YSU baseball drops two at Jacksonville St.

YSU baseball drops two at Jacksonville St.

The Youngstown State baseball team concluded the opening weekend of the 2015 season by dropping both games of a doubleheader at Jacksonville State, 9-4 and 10-5, on Saturday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field.

YSU scored all four of its runs in the opener in the ninth inning after Jacksonville State had built a 9-0 lead. The Penguins built a 5-1 lead in game two, but Jacksonville State scored the final nine runs of the game, and all of them came with two outs.

Youngstown State will begin a three-game series at Tennessee Tech on Friday at 4 p.m.

Poland’s Gabriel tosses shutout for Tennessee

TAMPA, Fla.

Annie Aldrete went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Erin Gabriel tossed five shutout innings and No. 11 Tennessee surged past Florida Gulf Coast, 9-0, in five frames on Friday at the USF Presidents Day Weekend Tournament.

Erin Gabriel (2-0) fanned seven over five scoreless innings with two hits and two walks allowed.

Neu, McLean improve marks at SPIRE event

Geneva

Conner Neu (weight throw) and Austin McLean (3,000-meter run) improved their school records to lead the YSU track and field squads at the SPIRE Division I Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, Neu broke his own school record with a toss of 20.84 meters in the weight throw. In the 3,000-meter run on Saturday, McLean posted a personal-best time of 8:10.45. It lowered his school record and previous best time by just over three seconds. He finished 10th place in the race that featured 45 runners.

Sprinter Nina Grambling was fourth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.55 seconds on Saturday a day after finishing seventh in a fast 200-meter dash with a time of 24.65 seconds. Also on Friday, Eric Rupe ran the second-fastest 5,000-meter time in school history in the top heat of the event with a time of 14:22.27.

Join Phantoms at Mill Creek outdoor pond

Mill Creek MetroParks will host the Youngstown Phantoms for an open skate and Meet & Greet at the Lily Pond on Monday.

The Phantoms will be there form 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., as long as the weather permits safe skating conditions. Hockey fans of all ages can come out and meet the Phantoms and gain a few skating tips from the players. The Lily Pond will be open for supervised skating from noon to 6 p.m.

Skaters should bring their own equipment. No skate rental will be available.

Minor leaguers test positive, are suspended

NEW YORK

Outfielders Spencer Edwards of Tampa Bay and Brian Ruiz of Cleveland have each been suspended 80 games under baseball’s minor league drug program following positive tests for performance-enhancing substances.

Free agent right-hander Joseph Gardner-Prophet has been banned for 50 games following a second positive test for a drug of abuse.

The commissioner’s office announced the penalties on Friday.

Canfield-Poland boys expected to be a sellout

Tickets for the Poland vs. Canfield boys basketball game at 7 p.m. on Friday go on sale at the Canfield High School athletic office starting Tuesday morning.

Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Student tickets cost $4, adult tickets cost $6 and reserved seating is $8.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Strip tickets, employee passes and Canfield senior citizen passes are not valid for admission to the game. The only passes that gain entry will be the red AAC passes (and any lifetime AAC passes).

Baseball/softball clinic at WATTS cancelled

The YMUA Baseball/Softball clinic scheduled for today at WATTS has been cancelled due to the weather.

Tri-T Baseball to meet Wednesday

Tri-T Baseball’s next regular-season meeting will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Poland baseball building on Sheridan Road. All league presidents whose teams play in Tri-T are required to be at this meeting. Tom O’Connor from PONY Baseball will be there to discuss rule changes for the 2015 season. Call Jim DeChellis at 330-755-6949 with any questions.

Ed Friesen to speak at Curbstone luncheon

Veteran high school varsity boys basketball official Ed Friesen will be the guest speaker Monday at the weekly luncheon of The Curbstone Coaches at Lucianno’s Banquet Center in the Wedgewood Plaza in Austintown. The event begins at noon and is open to the public.

Also, plans are underway for The Curbstone Coaches 48th annual Hall of Fame ceremony on May 3 at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman. Boxing Hall of Famer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini will be the featured speaker. Contact Mike Murray at 330-565-7820 to purchase tickets.

Staff/Wire report