YSU meets CSU in Horizon League softball tournament

Staff report

For the second time under coach Brian Cambell, the Youngstown State softball team has reached 29 wins in the regular season.

In doing so, this year’s team has earned the fourth seed in the Horizon League Tournament, which gets under way today at Wright State University in Dayton.

The Penguins (29-22, 11-8) face fifth seed Cleveland State in the first round today at 1:30 p.m.

The Penguins and Vikings (24-18, 8-8) split the season series on March 31 at the YSU softball complex. The Penguins won the opener, 8-4, and dropped game two, 4-3.

CSU holds a slim 47-46 edge all-time over YSU.

With a win over Cleveland State, the Penguins would advance to take on top-seeded Green Bay (24-12, 11-5) later today at 6:30 p.m.

If the Penguins lose, they won’t play again until Thursday at 11 a.m. in the consolation bracket. They would face either third seed Valparaiso, sixth seed Illinois-Chicago, or second seed Wright State.

Since joining the Horizon League in 2001-02, the Penguins own a tournament record of 10-18. Last season, YSU lost the league title game to Valparaiso, 11-9.

The last time the Penguins won the Horizon League Tournament was when it hosted in 2006, winning four straight games.

Crozier dealing

With 11 strikeouts last week, senior Casey Crozier broke the Youngstown State single-season strikeout record.

She’s also YSU’s all-time leader in wins (59), strikeouts (555) and innings pitched (658.0). Crozier has seven career saves and ranks second with 16 shutouts and third all-time with 66 complete games.

She enters tournament play leading the Horizon League with 18 wins and 186 strikeouts on the season. She’s second with a 2.37 earned run average.

Hit parade

Senior Courtney Ewing has hit safely in 35 of her last 38 games and carries a batting average of .357 (46-for-129) during that span.

Sophomore Miranda Castiglione leads the league in batting average (.407), hits (68), runs scored (43), and total bases (109). She is second with a .457 on-base percentage and a .653 slugging percentage.

Winning mentality

One reason for the Penguins’ success is that they have been able to win the close games. The Penguins are 12-3 in one-run games and 20-10 in games decided by two runs or less.