Penguins Rally to Win Finale, Series With Wright State

by YSU

Tuesday, Apr 28, 2015 8:20 am

The Youngstown State baseball team rallied with six runs in the sixth inning to beat Wright State 6-3 and win the series on Sunday afternoon at Eastwood Field.

The Penguins showed tremendous character during the weekend in coming back to win on Saturday and Sunday. Wright State won 19-2 on Friday night, but YSU rebounded to win 13-3 on Saturday and took the series with the 6-3 victory in the finale. The Penguins also earned a split in the season series and have handed Wright State three of their six league losses in 2015.

"The way we played the last two days says way more about our ball club than Friday night's outcome," YSU head coach Steve Gillispie said. "We stayed focused on executing what we do well offensively, we did a great job of challenging the strike zone from a pitching standpoint and defensively we continued the solid play we've shown since February."

Wright State two-out RBIs from John Brodner in the second and fourth innings, and the Raiders went ahead 3-0 in the fifth on an RBI groundout.

The Penguins took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with six runs on six hits and two errors. Jonny Miller singled up to the middle to start the inning, and Frank Califano followed with a bunt single. Wright State had a pair of errors on Lorenzo Arcuri's fielder's choice that allowed Miller to score, and Alex Larivee tied the score with a double down the left field line that allowed Califano and Arcuri to score. Larivee scored on Jason Shirley's bunt single, and the lead extended to 6-3 on RBIs from Matt Sullivan and Brent Gillespie.

The Raiders had the go-ahead run on base in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded and one out. But YSU closer Anthony Konders got Mark Fowler to ground into a 6-4-3 double play that preserved the victory.

Pitcher Josh North allowed one run in four innings of relief to earn the win to improve his record to 2-3, and Konders received his fifth save of the season. Jack Van Horn of Wright State received the loss.

YSU will return with a home game this Wednesday against Akron starting at 5:30 p.m. at Eastwood Field.

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