Valparaiso wins, faces YSU today

NILES — Third-seeded Youngstown State will take on No. 6 Valparaiso today at 3 p.m. at Eastwood Field in the opening round of the 2008 U.S. Army Horizon League Baseball Championship.

Valparaiso eliminated No. 7 Butler 6-5 in the play-in game on Tuesday to advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament.

Youngstown State defeated Valparaiso three times in five tries during the regular season in what was a series dominated by pitching. In the five games, there were only 25 runs scored, and the teams combined to hit .244. Three of the games were decided by one run.

The Penguins claimed two out of three at Eastwood Field, and their only setback was a 4-3 loss in 11 innings in the first meeting of the season. YSU came back to sweep a doubleheader the following day with 6-0 and 3-1 victories.

YSU sophomore and Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Aaron Swenson will take the mound against the Crusaders looking to earn his seventh win. The right-hander threw two complete-game victories against Valpo during the regular season, allowing just one run in both starts.

Sean Lucas batted .476 against the Crusaders during the regular season while John Koehnlein hit .389. The Penguins stole 11 bases in the five games, including four by Koehnlein. They were successful on nine out of 10 attempts at home on April 4-5 but were just 1-for-3 on May 10 at Valparaiso.