Penguins topple Malone, 5-2, for fourth straight victory

Chris Dennis pitched five strong innings and Brandon Caipen had three hits.
By PAUL TRGOVAC
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- Chris Dennis struck out nine in his five innings of shutout work, and the Youngstown State baseball team won their fourth straight game, 5-2, over Malone at Bob Cene Park Wednesday night.
Dennis, a senior left-hander, allowed just three singles and did not walk a batter. The Pioneers (32-11) only managed to get one runner as far as second base off Dennis, as he only faced one man over the minimum.
Meanwhile, the Penguins (16-21) did a good job of getting runners on, moving them over, and getting them in, as they plated single runs in the first, third, and seventh innings, along with two markers in the sixth.
"It felt good to get out there and throw strikes," said Dennis (2-2). "My command was the key tonight. I was able to spot my pitches and hit spots which really helped me out."
"Chris has a challenge in front of him if he wants it. He needs to challenge himself all the time like he did tonight," said YSU coach Mike Florak.
Unearned run in first
The Penguins got on the board with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. John Koehnlein singled to right and advanced to second on an error. Brandon Caipen then singled up the middle to plate the first run of the game. Caipen ended with three hits and has 10 hits in his last three games.
YSU scored again in the third when Josh Page led off with a single and stole second base, one of four thefts in the game for the Penguins. After a strikeout and a single by Caipen put runners on the corners, a ground out by Erich Diedrich plated the second run of the contest.
YSU added two runs in the sixth. Diedrich led off with a double to left-center and Lou Gattozzi bunted. The Pioneers tried to catch the runner at third but Diedrich was safe on the play. Brent Parks plated a run on a groundout, and Dustin Thomas drove home the second run of the frame with a single through the left side of the infield giving the Penguins a 4-0 lead.
Pioneers score in seventh
A leadoff walk followed by a double off the top of the wall in left center by Bob Dubovec plated the Pioneers first run in the seventh. Dubovec scored on a sacrifice fly to cut the YSU lead in half at 4-2.
The Penguins answered back with a run in their half of the inning. J.D. Hannon led off with a walk and stole second base, and advanced to third when the throw was wild and went into center field. Hannon scored on a sacrifice fly by Koehnlein.
"We have to keep doing those little things, the fundamental things to be successful," said Florak.
Libeg gets save
The Pioneers had a chance in the ninth inning off Kevin Libeg. A bloop single to right led off the inning, then after a strikeout, back to back errors loaded the bases. Libeg then struck out the next batter looking and recorded the final out on a swinging strike three to earn his second save.
"We have a lot of faith in Libeg. He has had some ups and downs this year, but we know he is going to be there at crunch time," said Florak.
"We just want to keep getting better as a team every day. Our defense has been pretty good, and the pitching has been good, and the pitching is where it is all about," he added.
Josh Spencer had two hits for the Pioneers. YSU pitchers had a season high 15 strikeouts while walking just three. Adam Boudler (4-2) suffered the loss for Malone. He went the first six innings, allowing seven hits, and four runs (three earned), with four strikeouts.