Wolford to address football luncheon club

Wolford to address football luncheon club

CANTON

Eric Wolford, head football coach at Youngstown State University, will make his first appearance at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Luncheon Club on Monday.

The luncheon club, in its 50th season, is held at Tozzi’s on 12th, 4210 12th St. NW, Canton.

Wolford, a 1994 graduate of Kansas State, goes into his fourth season as Youngstown State’s Head Football Coach this fall, and in each of his first three campaigns, the program has taken memorable steps.

In 2012, YSU earned the school’s first-ever win over a BCS program knocking off Pittsburgh.

In 2011, the Penguins won at top-ranked North Dakota State beating a the No. 1 team in the regular season for the first time in program history.

YSU baseball

Dayton

The Youngstown State baseball team scored six runs in the first inning and got seven solid innings from senior left-hander Blake Aquadro in a 10-1 victory at Wright State on Thursday.

Neil Schroth and Nick DiNello homered during the six-run first, and Mike Accardi had three hits from the leadoff spot.

Aquadro allowed one run on six hits in seven innings to earn his second win of the season.

Accardi started the game with a double, and Schroth followed with his first career home run.

Drew Dosch struck out but reached on a passed ball, and that helped lead to the remaining four runs in the inning.

Irish QB Durkin chooses Spartans

youngstown

Ursuline High quarterback Chris Durkin has made a verbal commitment to accept a football scholarship offer from Michigan State University.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior-to-be also had offers from Illinois, Indiana, California, Northwestern, Nevada and several Mid-American Conference schools, Ursuline coach Larry Kempe said.

Durkin made the commitment Thursday evening on the first day of a weekend visit to the East Lansing, Mich., campus.

Ursuline graduate Pat Narduzzi is defensive coordinator for the Spartans.

As a junior, Durkin led the Irish to two playoff victories and a berth in the Division V regional final where Ursuline lost 38-37 to Kirtland. He passed for 887 yards and six touchdowns and ran for 722 yards and seven scores during a 5-5 regular season.

Baseball fundraiser

austintown

The Roth Brothers baseball team will have a fundraiser at the Skate Zone on April 6 from 7-10 p.m.

For details call 330-787-4228.

Sharapova reaches Key Biscayne final again

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.

Maria Sharapova swept the first 10 points Thursday, then hardly let up from there. If she can keep it going for one more round, she’ll finally have that elusive Sony Open title.

The four-time runner-up advanced to another Key Biscayne final by beating Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-1.

With a victory Saturday, the No. 3-seeded Sharapova would plug one of the few holes in her resume. She completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open last year but has never won the tournament near downtown Miami.

Reporting prep results

The Vindicator encourages coaches and statisticians to report prep results by email (sports@vindy.com) or fax (330-747-6712).

Phone calls (330-747-1478) are also acceptable but emails and faxes are strongly preferred. Deadline is 10 p.m.

WNBA, ESPN extend contract through 2022

NEW YORK

The WNBA has extended its contract with ESPN through the 2022 season.

The network said Thursday the league had added six years to their broadcasting deal.

ESPN has been televising WNBA games since its inaugural season in 1997.

Vindicator staff/wire reports