YSU baseball team to open against Milwaukee

Staff report

Youngstown

The Youngstown State baseball team will enter the 2012 Horizon League Baseball Championship as the No. 6 seed and play No. 3 Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Illinois-Chicago’s Les Miller Field in Chicago.

The Penguins finished the regular season with a 9-42 overall record and a 7-23 mark in Horizon League play.

Milwaukee garnered the No. 3 seed with its 26-25 overall record and 18-11 ledger in conference games.

The Panthers won their final eight conference games of the regular season, including a sweep of Wright State in the season’s final weekend. UWM won five of the six meetings against Youngstown State during the regular season. Two of those UWM victories were by one run.

Valparaiso, which swept the Penguins over the weekend, will be the tournament’s No. 1 seed and will earn a first-round bye.

Wright State, which went 36-19 overall and 20-10 in league play, will also receive a bye as the No. 2 seed.

No. 4 Illinois-Chicago, which finished 19-32 overall and 12-17 in league play, will play fifth-seeded Butler (22-32, 10-20).

If YSU defeats Milwaukee, it will play No. 1 Valparaiso on Thursday. If the Penguins lose their first game, they will play an elimination game against the loser between Illinois-Chicago and Butler on Thursday.