YSU set for key Horizon series

The baseball team hosts Butler and the softball team is at Wright State.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State baseball and softball teams head into pivotal weekend series in Horizon League play.
The baseball team (12-24, 5-11) will open a three-game series with Butler (14-25, 6-14) today at Eastwood Field in a 7 p.m. start.
Coach Mike Florak's Penguins have been struggling of late, dropping four of their last five games including three of four against the league's No. 2 teams, Wright State, last weekend.
Florak has tried just about everything to help snap the Penguins out of their current slump.
"We just have to keep plugging away and play aggressive," Florak said. "I feel great about the makeup of this team, and I'm confident we'll find a way to bounce back."
"We've had a lot of adversity with injured guys and just going through the pains of being a young team," he added.
The Penguins are currently fifth in the conference standings, with Butler in sixth place.
"They've [Butler] been through a lot too this season," he said. "It's going to be two teams battling to get back in the race."
Trying to find combination
In 34 games the Penguins have used 34 different combinations in the batting order and has started 21 different combinations in the field, excluding pitchers. They haven't had the same lineup at the plate in back-to-back games all season.
"We have a couple dual-role guys who can pitch and hit, and we're fortunate to have guys who can play several different positions," Florak added. "Plus with all of our young players we need to give them days off to clear their heads a bit."
Sophomore John Koehnlein leads the team in hitting with a .403 average. His .420 average against Horizon League pitching is the best in the conference and he ranks 52nd in all of Division I baseball.
Junior Erich Diedrich is hitting .360 with a team-high six home runs and 31 RBIs.
Pitching has been the problem. The Penguins don't have a pitcher with a winning record and the team earned run average is 6.27. They have also walked 145 batters and hit 51 batters this year.
Softball at Wright State
The YSU softball team (13-15, 4-4) will open a three-game series Saturday at Wright State. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
The Penguins are fourth in the Horizon standings and are 21/2 games out of second place. The Raiders (17-27, 4-6) have lost six of their last seven games.
"We need to play three complete games to be successful against Wright State," said YSU head coach Christy Cameron.
"They like to run the bases so we need to play well defensively, Our pitching needs to be consistent, but we also have to hit the ball better than we did against Butler last week," she added.
Junior McKenzie Bedra leads the Penguins with a .417 batting average and this year became the first YSU player in school history to reach 20 home runs. She has six this season.
Freshman Autumn Grove is the only freshman ranked among the league's top 10 hitters with her .368 average. Sophomore Kristen McDonnell also has six homers.
Senior Karlie Burnell carries the Penguins' load on the mound. She is 9-6 in 15 appearances and has pitched 971/3 innings. She needs one more win to become just the third Penguin to record multiple 10-win seasons. She is third on the all-time wins list with 37.