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1441

YSU Penguin Athletics / Spring Game Roster

« on: April 13, 2011, 06:50:12 AM »

RED TEAM

OFFENSE

Linemen: Andrew Radakovich, Lamar Mady, Mark Pratt, Chris Elkins, D.J. Main.

Quarterback: Kurt Hess, Marc Kanetsky.

Running Back: Jamaine Cook, Adaris Bellamy.

Wide Receiver: Andre Barboza, Kevin Watts, Juilian Harrell, Jelani Berassa.

Tight End: David Rogers, Carson Sharbaugh, Andy Colegrove.

Coaches: Shane Montgomery, Louie Matsakis, Andre Coleman.

Honorary Coaches: Sam Covelli, Joe Schiavoni.


DEFENSE

Linemen: Josh Fenderson, Kyle Sirl, Brandon Green, Chuck Lengyel, Tim Taumoepeau, Kevin Johnson.

Line-backer: Dom Rich, John Sasson, Will Shaw, Ethan Slark, Deonta Tate, Dan Fernback, Mark Brandenstein, Thomas Kipp.

Defensive Back: Gannon Hulea, Josh Lee, Justin Austin, Grant Mayes, Matt Romeo, Alex Antonucci.

Coaches: Tom Sims, Frank Buffano, Rollen Smith.

Honorary Coaches: Harry Meshel, Judge Peter C. Economus.

----------------------------------------------

SPECIAL TEAMS

Punter: Nick Liste
Kicker: David Brown
Long-Snapper: Nate Schkurko

-----------------------------------------------


WHITE TEAM

OFFENSE


Linemen: Andrew Sinko, Zach Larson, Marc Stevens, Stephen Page, J.P. May, Fred Herdman.

Quarterback: Patrick Angle, Najee Tyler.

Running Back: Allen Jones, Torrian Pace.

Wide Receiver: Pat White, Jake Dragovich, Jordan Thompson, Ely Ducatel, Dionte Snow.

Tight End: Nate Adams.

Coaches: Carmen Bricillo, Mauro Monz, George Clark.

Honorary Coaches: Eric Ryan, Buzz Pishkur.


DEFENSE

Linemen: Daniel Stewart, Andrew Johnson, Nick DeKraker, Obinna Ekweremuba, D.J. Moss.

Line-backer: Thomas Sprague, Ali Cheaib, Taylor Hill.

Defensive Back: Donald D’Alesio, Deionte Williams, Scott Sentner, Josh Garner, Jamarious Boatwright, Randy Louis.

Coaches: Rick Kravitz, Ron Stoops, Sal Guagliardo.

Honorary Coaches: Kelly Pavlik, Jim Gasior.

1442

YSU Penguin Athletics / Klein Earns Second Horizon League Pitcher-of-the-Week Nod

« on: April 12, 2011, 10:02:57 AM »

Youngstown -- Youngstown State senior baseball player Phil Klein has been named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week for the period ending April 10, the league office announced on Monday.

Klein (Gahanna, Ohio) pitched seven strong innings against Butler on Saturday to win his fourth consecutive start. He held the Bulldogs to four singles and three walks while striking out 10 batters. He allowed just one unearned run after Butler had 15 runs and 18 hits the previous night.

He retired the first nine batters he faced and struck out two batters in three of the first four innings. A passed ball assisted with Butler's run in the fourth, and Klein worked out of a first-and-third jam with one out in the seventh to help YSU keep a 2-1 lead. He got batter Zach Sizemore to miss on a squeeze and start a rundown, and he struck Sizemore out looking to end the inning.

Over his last five starts, Klein has a 1.32 ERA in 34 innings. He has allowed just five earned runs and struck out 40 batters. Klein leads the Horizon League with 54 strikeouts in 46.2 innings.

Klein was also recognized as the League's Pitcher of the Week on March 21.

Klein and the Penguins have a busy week ahead with five games in five days. YSU plays at Kent State on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and hosts the Golden Flashes at Eastwood Field on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Penguins will start a three-game series at Valparaiso on Friday.

