Baseball

Baseball

Tennessee Tech rallies in 9th, wins game in 11 innings

Cookeville, Tenn.

Tennessee Tech scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th to beat Youngstown State 5-4. YSU led 2-0 after the first and held a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. The first two Golden Eagles reached on a single and a walk, and Chad Oberacker brought in the pair with a one-out single. The winning run in the 11th scored on a dribbler down the first base line. Joe Iacobucci went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs, and Phil Lipari had two hits off the bench. Oberacker had three hits while also starting on the mound for Tennessee Tech. He allowed three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out 12 in eight innings. Iacobucci’s two-run single with two outs in the first inning gave the Penguins an early cushion, but Tennessee Tech got a run back in the bottom half. YSU went up 3-1 with a run in the third. YSU starter Phil Klein limited TTU scoreless until he exited in the fifth, and Erik Okleson kept the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh. Okleson allowed the leadoff batter to reach in the eighth, and he ended up scoring two batters later on a Zach Stephens single. Drew Dosch came on to get out of the inning without allowing any more damage by inducing two flyouts and a fielder’s choice. Lipari singled home Iacobucci to give YSU an insurance run in the ninth, but Oberacker’s one-out single in the bottom half sent the game to extra innings. Chad Hayes hit a leadoff triple for TTU in trouble in the 11th, and, after a groundout, the Penguins intentionally walked the next two batters. Stephens drove in the winning run on a dribbler down the first base line, and reliever Blake Aquadro couldn’t make the play at home. Youngstown State will remain on the road to play at Xavier on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Softball

One win, one loss on first day of the Rebel Games

KISSIMMEE, FLA.

Sarah Gabel’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted Youngstown State over Manhattan, 4-3. The Penguins (9-5) also lost 11-9 to South Dakota. Kristina Rendle started on second base for the Penguins, then Jordan Ingalls moved Rendle to with a sacrifice bunt and after a walk to Vicky Rumph, Gabel lifted a fly ball to left field to score Rendle.Casey Crozier picked up her sixth win of the season. Rumph also hit a two-run homer for the Penguins, her third round-tripper of the season.

Against South Dakota, the Penguins trailed 4-0 after four innings, but scored nine runs in the top of the fifth. Haley Thomas began the rally with a single and later scored on a double by Ingalls. After three walks plated another run, Gabel — who went 3 for 4 — singled in Rumph to make it 4-3. Two more walks forced home the tying and g-ahead runs, then Rendle hit a three-run triple to right field to make it 8-4. Rendle later scored on a passed ball. But South Dakota answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and five in the sixth to secure the win. YSU plays Rider today at 11 a.m., then Hartford at 1 p.m.

Staff reports