Baseball Evens Series With Milwaukee Behind O'Brien's Gem

by YSU

Sunday, Apr 7, 2013 9:05 am

Niles, Ohio -- Junior Patrick O'Brien pitched a five-hit complete game, and the Youngstown State baseball team scored in each of the first five innings in a 10-1 win over Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon at Eastwood Field.

A day after letting a 4-1 lead slip away in the final three innings, the Penguins kept adding to their lead and scored eight runs in the first five innings today in their bounce-back win. O'Brien kept the Panthers in check all game, holding the top offensive team in the conference to five hits and no walks while striking out seven batters. He allowed just three hits in the final seven innings.

Mike Accardi, Drew Dosch and Josh White had three hits apiece, and eight different Penguins scored or drove in a run. Leadoff batter Derek Peake had three of Milwaukee's five hits.

Phil Lipari singled in Accardi with two outs in the bottom of the first, and the Penguins went up 3-0 in the second on RBIs by Nick DiNello and Dosch. Marcus Heath then put YSU up 5-0 with a two-run single with nobody out in the third to knock Milwaukee starter Cale Tassi from the game.

Jack Graham walked and scored on a double play ball in the fourth, and Kevin Hix gave Youngstown State an 8-0 cushion with a two-out, two-run single to center in the fifth.

The Panthers put runners at the corners with nobody out in the sixth, but O'Brien got a double play and a ground out to escape with just one run on the board. Dosch had an RBI single, and Lipari hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth for the final tally.

Tassi, the Preseason Horizon League Pitcher of the Year, was charged with five runs on six hits and three walks in two innings. YSU scored three runs on seven hits in four innings against Justin Jaquish, and its two runs in the eighth came off Justin Langley.

Youngstown State and Milwaukee will play the rubber match of their three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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