1443

YSU Penguin Athletics / Kim Klonowski Named Horizon League Softball Player of the Week

« on: April 12, 2011, 10:00:16 AM »

Indianapolis, Ind. -- Youngstown State senior Kim Klonowski was named the Horizon League Player of the Week for April 11, the league announced on Monday.

It marks the third time in the last five weeks a Youngstown  State player has garnered the award from the league, and the fourth time this season a YSU has received a weekly honor. Junior Jordan Ingalls was named the player of the on March 21 and March 28, and freshman Casey Crozier was named the pitcher of the week on Feb. 28.

This fourth award ties for the most number of times Youngstown State has earned a player/pitcher-of-the-week award in a season. The last time YSU received four player of the week honors was in 2005. The Guins set the mark of four awards in 2004.

Klonowski batted .467, went 7-for-15 on the week, crushing her first two home runs of the season, driving in four while recording a hit in four of the five contests.

Youngstown State went 4-1 last week, collecting a key road series win at UIC over the weekend.  Holding a 19-14 record, the Penguins sit just one victory from their first 20-win season since 2006.

In the Penguins' doubleheader versus Toledo, the senior belted her first homer of the season in a 10-0 rout that capped the sweep.  Her second long ball of the week came in the opener of the League series on Saturday, helping push Youngstown State to a 6-3 win over UIC.

YSU hosts Detroit in a three-game series starting Tuesday, April 12, at 5 p.m.

1444

YSU Penguin Athletics / Brown Named Team MVP at Postseason Banquet

« on: April 12, 2011, 09:58:48 AM »

Sophomore forward Brandi Brown was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2010-11 Youngstown State women's basketball season at the program's annual postseason banquet on Sunday.

Brown received the award in front of nearly 150 members and supporters of the Youngstown State basketball programs in the Kilcawley Center Chestnut Room on campus. The women's program held its banquet in conjunction with the men's program.

Brown and head women's basketball coach Bob Boldon both addressed the attendees. Both expressed gratitude for supporting the Penguins all season long, acknowledged the progress the team made in 2010-11 and promised more improvement in the years to come.

Brown won the Horizon League scoring title by averaging 19.9 points overall and 22.6 points in conference play. She also ranked fourth in rebounding, seventh in field goal percentage and eighth in minutes played. Brown was a second-team All-Horizon League pick.

Nationally, Brown ranked 15th in scoring and 49th in rebounding. She was one of only 10 players in the country to rank in the top 50 in both categories, and only three of those 10 were sophomore.

Awards for participation were also presented to student-athletes after the banquet. Bojana Dimitrov earned her fourth-year award, which combined two years each at Carl Albert State College and YSU. Makala Gasparek, Kenya Middlebrooks and Macey Nortey all received third-year awards; Brandi Brown and Maryum Jenkins were presented with second-year awards; and Liz Hornberger, Tieara Jones, Melissa Thompson and Monica Touvelle all earned first-year awards.

1445

YSU Penguin Athletics / Men's Basketball Hands Out Hardware at Postseason Awards Banquet

« on: April 12, 2011, 09:56:51 AM »

The Youngstown State men's basketball team held its annual postseason awards banquet to honor several student-athletes, hand out awards and review the 2010-11 season on Sunday afternoon in the Chestnut Room in Kilcawley Center.

Senior Vytas Sulskis, who finished his career as YSU's 16th all-time leading scorer with 1,311 points, earned the Dom Rosselli Coaches Award. Sulskis led the Guins in scoring with 392 points or 13.1 points per game and made 43 3-pointers. Sulskis also finished his career ranked second on the all-time 3-pointers made list with 179.

Sulskis, who was presented a commemorative basketball honoring the scoring of his 1,000th career point against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 27, 2010, also received the Scholar-Athlete Award with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.26.

