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YSU drops twinbill to Butler
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
CANFIELD
Youngstown State University senior pitcher Cheryl Cale knew what it would take to defeat Butler in the Penguins’ Horizon league softball opener on Saturday.
Cale did her best to keep the Bulldogs off-balance, but the Penguins lost, 6-0 and 9-0 at McCune Park.
The Bulldogs are one of the top teams in the conference and came to Youngstown with an impressive 24-6 record.
“I remembered them from last year and how good they were,” said Cale of the Bulldogs. “I knew we wouldn’t get much run production and that you have to keep their hitters off-balanced.”
Cale did just that for the first five innings of a scoreless contest before Butler (26-6, 3-0) figured out Cale’s off-speed pitches and scored four runs in the sixth inning.
“It took awhile for us to make our [hitters] make adjustments,” Butler coach Jeanne Rayman said. “They really gave us a tough game in the opener.
“I remember [Cale] from last year and she is a great kid,” Rayman said. “She did a great job of throwing that off-speed pitch. That pitch can be deadly and she can be really tricky to hit.
“I think we did a good job of finally catching up to her.”
YSU (6-10, 0-2) coach Brian Campbell pulled Cale after she gave up four runs on five hits in the sixth inning and turned to freshman Kayla Vallery.
“I guess I just kinda lost it,” said Cale of her earlier mastery of the Bulldog hitters. “I knew I had to keep them off-balanced because they came in here with a high ranking and we didn’t have anything to lose so we just fought as hard as we could.
Vallery, a Georgia native, briefly rescued the Penguins by pitching out of the jam but Butler’s talented hitters plated two more runs in the seventh to put the game away.
“Butler’s a pretty talented ball club,” Campbell said. “They went up against Purdue on Thursday and got a split and almost beat Ohio State on Friday.
“They’re a pretty good hitting team and their pitching is outstanding as well.”
YSU’s hitters managed only five hits the entire afternoon.
Freshman Jenny Esparza pitched a complete game in the opener and limited the Penguins to three doubles. Esparza (12-3) also struck out 12 YSU batters.
Haley Thomas, Vicky Rumph and Amanda Palmore had the two-baggers for the Penguins.
Campbell said that while Butler’s pitchers were strong, his hurler, Cale did a great job as well.
“Cheryl [Cale} pitched a wonderful game until they got to her in the fifth-sixth inning,” Campbell said. “We were making our adjustments against their pitchers and putting the ball in play but we couldn’t get much to fall in.
“We’ll regroup from this and come out and be ready to play [Sunday] at noon.”
Butler put the Penguins away quickly in the second game.
The Bulldogs scored two runs in the first inning of YSU’s starter, Danielle Chase.
Chase only lasted two innings as Butler got to her again in the third and Campbell went to freshman Hana Somogyi.
The Bulldogs got five runs on six hits off the Chicago native and the game ended after five innings.
Jennifer Chasteen (10-2) picked up the win despite just pitching three innings. Releiver Breanna Fisher didn’t allow a hit in the final two innings of the contest.
“I was worried about our focus in the second game because the girls are anxious to get back and watch the [Final Four] basketball game,” said Rayman on the Butler basketball team’s scheduled game in the NCAA tournament. “We’ll be watching the game together and we’re excited to root them on.”