YSU softball splits with Niagara
CANFIELD — The Youngstown State softball team (3-15) set a school record for hits (19) and home runs (5) in a game in a 14-6 win over Niagara, as the Penguins salvaged a doubleheader split Tuesday afternoon at McCune Park. The Penguins lost the first game, 10-4.
Senior McKenzie Bedra went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs while senior Jamie Fornal went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and freshman Rochelle Vanyi had three hits, including her fourth home run of the season.
Senior Becky Hibner, junior Kristen McDonnell and freshman Katy Potokar also hit home runs for the Penguins.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Penguins used a four-run frame to take a 7-4 edge. Vanyi knotted the score with a single to score Hafley, and Hibner gave the Penguins the lead for good with a two-run blast, her first of the season.
After a two-run home run by Niagara’s Tory Healy in the top of the fifth, the Penguins added four more runs in the bottom half of the frame and ended the game early with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
In the opening contest the Penguins fell behind 10-0 after six innings, but scored three in the bottom of the sixth to keep the game going and one in the seventh.
Potokar had two of the Penguins’ eight hits, while Fornal, Grove and Bair all had doubles.
Healy also homered for Niagara in the opener, one of three in the game for the Purple Eagles.
The Penguins will play host to Illinois-Chicago in a Horizon League doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. The teams will also play a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.