The team's Most Improved Player Award went to sophomore Blake Allen, who ranked second on the team with 47 3-pointers made. Allen scored just 40 points and made just eight 3-pointers through the first 13 games of the season. Over the course of the last 17 contests, Allen scored 172 points for an average of 10.1 points per game and made 39-of-92 3-point attempts for a .424 3-point percentage. Allen finished the season averaging 7.1 points and 2.5 assists per game, and led the Horizon League with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Sophomore Damian Eargle won the Leo Mogus Leading Rebounder Award after leading the squad with 181 rebounds for a 6.0 rebounds per game average. Eargle was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team after leading the league with 91 blocked shots and a 3.0 blocks per game average and scoring 11.3 points per game. Eargle also finished the 2010-11 season ranked 10th in the nation in blocked shots per game.

Freshman Kendrick Perry also took home two awards - the Tony Vivo Hustle Award and the Top Assists Awards. Perry led the team with 122 assists for an average of 4.1 assists per game. Perry ranked fourth in the Horizon League in assists per game and second in assists-to-turnover ratio at 2.1.

Freshman Josh Chojnacki won the Free-Throw Award for finishing the season with a team-high .846 free-throw percentage.

1446

YSU Penguin Athletics / Puskas: YSU’s offense excels

« on: April 10, 2011, 09:46:43 AM »

By ED PUSKAS , Tribune Chronicle Sports Editor


YOUNGSTOWN - Things got offensive early and stayed that way Saturday during Youngstown State's second major scrimmage of spring practice.

Big plays were a recurring theme and former Warren G. Harding High School standout Pat White provided more than a few himself. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound senior wide receiver caught 10 passes for 206 yards and five touchdowns.

"We took a step forward today," White said. "But we have to be more consistent."

White caught touchdown passes of 70, 49, 8, 21 and 20 yards. Three of YSU's four quarterbacks threw scoring passes to the Warren native. White had a glaring size advantage against sophomore cornerback Matt Romeo, a 5-foot-9 Boardman product, who often drew the difficult assignment of covering the Penguins' tallest receiver.

"This is what I'm expected to do," White said. "One day at a time, be consistent, watch film and get my routes together and I'll be good."

YSU coach Eric Wolford also stressed consistency when asked about White's big day.

"Pat White made some nice plays today," Wolford said. "Pat White's situation is that he's tremendously talented and we have to find some consistency with him. That's why we're out here doing it and putting him in situations where Pat White can be a threat. But Pat's got to learn to be consistent. It's just day-to-day focus."

The rest of the Penguins accounted for nine more touchdowns. Junior tailback Jamaine Cook scored four touchdowns on runs of 37, 2, 6 and 76 yards.

"The offense stayed consistent," Cook said. "We didn't come out and score then get lax. We came out, started pounding on the defense and gave them everything we had."

Cook's final touchdown came at the end of the workout, as YSU replayed the final four minutes of its loss to Western Illinois last season. It was a game in which the Penguins were unable to maintain a late lead by working the clock and picking up a critical first down.

This time, the Penguins' offense got the necessary yards, a first down and more when Cook broke through the line of scrimmage and won a footrace to the end zone.

It was a fitting end to the scrimmage.

"You have an opportunity there with four minutes left on the clock," Wolford said. "As an offense, you have the lead and you want to try to eat up the clock, stay in bounds, take care of the ball and not turn it over. We ended up popping a big run there for a touchdown to give us a 10-point lead, and hopefully win the football game."

While the offense seemed to have the upper hand, senior defensive end Daniel Stewart was a force with four sacks. All the quarterbacks sported YSU's black "no contact" jerseys, so the sacks came when defenders were able to simply get a hand on the passer.

Even so, Wolford wasn't thrilled that the front four was able to get there.

"We're probably getting a little too much of a pass rush for my liking," the second-year coach said. "That means we're getting better on the defensive line and that's a positive thing. We have to get better on offense to protect (the quarterback)."

Stewart - with a low center of gravity at 6-foot and 250 pounds - was often able to beat his man and get to the quarterback several times.

Just not often enough to prevent the nine scoring passes.

