March 16, 2008 | Box Score

Xavier Scores Six in Eighth to Salvage Series Split

    Cincinnati -- Xavier scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and defeat Youngstown State on Sunday afternoon at Hayden Field.

    The win gave the Musketeers (4-8) a split in the four-game series with the Penguins (3-9).
    Cory Hornyak had two hits and scored a run while Anthony Porter added two hits for the Penguins.
    Although the game wasn't decided until the eighth, the Penguins were hurt in the end by missing early scoring opportunities and nine stranded runners.
    The Penguins had runners at the corners with nobody out int he first but were held to one run. David Leon drew a leadoff walk, and Josh Page followed with a single. Xavier starter Tom Shirley then struck out Anthony Porter and induced Tom Clayton into an RBI groundout.
    Joe Iacobucci hit a leadoff double in the second as the Penguins had runners on second and third with one out again before Shirley got a strikeout and flyout to end the inning.
    Xavier tied the score in the bottom of the second when Billy O'Conner drove in Tyler Aholt on a two-out double.
    YSU regained the lead in the fourth when Hornyak doubled and scored from third on a double steal.
    Jordan Conley scored on John McCambridge's one-out single in the fifth to tie the score.
    That's the way the score stood until Xavier sent 10 men to the plate in the eighth and scored six runs on four hits, a walk, an error and two hit batters.
    "It was a good game, and it was just one of those things in the eighth where I think our bullpen got a little tired," head coach Rich Pasquale said. "You have to give them credit because they got the key base hits when they needed to. I'm still proud of how hard we played. We learned a lot about our team this week."
    YSU starter Aaron Swenson allowed two runs on four hits and struck out four in 6.1 innings of work. Joe Antinone was tagged with the loss, allowing four runs in 2/3 of an inning.
    Reliever Kyle Cowden earned the win for Xavier by throwing 2.1 scoreless innings.
    Weather permitting, the Penguins are scheduled to play Findlay on Tuesday at 3 p.m. A final decision on the game's location and occurrence will be made on Monday.