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April 25, 2008
Penguins,
Vikings Trying to Move Up in
Standings This Weekend
Youngstown -- Youngstown State
opens up a big three-game series
with in-state and Horizon League
rival Cleveland State on Friday at 6
p.m. at The Pipe Yard in Lorain,
Ohio. The squads will also play a
doubleheader on Saturday as they
look to move up in the league
standings.
The Penguins currently sit a game behind league-leading
Wright State with a record of 8-5,
and the Vikings are in fourth place
with a 7-6 in conference games.
YSU and Cleveland State have played at least once every year
since 1961, and only one game
separates the all-time record with
Cleveland State holding a slim 67-66
advantage. The schools have also
ousted each other from the Horizon
League tournament the past two
seasons.
YSU has won three straight games against Horizon League
opponents and led Penn State 4-0
before falling in the 13th inning on
Wednesday. As a team, the Penguins
are batting .318 in 19 games this
month and are averaging 7.3 runs per
game. Individually, eight different
players are batting at least .300
this month.
Senior right-hander Chuck Schiffhauer will get the start
against the Vikings in game one
while sophomores Corey Vukovic and
Aaron Swenson will pitch on
Saturday. Schiffhauer leads the
Horizon League with his 2.81 ERA,
and Vukovic is 2-1 in four starts.
Swenson is 3-0 against league
opponents with three complete-game
victories.
The Vikings have already surpassed their win total from last
season and had won four straight
contests before losing to Mount
Vernon Nazarene on Wednesday. As a
team, Cleveland State is batting
.284 and has hit 34 home runs. Four
starters are hitting at least .300,
including a .349 clip from freshman
outfielder Adam Keideman. Senior
infielder Alex Kerins is batting
.329 with nine home runs and 41
RBIs.
Junior Josh Hungerman will start game one on Friday for CSU
while juniors Brian Long and Sam
Suitca will start on Saturday.
Hungerman is 3-2 with a 4.93 ERA,
Long is 3-3 with a 3.32 ERA and
Suitca is 1-5 with a 5.05 ERA. |