Saturday, May 24, 2014
Underdog Penguins
roll into title game
Staff report
MEQUON, wis.
Youngstown State is one win away from a stunning accomplishment.
The Penguins pounded 15 hits and capitalized on several Milwaukee miscues in a seven-run second inning en route to an 11-5 victory Friday night in the Horizon League baseball tournament at Kapco Park.
Sixth-seeded YSU (15-36) will play for the league title at 4 p.m. today against an opponent to be determined.
No. 4 Milwaukee will play an elimination game against No. 1 Wright State at noon. The winner of that contest will have to beat the Penguins twice to claim the tournament crown.
The Penguins, just as they did against Wright State on Thursday night, jumped on the opposing starting pitcher early and maintained a sizeable lead.
Starting pitcher Patrick O’Brien, a native of Boardman, scattered 10 hits and held the Panthers to just the one run over seven innings. He walked one and struck out five while throwing 94 pitches, 69 of which were strikes. O’Brien picked up his second win of the campaign with his impressive performance.
“Patrick’s been good for this program for several years, and it was nice to have a fifth-year senior on the mound in a game like this,” YSU head coach Steve Gillispie said. “He’s tenacious on the mound. When he got that lead, he was determined not to give them a chance to breathe.”
“Patrick really settled down and did what he needed to do by throwing strikes and being a bulldog out there,” said catcher Josh White. “He had a little giddy-up on his fastball, and his changeup is always a good pitch. He got better with his slider as the game went on.”
White went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBIs, and Phil Lipari and Matt Sullivan both had three hits for the Penguins.
“Confidence can be a scary thing,” Gillispie said. “These guys have as much energy and are as confident as they’ve been at any point the year. Even with how our regular season went, we still had every one of our goals sitting in front of us coming into this week. They just bought in and aren’t letting anyone take the opportunity away from them.”