NOTEBOOK From Eastwood Field

Visiting Penguins: No matter how many games Youngstown State plays in the tournament the Penguins will never be the home team. YSU finished last in the regular season standings and was the No. 7 seed, so the Penguins will always be the visiting team. YSU wore its away uniforms for the first time ever at Eastwood Field.
Tournament firsts: The first base hit of the tournament was by UW-Milwaukee's Matt Alexander, a single in the first inning against Wright State. The first extra-base hit was by Milwaukee's Ross McCoy, a triple in the second inning, and the first home run was by Milwaukee's Ben Stanczyk. Stanczyk, who also got the first tournament win, also had the first strikeout (nine total).
Impressive performance: Stanczyk leads UW-Milwaukee in both hitting and pitching. His .378 average is the second best in the league, while on the mound he is 7-3 with a 3.61 ERA. He hit his ninth home run of the season in the opener with Wright State.
Area connection: Cleveland State freshman right fielder Marc Sikora is a Boardman native and a graduate of Boardman High School. He started every game for the Vikings this season and Wednesday hit his second home run of the season in the Vikings' 11-6 victory over Detroit in the opening round of the tournament. Sikora, who led the team in walks (15) and hit-by-pitches (5) came into the tournament with a .201 average. He finished 2-for-5 in the opener.
Injured Vikings: Two other area products are members of the Cleveland State baseball team, but suffered season ending injuries and won't play in the tournament. Freshman outfielder-pitcher Vasili Pahoulis, a Howland High standout, suffered a shoulder injury. He played in 10 games, starting seven before getting hurt. Former Girard High standout Stephen Procner is another freshman with the Vikings. A left-handed pitcher, Procner pitched in six games and was 0-2 before getting hurt.
Penguins bring rain: The first two games of the tournament were played in perfect conditions, with temperatures in the mid-70s and a lot of sunshine. By the time the YSU-Butler game was getting ready to start, rain started to fall, but last only briefly as temperatures dipped into the 50s. "Why should today be any different than it has been all year," said YSU coach Mike Florak.
Hits galore: In the first two tournament games, the winning teams, UW-Milwaukee and Cleveland State, produced 18 and 16 hits, respectively, in posting 11-3 and 11-6 victories. YSU and Butler combined for 13 hits and seven runs. There were also four home runs and three doubles in the Cleveland State-Detroit game, and four doubles, two triples and a home run in the UW-Milwaukee-Wright State game. There was only one extra base hit in the YSU-Butler game, a double by Butler's Tony Barnes.
-- Pete Mollica