YSU softball tourney set to begin

The young YSU softball team finished 8-40 and will play Butler in a first-round game today.

Vindicator staff report

PENDLETON, Ind. — Youngstown State softball team will open play in the Horizon League softball tournament today when the No. 8 seeded Penguins take on the No. 5 seeded and tournament host Butler in an 11 a.m. contest at Legends Field.

The young Penguins have struggled through a season with an 8-40 overall record and were 4-19 in the conference.

First-year coach Brian Campbell has only two seniors on his 15-player roster and only one — third baseman Allyse Ledford — is a starter.

Campbell starts four freshmen and two sophomores and his two top pitchers are both underclassmen.

Butler enters the tournament with a 23-26 record, including 12-11 in the conference, and took two out of three games from the Penguins in a recent series at Butler. The Penguins posted a 6-5 win, while losing 1-0 and 3-1.

Campbell’s top three hitters are all youngsters with sophomore first baseman Kim Klonowsky leading the team with a .329 average. She also leads the team in home runs (7) and RBIs (31). On Wednesday Klonowsky was named to the All-Horizon League second team.

The only other Penguins hitting above .300 are two freshmen. Outfielder-pitcher Jordan Ingalls is hitting .324 with a team-high 11 doubles, two triples and one homer while center fielder Haley Thomas is batting .308.

Junior Cheryl Cale has been the workhorse of the pitching staff as she has started 30 games and compiled a 7-22 record. She has a 3.81 earned run average and has 66 strikeouts and 62 walks.

Freshman Ingalls is the No. 2 hurler who has made 16 starts, but has a 1-16 record with a 6.00 ERA.

Of the Penguins 40 losses, 14 of them have come in games decided by two or less runs.

Butler comes into the game on a hot streak, winning 10 of its last 14 games and have been sparked by the long ball as they are the league’s third-best home run hitting team.

Freshman Erin Falkenberry leads the Bulldogs with a school-record 10 homers this season.

The winner of today’s game will play against No. 2 seed Cleveland State later today at 6 p.m. Today’s loser will be in action on Friday morning at 9 a.m. against the loser of the Valparaiso-Green Bay contest, which was played today at 9 a.m.

Regular season champion Illinois-Chicago is the top seed in the tournament.