"Yeah, we take that personally," said Stewart, a senior who came to YSU a year ago as a junior-college transfer. "We like our offense to score touchdowns, but not against us in practice."

ON THE MARC: Senior quarterback Marc Kanetsky was sharp. The Hubbard product was 15-of-17 for 241 yards and four touchdowns - three of them to White.

Kanetsky threw scoring passes of 70, 8 and 20 yards to White and 6 yards to Andre Barboza.

Sophomore Kurt Hess, the Penguins' returning starter, was 13-of-26 for 164 yards. He threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Juilian Harrell. Sophomore Najee Tyler was 5-of-6 for 80 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Barboza.

Redshirt freshman Patrick Angle completed just three of his eight attempts, but two of them went for touchdowns. The first was a 62-yard pass to redshirt freshman wideout Jacob Dragovich. The other was a 21-yard strike to White.

RUNNING MEN: No other running back approached Cook's 170 yards. Sophomore Torrian Pace had 47 yards on 13 carries. Sophomore Allen Jones had 35 yards on 13 carries before suffering an injury to his left knee midway through the workout.

YSU trainers examined Jones on the field briefly, but the Ursuline graduate made his way to the bench on his own, albeit with a pronounced limp. Trainers were later seen examining Jones' left knee, which soon sported an ice pack as practice continued.

Jones did not return to the field.

GETTING SOME KICKS: All the touchdowns left few opportunities for junior David Brown, the lone placekicker currently on the Penguins' roster. Sophomore Nick Liste, a Niles native, is YSU's punter.

"We've got to keep working on our kicking situation," Wolford said. "We've got to get Mr. Brown to settle down a little bit and get the rhythm down. The snaps were off quite a few times, which is uncharacteristic of us. We've got to keep working on that and get that part of the game down."

Brown's only field goal of the day was a 37-yarder.

epuskas@tribtoday.com

1447

YSU Penguin Athletics / Best day, so far, of the season for baseball

« on: April 09, 2011, 07:16:26 PM »

A day after we were clobbered 15-1, the Guins respond with a doubleheader sweep of Butler today and win the series.

After starting out 0-3, pitcher Phil Klein won his fourth straight start (4-3) in game one of the double dip and led YSU to a 5-1 victory. Phil Lipari hit a walk-off single in the ninth to win game two by a score of 4-3.

1448

YSU Penguin Athletics / Offense Scores 14 Touchdowns in Second Spring Scrimmage

« on: April 09, 2011, 02:19:49 PM »

The Youngstown State offense scored 14 touchdowns - nine passing and five rushing - during the second major scrimmage of Spring Ball on Saturday afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium. Senior wide receiver Pat White caught five TD passes, while tailback Jamaine Cook rushed for four.

Cook was the first offensive player to find paydirt when he scored on a 37-yard carry just six plays into the scrimmage.
The defense forced its first turnover two plays later when Deionte Williams recovered an Allen Jones fumble. However the offense bounced back quickly with Marc Kanetsky connecting with White on a 70-yard touchdown pass. White caught the ball around the 30 and slipped the grasp of Matt Romeo en route heading to the end zone.
Highlighting the defensive effort in the scrimmage was senior defensive end Daniel Stewart. Stewart had four sacks during the scrimmage.
The defense forced its second turnover recovering a Jones fumble at the 27-yard line.
Once again, the offense answered quickly as Kurt Hess zipped a ball into Juilian Harrell who scored from 54 yards out.
Kanetsky led the offense on an impressive 14-play, 65-yard drive that was capped when he connected with Andre Barboza from six yards out on a nifty slant pattern. On the drive, the offense converted four third downs, all of three yards or fewer.
Patrick Angle threw his first touchdown pass to Jacob Dragovich. Angle completed an out route to Dragovich who spun out of the grasp of Justin Austin scoring on a 62-yard reception.
Najee Tyler led a quick-strike scoring drive. He connected with White on a 49-yard pass to move the offense 65 yards in just four plays.
White's third touchdown reception of the scrimmage was his shortest TD – eight yards. Kanetsky moved the offense 60 yards in nine plays connecting with White for a touchdown.
YSU went to work on red-zone scenarios following the score.
On the first series, Cook capped it with a two-yard run, which was set up by a 20-yard scramble on a third-and-13 by Hess.
 
