COLLEGE BASEBALL Penguins drop contest to UWM

YSU had already clinched the No. 2 seed in the tourney and played its reserves.
NILES -- Wisconsin-Milwaukee scored nine runs with two outs and Zak Rivera went 5-for-6 with two homers as the Panthers defeated Youngstown State 12-7 Sunday in the regular season final for both teams at Eastwood Field.
The Penguins, by winning the first three games of the series, clinched a first-round bye in the Horizon League tournament and started mostly reserves Sunday.
Josh Page and Jason Coffey each went 2-for-5 with two RBIs to lead the Penguins (28-25, 10-6 Horizon). Brian Boone, Charles Schultz and Dustin Thomas also finished with two hits for YSU.
The Panthers (22-29, 12-8) scored in every inning but the seventh and led by as many as six runs before YSU scored four runs in the fifth to get within 8-6.
Two-out lightning
All of UWM's offense in the first three innings came with two outs as Boone retired the first two hitters in each frame. Rivera hit a solo shot to right in the first to put the Panthers up 1-0 and added a two-run single in the second to increase the lead to three.
The Penguins cut the margin to 3-2 in the bottom of the second as Josh Page singled home Boone and Erich Diedrich scored on a fielder's choice.
The Panthers scored a run in the third and fourth before Rivera hit a three-run homer in the fifth to make the score 8-2.
Penguins close gap
YSU got to within 8-6 with four RBI singles with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Boone singled home Schultz, and Justin Banks, Page and Coffey hit bases-loaded singles later in the inning before Mike Rauwerdink got Brent Parks to ground into an inning-ending double play.
The Panthers increased the margin to 10-6 in the sixth and added single tallies in the eighth and ninth. Diedrich walked with the bases loaded in the eighth for YSU's only other run.
The league's all-star teams and players and coach of the year will be announced Tuesday night. YSU's first game in the tournament will be Thursday at 4 p.m. at Victory Field.