Baseball team wins; softball squad drops 2

YSU sports

VALPARAISO, Ind. — Freshman catcher Jonathan Crist hit an inside-the-park grand slam as the Youngstown State baseball team scored a season-high 13 runs to defeat Valparaiso 13-4 in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader at Emory G. Bauer Field.

It was Crist’s first career home run, and it was the first inside-the-park homer or grand slam by a Penguin this season.

YSU lost game one 8-7 as Valpo scored all of its runs in the sixth inning.

Crist’s home run in the seventh put YSU ahead 7-2 once the Crusaders had tied it at 2-2. YSU scored three runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth.

Jacke Healey drove two runs and scored three times in game two to go along with his home run in game one. Anthony Porter also drove in two runs for the Penguins.

Phil Klein earned his third victory in Horizon League play, allowing all four runs on six hits while striking out a career-high 10 in 6.2 innings.

Bryce Shafer dropped to 6-3 with the loss, allowing four runs in 6.1 innings. YSU scored nine runs off Valpo’s bullpen.

David Leon drove in a run on a ground out and C.J. Morris hit an RBI single in the fourth to put YSU ahead 2-0.

Valpo got a run back in the bottom half of the inning and tied the score with a two-out single in the sixth.

David Carr doubled to lead off the seventh, and John Koehnlein sacrificed him to second. Healey’s RBI single broke the 2-2 tie, and Crist’s home run capped four consecutive hits.

Porter hit a two-run single in the eighth, and YSU’s three runs in the ninth came on three Valpo errors.

In game one, YSU could not overcome an eight-run sixth inning by Valpo in the 8-7 loss.

Jeremy Banks hit a three-run homer in the eighth, and the Penguins added a run in the ninth before a game-ending double play.

Valpo had seven of its 10 hits in the sixth off three different pitchers. The biggest was Dan DeBruin’s three-run double with two outs that put Valpo up 8-3.Cody Dearth allowed just two base runners through the first five innings before surrendering four hits and a walk in the sixth.

YSU will break this week for finals. Friday at 3 p.m., the Penguins will play a doubleheader with Wright State.

Softball

CANFIELD — The Youngstown State softball team was unable to pick up a win on Senior Day by dropping a pair of games to Green Bay, 11-2 and 5-0, on Saturday at McCune Park.

The Penguins fell to 8-39 overall and 4-18 in the Horizon League while Green Bay improved to 17-23 overall, 6-13.

In the first game, freshman Kristen Philen went 2-for-4 with a run scored to lead the Penguins offensively.

Green Bay, however, exploded for 11 runs on 16 hits, including six extra-base hits.

In game two, freshman Jordan Ingalls tallied two of the Penguins’ four hits off of Green Bay starter Katie Cooney, who struck out nine.

The Penguins and Phoenix close out the regular season with a single game today at 11 a.m. at McCune Park.