White's fourth touchdown reception of the scrimmage was a spectacular one-handed grab on a toss from Angle. Despite being held, White reached out with his left hand to snare Angle's toss on a third-and-11 play from the 21-yard line.
David Brown drilled a 37-yard field goal after the defense forced three consecutive incompletions.
Cook put the offense right back in the end zone scoring on a six-yard jaunt. That play was set up following a Hess to Harrell 14-yard pass on third and 10.
Kanetsky tossed a 20-yard score White, the third time the duo hooked up for six during the scrimmage.
On the seventh possession, the defense held when Josh Fenderon sacked Angle.
The offense scored on its final possession when Jordan Thompson had a two-yard scoring run.
In the eight red-zone situations, the offense scored six touchdowns and kicked a field goal.
The defense had the upper hand during the third-down situations. Coach Wolford had the offense and defense match up on 16 plays of third-and-five, seven, nine and 11 yards. The defense keep the offense from getting a first down on 10 of the snaps.
In the two-minute drill (offense trailing by four with 1:56 left and a possession starting at their own 25), the offense moved across the 50, but both times the defense bent, but didn't break. Scott Sentner knocked down two passes in the end zone the first series and on fourth down Kanetsky's pass under duress was just off the mark the second series.
The final play of the scrimmage was a 76-yard touchdown run by Cook. The offense was trying to erase the final four minutes off the game clock, and on third-and-six from the 24-yard line Cook burst up the middle and took it for six.
Cook finished with 170 yards on 17 carries to lead all rushers. Pace had 47 yards on 13 carries while Jones had 13 for 35.

Hess was 13-of-26 for 164 yards and a score, Kanetsky completed 15-of-17 passes for 241 yards and four touchdowns, Tyler was 5-of-6 for 80 yards and two touchdowns while Angle was 3-of-8 for 89 yards and two TDs.

White caught 10 passes for 206 yards, Barboza had seven for 66 yards and two touchdowns, Harrell caught four for 84 and a touchdown while Dragovich had two for 94 and a score.

The Penguins return to practice on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium.


Spring Scrimmage #2
Stambaugh Stadium | Saturday, April 9
Offensive Scoring Summary
Jamaine Cook 37-yard run
Marc Kanetsky 70-yard pass to Pat White
Kurt Hess 54-yard pass to Juilian Harrell
Kanetsky six-yard pass to Andre Barboza
Patrick Angle 62-yard pass to Jacob Dragovich
Najee Tyler 49-yard pass to White
Kanetsky eight-yard pass to White
Cook 2-yard run
Angle 21-yard pass to White
Tyler 7-yard pass to Barboza
David Brown 37-yard fi eld goal
Cook six-year run
Kanetsky 20-yard pass to White
Jordan Thompson 2-yard run
Cook 76-yard run


Scrimmage Offensive Statistics
Rushing
Name Att. Yards TD
Cook 17 170 4
Pace 13 47 0
Jones 13 35 0
Bellamy 5 20 0
Thompson 4 19 1
Watts 2 10 0
Hess 7 9 0
Tyler 1 -6 0
Angle 6 -5 0
Kanetsky 3 -8 0
Totals 46 286 4

• Quarterbacks wore black jerseys and could not be tackled
Long Runs: Cook 65, Cook 37
Passing
Name Comp. Att. TD INT Yards
Marc Kanetsky 15 17 4 0 241
Kurt Hess 13 26 1 0 164
Najee Tyler 5 6 2 0 80
Patrick Angle 3 8 2 0 89
Totals 36 57 9 0 570

