Penguins' tournament run was amazing

Junior pitcher Karlie Burnell pitched 251/3 of the team's 26 innings.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANFIELD -- Tiffany Patteson watched the flight of the ball off her bat in the bottom of the seventh inning of the championship game of the Horizon League softball tournament.
Patteson knew if the ball stayed fair the Penguins were tournament champions and headed to the NCAA Division I tournament.
It did and they are.
The Penguins concluded a remarkable tournament run Saturday by beating top-seeded Illinois-Chicago 2-1 in the championship game. YSU won four straight and junior pitcher Karlie Brunell was the winning pitcher in all four games.
Patteson's game-winner started down the line about 3 feet inside the foul pole. When it cleared the 10-foot high fence in right field, it was about 1 foot inside the mark.
"All that matters is that it stayed fair," said Patteson, the Penguins' standout from Guelph, Ontario.
Patteson was one of three Penguins named to the all-tournament team.
Bedra most valuable
Sophomore McKenzie Bedra was named the tournament's most valuable player, a unanimous selection after she led the Penguins with five home runs, a tournament record, and a .750 batting average for four games.
"It's been just amazing this week," said Bedra. "We played so well as a team and everybody contributed to this championship."
Patteson, who hit just under .500 for the tournament, and Bedra were joined on the tournament team by junior pitcher Karlie Burnell.
Burnell pitched all four victories, including two against the top seed, Illinois-Chicago.
She pitched 251/3 of the 26 innings that the Penguins played in the tournament and the only reason she didn't pitch the final two outs of the opening 12-3 win over Detroit was because she had to leave to take a final exam.
"I think I even did pretty well on that final," Burnell said.
Only relief effort
Junior Tricia Hilbish finished that game, the only time the Penguins had to go to the bullpen in the tournament.
Burnell allowed 27 hits and 10 runs, but her teammates helped her out by scoring 23 runs in the four games and pounding out 31 hits.
YSU's defense was perfect during the weekend, they handled 89 chances in the field and never made an error.
That fact was recognized when freshman second baseman Allyse Ledford was named the tournament's outstanding defensive player.
Bedra was also named the outstanding batting star of the event.
The rest of the all-tournament team was Sarah Clynes, Elizabeth Jacoby and Nikki Shepard of UIC, Michele Penney of Cleveland State and Tara Miller and Nora Shober of Loyola.