Penguins run out of magic against Flashes

Youngstown State fell 8-0 to Kent State in an elimination game.
By COREY ROEPKEN
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The historic run has come to an end for the Youngstown State softball team.
The Penguins are OK with that. This has been a spectacular ride.
Their fourth meeting with Kent State proved significantly less fruitful than the first three as Youngstown State lost, 8-0, in five innings Saturday in an NCAA tournament elimination game at the University of Michigan's Alumni Field.
"I know this isn't the way they wanted things to end, but as they sit back and reflect they have a lot to proud of," Youngstown State coach Christy Cameron said. "There are some things that happened this year that nobody can take away from these kids."
The Penguins (22-27) had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the first inning when Tiffany Patteson (three hits) led off with a single and moved to second on Becky Hibner's sacrifice bunt. Patteson was stranded, however, as Kristen McDonnel and Jamie Fornal struck out swinging.
Pulling ahead
The Golden Flashes (33-24) scored the only run they needed in the second on the front end of a delayed double steal.
They had runners on the corners with two out when Corey Houk tried to steal second but got caught in a rundown. The throw to second allowed Brittney Robinson to score from third, and Houk dove safely into second when the Penguins took some extra time thinking about throwing home.
Youngstown State put its leadoff batter on base in the next three innings, including Fornal's double in the fourth, but the Penguins went 0-for-7 with runners on base during that time.
"We were a little bit flat coming out," Cameron said. "It's been a long week and a half with a lot of emotions. We just didn't do what we needed to do."
Breaking it open
Kent State broke the game open in the fourth with six runs -- all with two outs. Youngstown State pitcher Karlie Burnell retired the first two batters but followed with walks to the eighth and ninth batters. Kim Hamilton hit a three-run home run in the next at-bat. Three batters later, Jamie Fitzpatrick did the same thing.
The Penguins bring back the core of this year's team, including Burnell, who won 16 of their last 22 games. They'll hope to be better than the No. 6 seed in the Horizon League tournament next season and then make it back-to-back NCAA tournament qualifiers.
"They understand how hard it is to get here and what it takes to get here," Cameron said. "It's good to get the young kids a taste of that. I told them to tell the new kids coming in next year."