Receiving
Name No. Yards TD
Pat White 10 206 5
Andre Barboza 7 66 2
Juilian Harrell 4 84 1
Jamaine Cook 4 12 0
Adaris Bellamy 3 22 0
Torran Pace 3 18 0
Kevin Watts 2 39 0
Jacob Dragovich 2 94 1
Jordan Thompson 1 29 0
Totals 36 570 9

1449

YSU Penguin Athletics / Jarrett, Grace Named Horizon League Field Athletes of the Week

« on: April 07, 2011, 10:28:55 AM »

Indianapolis, Ind. – Youngstown State sophomore's Ciara Jarrett (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Bobby Grace (Middleburg Heights, Ohio) each earned Women's and Men's Horizon League Track and Field Athlete-of-the-Week honors, the conference announced on Tuesday.

Jarrett won the 200 meter at the Northeast Ohio Quad on Saturday with a time of 25.49 seconds. She was also a member of the winning 4x100 meter relay team (48.06) and took second-place in the 100 meter. Both the 100 and 200 times currently rank second in the League.
Grace competed in the shot put, discus and hammer throws at the Northeast Ohio Quad on Satruday. He is currently ranked in the top three in all events in the League with a shot put throw of 15.72 meters, 45.35 meter discus throw and hammer throw of 50.36 meters.
Detroit senior Lesley Hanna (Exuma, Bahamas) and Milwaukee sophomore Samia Taylor (Madison, Wis.) received Track Athlete of the Week accolades.

Youngstown State will compete in the Duke Invitational April 8-9.

1450

YSU Penguin Athletics / Vindy: Butler’s success has positive impact on YSU

« on: April 05, 2011, 06:54:58 AM »

By Rob Todor

todor@vindy.com

Quick — can you name the last team to beat the Butler Bulldogs in the regular season?

If you guessed Youngstown State, chances are pretty good you also won your NCAA tournament office bracket contest. Or you need to get out of the basement of your parents’ home more often.

Back on Feb. 3, the Penguins knocked off Butler 62-60 at Beeghly Center. Damian Eargle led YSU with 16 points and nine rebounds. He also had five blocked shots, leading a defensive effort that limited the Bulldogs to just 39.6 percent shooting from the field (23 of 58).

The loss was particularly unButler-like. The Bulldogs had an eight-point lead with four minutes remaining, but YSU went on a 10-0 run to finish the game.

YSU also committed just seven turnovers in that game, and forced 14 by the Bulldogs.

That was huge, according to YSU coach Jerry Slocum, who talked about the Bulldogs on FoxSports Radio’s Game Time Show with Anthony Gargano, Lincoln Kennedy and Jeff Goodman last Saturday.

“They don’t beat themselves. They kind of hang around and wait for you to beat yourself,” Slocum told the radio audience.

“They are so good at sucking the air out of the game. The bottom line is, you’ve got to be able to speed the game up in the halfcourt with ball movement and those kind of things, and then hope [Shelvin] Mack misses some shots,” said Slocum.

Since that game Butler won 14-consecutive games before losing to Connecticut in Monday’s national championship game

During that winning streak, the Bulldogs have been remarkably consistent at the end of games, holding onto slim leads or rallying to claim victory.

“They went to [Shawn] Vanzant at the point [and that] gave them another shooter. More offense,” said Slocum.

“That gave them an extra six, seven points a night. When you’re looking at three-possession games that six or seven points a night is what I feel really made the turnaround.”

By contrast, the Penguins couldn’t build any momentum from that victory, losing four straight games and seven of their last eight to finish the season with a 9-21 record, the eighth time in the last 10 years they’ve lost 20 or more games.

However, Butler’s advancement to the Final Four for the second straight helped YSU — and the Horizon League schools. The league gets about $7 million, with $500,000 given to Butler off the top. (Mainly to pay for things like travel expenses.) The rest gets split 10 ways over the next six years, although the $108,000 figure is misleading, YSU athletic director Ron Strollo said.

“As a league, we sit as athletic directors and try to reinvest that money,” said Strollo, who said much of that money gets earmarked for things like television and Web broadcasts. “Obviously the impact is good for us, but it’s not program-changing.”

