Penguins prepare for the postseason

It has been a record-setting year for Youngstown State.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
CLEVELAND -- The Youngstown State softball team, which has set seven school records this season, can add one more this weekend at the Horizon League tournament, hosted by Cleveland State.
The Penguins (34-15-1), with the most wins in school history, open the tournament Thursday at 9 a.m. against Detroit at Viking Field.
The teams played only one game this season, which ended in a 3-3 tie at McCune Park. The other two games in the series were canceled because of weather.
In that lone meeting, the Penguins held a 3-0 lead going into the seventh inning and freshman pitcher Kelly Murphy had a chance at a no-hitter. The first hit Murphy allowed, though, was a three-run homer to Anna Ollgard that tied the score.
The game was called at that point because of darkness.
Major improvement
YSU went on to post a 13-5-1 Horizon League record, a far cry from the 2002 season, when the Penguins finished 1-13 and in last place in their first year in the league.
The Penguins went into last weekend with a chance to claim the regular season championship. They needed to win two of three games against Illinois-Chicago, but won only once and finished behind Loyola.
Murphy had a spectacular season, breaking the school record for wins (20). Three times she took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
Freshman Liz Holt and junior Amanda Berry led the Horizon League in hits (52). Both are four away from the YSU season record, held by Tami Sinn.
Holt leads the league with 10 home runs. She became the third player in school history to reach double figures for a season and is batting a team-leading .329 (52-for-158) with 30 RBIs.
Berry leads the league in RBIs (38) and is batting .325 (52-for-160) with a team-best 11 doubles.
Freshman Tiffany Patteson set the school record for triples (8) in a season and tied the mark for a career over the weekend.
Murphy leads the league in wins (20) and ERA (1.50), is tied for the lead in shutouts (5) and is second in strikeouts (166) and innings pitched (168 1/3).
Tournament pairings
In Thursday's other games, UIC meets Cleveland State at 11 a.m., followed by No. 1 seed Loyola against Wright State at 1 p.m. and UW-Green Bay vs. Butler at 3 p.m.
Should the Penguins win the opener, they would play the winner of the UIC-Cleveland State game at 5 p.m. Thursday. If they lose, they would play the loser of that game Friday at 9 a.m.
The winner of the double elimination tournament, which will conclude Saturday, gets an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.