The Penguins are in their first NCAA tournament; Texas in its 46th.

The Penguins are in their first NCAA tournament; Texas in its 46th.
By KURT SNYDER
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Texas (50-13) is making its 46th NCAA tournament appearance. Youngstown State (22-30) is making its first appearance in the tournament since moving up to Division I in 1983.
That fact might be all anyone needs to know about the uphill climb the Penguins face when they play the Longhorns at 8 p.m. Friday in Austin, Texas.
But also consider that the Longhorns won their 22nd game during the middle of March, and were ranked No. 1 in the country in several polls before being eliminated in last week's Big 12 tournament.
But if any of that scares the Penguins, they are not showing it.
"We feel we have an opportunity to go out there and upset them," senior first baseman Jim Lipinski said.
"I feel we have a good chance of shocking the world with a win," said Eric Shaffer, a sophomore left-handed pitcher.
"I never really thought I would be playing against teams like this. It's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Oral Roberts and TCU play earlier Friday in the other first round game of the double-elimination regional.
Ridden high wave
Lipinski said the Penguins have ridden a high since the beginning of the Horizon League tournament last week.
A four-game winning streak began in the first round when the Penguins rallied for four ninth-inning runs to beat second-seeded Butler 4-3.
"From there it just kind of rolled," Lipinski said of the comeback.
"Things went our way. We got the errors when we needed them; we got the clutch hits. We just played good team baseball."
Even though the Penguins bring the second-worst record into the 64-team tournament, coach Mike Florak said the numbers are misleading.
He said the Penguins have played their best against the top competition.
The Penguins beat Horizon League regular season champion Illinois-Chicago in four of five meetings, and they also swept a doubleheader from Mid-American Conference regular season champion Central Michigan.
"We've been in big games all year," Florak said. "We played Big 12 teams; we played Michigan; we played Kentucky. This is another one, and this is another big challenge."
Thomas will pitch
Florak said sophomore left-handed pitcher Justin Thomas has been a reason for the Penguins' success in tough games.
Thomas will take the mound against the Longhorns with a 7-2 record.
He has beaten both Butler and Illinois-Chicago in recent starts.
"Justin will be at his best Friday," Florak said. "No doubt about it."
Thomas said pitching against a high-caliber team leaves little margin for error.
"In our league, some of the competition was down a little bit this year, so you could get away with making a couple mistakes," he said. "But against the big teams, every pitch has to be your best. You have to try to hit your spots every time."
Offensively, the Penguins hope a recent hot streak for sophomore second baseman Justin Banks will continue.
Banks batted .500 and drove in seven runs during the Horizon League tournament, and had six hits in his last nine at-bats.
The performance has pushed Banks over .300 for the season, and senior center fielder Kendall Schlabach leads the team with a .312 average.
The Longhorns are led on the mound by Big 12 pitcher of the year J.P. Howell, who has won 13 games with a 2.01 ERA.
Junior Curtis Thigpen, who splits time between catcher and first base, leads the Longhorns at the plate with a .370 average, and he is second on the team with five home runs and 40 RBIs.
ksnyder@vindy.com