YSU roundup

TENNIS

Penguins fall to USC in NCAA Regional

LOS ANGELES

The Youngstown State women’s tennis team lost 4-0 to No. 1 seed and top-ranked USC on Saturday at Marks Stadium in the opening round of the NCAA Regional.

The Penguins end the campaign with a 17-9 overall record and set a program record for most wins in a season and longest winning streak at 11. USC advances with its 12th straight win and improves to 22-2 on the year.

The Women of Troy took the doubles behind a pair of wins by nationally-ranked players.

USC won the first competed match 8-0 as 19th-ranked Giulianna Olmos and Zoe Scandalis beat the Penguins’ Julianna Heino and Nehel Sahni. At No. 1, Marta Burak and Dominika Lackova teamed up to face No. 24 Zoe Katz and Sabrina Santamaria. The Penguins played tough but lost an 8-2 decision. At No. 3, Sofia Macias Mendoza and Annina Brendel were trailing 6-2 when the point was clinched.

In singles, USC played six players all ranked in top 79 nationally. Winning for USC was No. 14 Olmos at No. 2 over Lackova (6-0, 6-0), No. 78 Gabby Smith over Heino at No. 5 (6-1, 6-0) and 79th-ranked Meredith Xepoleas beat Macias at No. 6 (6-2, 6-0).

The Penguins hung tough at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4. Having success early in their matches were Sahni and Brendel. Against No. 38 Scandalis, Brendel lost her opening set 6-3 and trailed 1-0 in the seocnd. Sahni, who played No. 57 Madison Westby at No. 4, jumped out to a quick lead only to lose the first set 6-4 and trailed 3-0 in the second.

Burak dropped her first set to No. 24 Santamaria 6-0, but in true fashion kept battling in the second set trailing 3-2 when the point was clinched.

GOLF

Dixon, Merling shoot 77s in South Bend Regional

SOUTH BEND, IND.

The YSU women’s golf team concluded play at the NCAA South Bend Regional on Saturday afternoon carding a final round 315. Leading the way on the final day were Emily Dixon and Aislynn Merling with a pair of 77’s at the stout Warren Golf Course.

Winning the regional was Duke with a three-round total of 873. Advancing to the NCAA Championships with the Blue Devils are Wake Forest, UC Davis, Arizona, Tulane and Purdue.

Playing their final rounds for YSU on Sunday were Merling and Allison Mitzel, both seniors. Mitzel carded a 79 in her final collegiate round. In the indivdual standings, Merling was YSU’s top finisher at 83rd (235) while Dixon was 86th (237), freshman Courtney Shutt was 92nd (241), Mitzel was 94th (242) and Emily Rohanna placed 96th (251).

For the tournament, YSU finished with a three-day total of 948. The Penguins had a strong first day with a 311 and had a nice bounce-back round of 315 today after firing a 322 yesterday in a round that took nearly nine hours to complete.

BASEBALL

King helps Penguins split twinbill at Valpo

VALPARAISO, IND.

Sophomore left-hander Joe King pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Penguins to a doubleheader split at Valparaiso on Saturday at Emory G. Bauer Field.

King’s effort helped the Penguins to a 5-2 victory in the opener, and the Crusaders rallied for a 4-3 win in game two for the split. The rubber match of the series will be at 1 p.m. today.

YSU built a 5-0 lead after seven innings to back King. Brent Gillespie singled and scored on a double play in the second, and the Penguins scored three runs in the fourth. Alex Larivee singled and scored from third on a double steal, and an error led to two more runs. Frank Califano’s RBI single brought in Kevin Hix in the seventh to put YSU up by five.

Gillespie had three hits in the opener, and Califano posted two. King had four strikeouts, one more than the number of hits he allowed, in throwing 109 pitches.

Josh North, YSU’s starter in game two, nearly matched King’s effort and held a 2-1 lead after five innings.

TRACK AND FIELD

Grambling, Neu and Morales win events

AKRON

Nina Grambling, Conner Neu and Arnaldo Morales all won events for YSU track and field teams as the Penguins competed at the Campbell Wright Invitational hosted by Akron at Lee Jackson Field on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, Neu won the discus with a season-long throw of 62.70 meters. He was coming off a season-best performance which came at last weekend’s Horizon League Championships. He won the event by 2.42 meters at the Campbell Wright Invitational.

Grambling clocked a time of 11.79 seconds in the 100m to win by 0.21 seconds.

Morales and teammate Jay Jakovina each cleared 2.09 meters in the high jump. Morales cleared the height on his first attempt while Jakovina eclipsed the bar at 2.09m on his second try.

Staff reports