Saturday, April 16, 2016
Youngstown State pummels Wright State in series opener
By CHARLES GROVE
YOUNGSTOWN
Two high-powered offenses met at the Youngstown State Softball Complex on Friday, but only one came to life as Youngstown State University dominated Wright State in a 9-2 win.
The top of the YSU offense was nearly unstoppable. Sarah Dowd, Cali Mikovich, Miranda Castiglione and Stevie Taylor went a combined 11-for-15 and scored eight runs.
YSU (21-14, 8-3 Horizon League) has won 14 of its past 17 games and remains in striking distance for the number-one seed. Illinois-Chicago leads the league with a 10-2 conference record.
Wright State (24-17, 8-2) came into the game first in runs scored, batting average, runs batted in and hits for league play. And the Raiders were atop the standings.
Youngstown State freshman pitcher Paige Geanangel held the Raiders to just four hits, going the distance to pick up her 10th win.
“I was definitely kind of nervous,” Geanangel said. “I try not to pay attention to their stats but I was a little nervous coming in.”
Those nerves got ratcheted up a little bit more when WSU’s offense jumped on Geanangel quickly in the first with back-to-back extra base hits. Two batters in, the Raiders were up 1-0.
Geanangel got out of the jam and proceeded to shut down the Raiders the rest of the day, only allowing one run on two hits.
Castiglione said the victory felt especially sweet since Wright State swept the Penguins in Dayton last year.
“We really wanted this one because the Wright State series was something we were really looking forward to this year,” Castiglione said. “It felt really good but we still have to roll it over tomorrow to win the series.”
It was YSU’s fourth game in three days and the offense has momentum. After 15-12 and 4-2 wins Wednesday at Cleveland State, the Penguins fell 7-1 to the Vikings the next day. But despite the loss, YSU still racked up 10 hits.
Second baseman Brittney Moffatt says the team is playing with a ton of offensive confidence at the moment.
“We had a real hit parade against Cleveland State so that really helped us carry that over especially since we’ve played three days in a row,” Moffatt said. “We know we’re one of the top hitting teams [in the Horizon League].”
That offense should not be hurt by the fact YSU batters saw all three of Wright State’s pitchers.
WSU ace Ashley Sharp had a 12-5 record and a 1.98 ERA before the game, but had to leave in the bottom of the second after taking a line drive in her pitching elbow that came off Castiglione’s bat. Sharp threw some warm-up tosses but shook her head when asked if she could continue.
YSU got good looks against relievers Montana Wear and Ally Russell.
“It definitely helps us a lot,” Moffatt said. “We’ve got two games [today] and we’ve pretty much seen their entire pitching staff so it’s a boost for us going in.”
Against Wear, the Penguins produced seven hits and five runs in two and two-thirds innings. They picked up pretty quickly that Wear was favoring the outside corner of the plate.
YSU was more than happy to slap the ball the opposite way for five doubles, a triple and back-to-back home runs by Mikovich and Castiglione in the sixth inning.