April 5, 2008 | Game One Box | Game Two Box

Vukovic, Swenson Lead Penguins to Doubleheader Sweep

    Niles, Ohio -- Youngstown State starting pitchers Corey Vukovic and Aaron Swenson had outstanding outings in leading the Penguins to a doubleheader sweep of Valparaiso on Saturday afternoon at Eastwood Field.
    Vukovic pitched into the eighth inning and struck out a career-high seven batters to lead YSU to a 6-0 victory in game one. Swenson then struck out a career-high 10 Crusaders and did not allow a run over the final seven innings in a 3-1 complete game victory.
    Erich Diedrich also set YSU's career RBI record in the first inning of game one when he singled home Sean Lucas.
    Vukovic's and Swenson's performances came off of a strong start Friday evening from Chuck Schiffhauer. Combined, the trio allowed two earned runs in 23.2 innings.
    Diedrich's RBI single in the first inning of game one game the Penguins a 1-0 lead, and that's all that Vukovic needed to earn his first win of the season. Eric Marzec scored on a wild pitch in the second, and the Guins erupted for four runs on four hits in the fifth.
    Vukovic did not allow a hit until Zach Rodeghero singled with two outs in the fourth inning. Josh Wallace followed with a double to put two runners on, but Vukovic induced Andrew Quinnette into an inning-ending ground out.
    The Crusaders found themselves in a better opportunity in the sixth with runners on second and third with nobody out. Vukovic struck out Rodeghero and Wallace, and he got Quinnette to fly out.
    Vukovic hit the 100-pitch mark in the eighth and handed the ball off to Adam Kalafos after back-to-back singles to start the inning put runners at the corners. Kalafos got the Brett Bivens to pop out, walked Rodeghero, fanned Wallace and got Quinnette to fly out to left.
    In game two, Swenson got stronger as the game went on and allowed only one hit after the fifth inning. Valpo's lone run came in the second when Ryan O'Gara hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a ground out. After that, only two Crusaders reached second base - once in the fifth and once in the eighth.
    Vukovic finished allowing six hits and did not walk a batter in his seven innings while Kalafos allowed a hit and a walk in two innings of relief.
    The Penguins tied the score in the third when Josh Page reached on an infield single, advanced on David Leon's sacrifice and scored on Lucas's two-out single.
    The Penguins cashed in on two errors in the fifth to score an unearned run, and Lucas singled home Koehnlein after he hit a leadoff single and stole second in the eighth for an insurance  run.
    After the Crusaders put two runners on with one out in the fifth, Swenson retired nine straight batters and struck out the side in the sixth to allow YSU to build its lead. He allowed a one out double in the eighth and saw what was the tying run reach third after a ground out, but Lucas made a terrific play on a grounder to third to end the inning.
    Swenson allowed seven hits and did not walk a batter in his 109-pitch effort. He outdueled Valpo's Alex Berry, who allowed two earned runs on eight hits in seven innings.
    Bryce Shafer was charged with all six runs on eight hits and four walks in 4.1 innings of game one in a losing effort.
    Lucas and Anthony Porter had two hits in both games while Diedrich had three hits in game one and Koehnlein had two in the finale.
    The Penguins will play two seven-inning games at Toledo on Tuesday starting at noon.