Strollo typically budgets for two NCAA games — a Horizon League team has reached the Sweet Sixteen in five of the last nine years — and any extra money gets reinvested into the program. Typically, Strollo said, it’s enough to buy something like new weight equipment.

YSU’s biggest boost has from its visibility in the last few weeks. As the last team to beat Butler, Slocum has made the rounds on national TV and radio and the Penguins were even featured in the first few paragraphs of a recent Wall Street Journal article.

“That’s the kind of stuff that you can’t afford to pay for,” Strollo said. “The key to our business is recruiting and when you’re trying to recruit a kid from Florida or California, it helps that those kids are starting to hear our name.

“It’s not just that we beat them this year, it’s also that we had a chance to get them twice. We played them really well on the road, too. That has a huge impact.”

Vindicator sports writer Joe Scalzo contributed to this report.

1451

YSU Penguin Athletics / Head Coach Jerry Slocum Featured On SportsCenter Today at 4:30 p.m.

« on: April 04, 2011, 01:05:05 PM »

Youngstown State men's basketball Head Coach Jerry Slocum will be a featured guest today on SportsCenter at 4:30 p.m. on ESPNews.

Slocum has been a highly-requested guest of the national sports media recently due to the Guins being the last team to defeat Butler (62-60 on Feb. 3 at the Beeghly Center), who is playing in its second straight national championship game.

Last Saturday at the Final Four in Houston, Texas, Slocum was a guest on FoxSports Radio's "Game Time Show' with Anthony Gargano, Lincoln Kennedy and Jeff Goodman.

Additionally last Monday, Slocum appeared on the Zakk and Jack Morning Show, which airs nationally on Fox Sports Radio and is carried in Youngstown on The Sports Animal 1390 WNIO.

1452

YSU Penguin Athletics / Spring practice and scrimmage photos

« on: April 03, 2011, 11:38:48 PM »

Here are some scrimmage photos from the weekend:

http://ysupenguins.com/2011_spring_football/index.html

1453

YSU Penguin Athletics / Baseball Wins in 17-Innings

« on: April 03, 2011, 11:34:52 PM »

Yes I said 17-innings. They blew a 4-1 lead in the 9th, but went almost an entire game and finally won it 6-4.

1454

YSU Penguin Athletics / Penguins Win First Regular-Season HL Meet Since March 2005

« on: April 03, 2011, 03:00:14 PM »

The Youngstown State men's tennis team used four singles victories to pick up a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Valparaiso on Sunday morning at the Boardman Tennis Center. It was the Penguins' first regular-season Horizon League win since March 2005.

YSU dropped the doubles point, but rallied by winning four of the six singles contests. Picking up the deciding point was senior Rob Emig who battled back after dropping the first set to VU's Kyle Stump 6-1 and 6-4 in the final two frames.

First-year head coach Mark Klysner was impressed with the way his team earned the final three points of the dual.

"Again we came out extremely flat in our doubles matches today, but we are definitely more comfortable in singles matches which showed again today," Klysner said. "I am very proud of the guys and how they didn't give up today, even when we were down 3-1 in points. It was a huge win for us today and kept our hopes of qualifying for the conference tournament alive. We have a lot of work to do this week before next weekend."

Other winners for the Penguins in singles play were Tariq Ismail at No. 1 with a 6-4, 7-5 win over the Crusders' Jose Gaspar, freshman Max Schmerin at No. 3 over VU's Kevin DeHarrera 6-4, 6-2 and freshman Rodrigo Campos at No. 5 with a straight set 6-4, 6-3 win over Adam Whitmer.

Youngstown State improves to 5-10 and 1-3 while Valpo falls to 5-10 and 0-4.

The Penguins travel to face Butler and Wright State Saturday and Sunday.

