.Va. -- Youngstown State scored the final four runs of the game and got a solid effort from the bullpen in a 5-3 victory over Marshall on Tuesday afternoon at University Heights Field.
    The Penguins overcame a 3-1 deficit with three runs in the sixth and one more in the ninth to get their first win of the season. Marshall, which had won seven of its last eight games and all seven of its home games, dropped to 9-4.
    Aaron Swenson and Andy Svitak combined to throw 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief of starter Lucas Engle. Engle allowed three runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings to earn the win while Svitak earned his first save.
    Lou Gattozzi went 2-for-3 while Anthony Munoz had two RBIs and Cory Hornyak scored twice.
    Josh Valle had three hits and Mason Chapman had two for Marshall. Ryan Kiel allowed four runs on seven hits in a losing effort.
    Trailing 3-1 through five innings, the Penguins scored three runs on three hits and an error to go up 4-3. Erich Diedrich and Gattozzi hit back-to-back one-out singles up the middle and scored when Nick Damas misplayed Tom Clayton's single to right. Eric Marzec then brought in Clayton on a ground out to second.
    Marshall got the tying run on third in the eighth after back-to-back two-out singles off of Swenson, but Svitak came in to induce a fly ball to end the inning.
    Munoz singled in Hornyak in the ninth for the final tally.
    Marshall got a run across in the second on a hit and two errors and upped its advantage to 2-0 in the third.
     The Penguins got on the board in the fifth thanks to a leadoff double and two sacrifices from three freshmen. Cory Hornyak doubled to left to start the inning and advanced on Dustin Wachter's sacrifice bunt. Anthony Munoz then hit a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Hornyak.
    Marshall got the run back in the bottom of the inning as Jeff Rowley hit a two-out double, advanced on wild pitch and scored on Brandon Casamassima's single.
    The Penguins and Thundering Herd will conclude their series tomorrow at 1 p.m. Links to live stats and live audio will be available on YSUsports.com