YSU tops Kent State, 14-9, to go 5-0 at Cene

By Pete Mollica

The Penguins finish the regular season at Milwaukee, then host the Horizon tournament next week.

STRUTHERS — Youngstown State baseball coach Rich Pasquale is trying to figure out a way the Penguins can hold next week’s Horizon League baseball tournament at Cene Park.

YSU plays host to the tournament, but it will be held at Eastwood Field in Niles.

Pasquale’s reasoning is quite simple: The Penguins, after Tuesday night’s 14-9 victory over Kent State, are 5-0 at Cene Park this season and they have scored double digits in four of the five wins.

The Penguins improved to 21-30 with the win over the Flashes and are 13-8 at home this season, including 8-8 at Eastwood Field.

The teams combined for 30 hits and 23 runs Tuesday night. There were 11 pitchers used in the contest, seven by Kent State (31-19).

The Penguins trailed 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning when they broke loose for seven runs and jumped out to an 8-3 advantage.

It was the fourth time this season the Penguins have scored seven runs in an inning and three of those have come at Cene Park.

The inning started with junior John Koehnlein getting a lead-off walk and the Penguins followed that with five straight singles by Josh Page, Sean Lucas, Erich Diedrich, Joe Iacobucci and Anthony Porter. Lucas, Diedrich and Iacobucci all had RBI hits.

After Eric Marzec was hit by a pitch to load the bases, David Leon singled in the hole to drive in another run. The Golden Flashes then pulled off a double play with Porter scoring the sixth run, while Koehnlein, batting for the second time in the inning, laid down a perfect bunt single to bring home the final run.

The Flashes scored single runs in each of the first four innings off YSU starter and winning pitcher Lucas Engle, who pitched five innings, allowing four runs and eight hits, although only three of the runs he allowed were earned.

One of then was a lead-off home run by former South Range High standout Greg Rohan in the third inning. Rohan, the junior first baseman, leads the Flashes with 18 home runs and 54 RBIs this season.

The Penguins scored a run in the second when Iacobucci led off with a single and Porter hit a double into right field. Marzec then hit a sacrifice fly to right scoring Iacobucci.

YSU also added single runs in the fourth and fifth inning as Iacobucci, who had four hits, tripled with two outs in the fourth and scored on a wild pitch, while in the fifth Marzec led off with a double, moved to third on an infield out and scored on a wild pitch.

After Kent State cut the Penguins’ lead to 10-7 with a single run in the sixth and two in the seventh, YSU scored three times in the bottom of the seventh on just two hits, but the Flashes helped out with a pair of walks and a hit batsman, followed by an RBI single from Page and two more wild pitches.

After Lucas left in the sixth, freshman Matt Tucker came on to pitch the sixth and then allowed two runs in the seventh before senior Ryan Sellman came in to put out the fire.

Sellman got the final out in the seventh, allowed just a walk in the eighth, but ran into problems in the ninth with a walk, hit batsman and an error as the Flashes scored once. Junior Ryan Wackerman came on in relief and retired the final three batters.

The Penguins did not play their best defensively making three errors that led to three Kent State runs. They did connect for 17 hits with Iacobucci, Page and Porter leading the way with four, three and three respectively.

The Penguins will complete their regular season Thursday and Friday in Horizon League action against UW-Milwaukee. The teams will play a doubleheader Thursday at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, and a single game Friday.