1455

YSU Penguin Athletics / Defense Holds Own; Offense Has Own Highlights in Spring Scrimmage

« on: April 03, 2011, 08:32:38 AM »

The Youngstown State defense showed that it will not back down from the offense this spring, but the offensive group was still able to make some big plays during the first major scrimmage of spring camp on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

Head Coach Eric Wolford put the offensive unit in a hole right away as they opened scrimmage with series of plays from their own one-yard line. Allen Jones had nice 26-yard run during the set, btu the defense forced three three-and-out sets.

Coach Wolford then flipped he field and put the squad through a series of red-zone situations giving the ball to the offense 1st-and-10 at the 20-yard line.

After placekicker David Brown could not convert a field-goal try, quarterback Kurt Hess connected with Juilian Harrell on over the shoulder catch in right end zone on first play of next series.

On the next series, Adaris Bellamy had a two-yard scoring run after nice 12-yard run by Jamaine Cook.
Allen Jones tacked on a third touchdown scoring on a five-yard run straight up the middle.
But the defense bounced back as Justin Austin intercepted a Najee Tyler pass on a second-and-six play to end a possession at two-yard line.
Hess then scored on a nifty run from 20 yards out. After looking down field he saw open space against the defense took it in for the score.
Later he connected with Harrell again, this time on a two-yard slant in front of good coverage by Grant Mayes. That play was set up following a first down via a pass intererfece penalty.
Sophomore cornerback Matt Romero snuffed out another drive with great interception in back of end zone off redshirt freshman quarterback Patrick Angle. Romeo also had two pass breakups during the scrimmage.
Senior defensive end Daniel Stewart stripped Torrian Pace of the football from behind on a nice hustle play and the defense recovered.
On the next series, Taylor Hill stuffed Pace on third-and-one situation at the 11 forcing a field goal.
Altogether, YSU had 10 situations of red zone work.
At the midpoint of the scrimmage, Coach Wolford had the defense and offense go through some third-and-short situations near midfield.

On third-down plays, the defense had three stops, but also gave up three first downs.

On fourth down, Bellamy was stopped on fourth and one, but Pace blasted a run up middle for a first down.

After taking over at the 30, the offense moved ball to four but drive stalled and Brown converted a 21-yard field to cap 10-play drive.

A nice highlight was a strong effort by Jones late in the workout. He took a handoff down the left sideline for 65-yard score while breaking about five tackles along the way and outran two defenders in the final 20 yards.

Tyler connected on a good fade route to wide receiver Pat White for 24-yard touchdown capping 65-yard drive as the offense had back-to-back scoring drives
The defense forced a second Pace fumble late in the workout as Scott Sentner stripped the ball and Austin had the recovery.

During the two-minute drill, sophomore linebacker Ali Cheaib intercepted Hess on fourth-and-six play from the 15-yard line to end the drive.

The offense's last two-minute drive stalled just past midfield.

YSU returns to practice on Monday at 4 p.m.

Offensive Scoring Summary
Hess 20-yard pass to Harrell
Bellamy 2-yard run
Jones 5-yard run
Hess 20-yard run
Hess 2-yard pass to Harrell
Brown 21-yard field goal
Jones 65-yard run
Tyler 24-yard pass to White

Upcoming Spring Schedule (All Practices at Stambaugh Stadium)
April 4 - Practice | 4 p.m.
April 6 - Practice | 4 p.m.
April 8 - Practice | 4 p.m.
April 9 - Scrimmage | 10 a.m.
April 10 - FCA Banquet (Coach Wolford guest speaker) | 6 p.m.
April 11 - Practice | 4 p.m.
April 12 - Bob Dove Luncheon | Noon
April 13 - Practice | 4 p.m.
April 15 - Women's Coaching Clinic | 5:30 p.m.
April 15 - Practice | 6:30 p.m.
April 16 - Spring Game | 12:05 p.m.
April 17 - No Stone Unturned Pancake Breakfast at Mt. Carmel
May 6 - Football Alumni Reunion - Youngstown Country Club

For Season Ticket or Spring Game information contact the YSU Athletics Ticket Office at (330) 941-1978.