Championship Recap

Game Recaps

May 30 | Game 12 - No. 7 Youngstown State 10, No. 3 Cleveland State 1

Penguins Claim Horizon League Tournament Crown, 10-1

    Youngstown State jumped out a 9-0 lead and starter Kevin Libeg threw 7.1 strong innings to lift the Penguins to a 10-1 victory over the Cleveland State Vikings in the Horizon League Championship.
    The Penguins won their first ever league tournament championship and will be making their first trip to the Division I NCAA Tournament in the program's 50-year history.
    Sophomore second baseman Justin Banks was 3-for-5 with four RBIs and was named the tournament's most valuable player. Recap | Box Score

May 29 | Game 11 - No. 3 Cleveland State 12, No. 1 UIC 8

Seven-Run Fifth Sends Vikings To Win Over UIC

    A seven-run fifth inning led the Vikings to a 12-8 win over UIC in the consolation bracket of the Horizon League Championship on Saturday evening, lifting Cleveland State into Sunday's championship game against Youngstown State. The Vikings and Penguins will open the championship game at 12:30 p.m. at Eastwood Field in Niles, Ohio. Recap | Box Score

May 29 | Game 10 - No. 7 Youngstown State 5, No. 1 UIC 4

Cox's Sacrifice Fly Sends YSU to Championship Game

    Youngstown State senior Adam Cox hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth to bring in the eventual winning run as the Penguins defeated the top-seeded Illinois-Chicago Flames 5-4 in the winner's bracket final of the Horizon League Championship Saturday afternoon at Eastwood Field.
    With the win, the Penguins advance to the title game Sunday at 12:30 p.m. against the Cleveland State Vikings, who eliminated the Flames with a 12-8 victory later Saturday.  Recap | Box Score

May 28 | Game 9 - No. 3 Cleveland State 2, No. 2 Butler 1

Cleveland State Advances Past Butler, 2-1

    Cleveland State's Steve Chinn hit an RBI double with two out in the top of the ninth to send second-seeded Butler to a 2-1 loss in an elimination game at the Horizon League Championship on Friday night at Eastwood Field.
    The Vikings remain alive to face Saturday's loser between UIC and Youngstown State while the Bulldogs finish the season at 29-30. Recap | Box Score

May 28 | Game 8 - No. 2 Butler 4, No. 6 Detroit 3

Martino's Walk-Off Homer Vaults Butler Past Detroit, 4-3

    Butler's Matt Martino hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run down the right field line in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Bulldogs to a 4-3 victory over Detroit in an elimination game at the Horizon League Championship.
    Butler improves to 29-29 and moves on to face Cleveland State in another elimination game tonight at 6:30 p.m. while Detroit finishes the season at 19-38. Recap | Box Score

May 28 | Game 7 - No. 7 Youngstown State 7, No. 3 Cleveland State 2

Shaffer, Big Inning Push Penguins Past Vikings, 7-2

    Sophomore Eric Shaffer pitched eight strong innings and the Youngstown State offense scored six runs in the top of the second inning as the Penguins earned a 7-2 victory over Cleveland State on Friday in action at the Horizon League Championships at Eastwood Field.
    YSU (20-30) now advances to play top-seed UIC on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in a winners-bracket game. The winner of that contest moves on to the title game on Sunday and must lose twice to be eliminated from the tournament. Recap | Box Score

May 27 | Game 6 - No. 2 Butler 15, No. 5 UW-Milwaukee 12

Butler Moves On In 15-12 Slugfest

    UW-Milwaukee scored 12 runs and notched 15 hits but it wasn't enough as Butler posted a come-from-behind 15-12 victory in the 2004 Horizon League Baseball Tournament Thursday night at Eastwood Field.
    Milwaukee ends its season with a 23-30 record while Butler improves to 28-29 and will play Detroit in an elimination game Friday at 2:30 p.m. Recap | Box Score

May 27 | Game 5 - No. 6 Detroit 7, No. 4 Wright State 3

Detroit Eliminates Wright State With 7-3 Victory

    Detroit's Tim Poley had two hits, scored a run and drove in another while also pitching his way to his second win as the Titans topped Wright State 7-3 in an elimination game of the Horizon League Championship on Thursday afternoon at Eastwood Field.
    The Titans (19-37) advance to play the winner of the Butler and UW-Milwaukee game Friday at 2:30 p.m.  The Raiders finish the season 22-34 and bid farewell to head coach Ron Nischwitz, who coached the final game of his 30-year career. Recap | Box Score

May 27 | Game 4 - No. 1 UIC 9, No. 5 UW-Milwaukee 6

Illinois-Chicago Outlasts UW-Milwaukee, 9-6

    Niles, Ohio -- The Illinois-Chicago Flames scored five runs in the first and turned three inning-ending double plays en route to a 9-6 victory over UW-Milwaukee in the second round of the Horizon League Tournament Thursday morning at Eastwood Field.
    The Panthers came back to tie the score at five in the fifth, but UIC scored the final four runs of the contest to advance to play the winner of the Youngstown State and Cleveland State game Saturday at 12:30 p.m. UW-Milwaukee will play Wednesday night at 6:30 in an elimination game against Butler. Recap | Box Score

May 26 | Game 3 - No. 7 Youngstown State 4, No. 2 Butler 3

Penguins Rally in Ninth to Defeat Butler, 4-3

    Brandon Caipen hit a clutch two-run single and Kendall Schlabach scored on an error to cap a four-run ninth inning that lifted Youngstown State to a 4-3 victory over Butler in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament at Eastwood Field Wednesday night.
    Sophomore lefty Justin Thomas threw eight strong innings for the Penguins to pick up his seventh win, scattering three runs on six hits and striking out four.  Andy Svitak got into a jam in the bottom ninth as the Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out, but the freshman righthander retired the final two hitters for his fourth save of the season. Recap | Box Score

May 26 | Game 2 - No. 3 Cleveland State 11, No. 6 Detroit 6

Sixteen-Hit Barrage Leads Cleveland State Past Detroit, 11-6

    The Cleveland State baseball team pounded out 16 hits and scored in every inning but the first to advance to the second round of the 2004 Horizon League Championship with an 11-6 decision over Detroit on Wednesday afternoon at Eastwood Field.
    Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Vikings plated four runs on five hits to claim a 7-4 advantage. With one out, Cory Rojeck, who went 3-for-4, Doug Bosozzi and Dominic Erney laced consecutive singles to knot the contest at 4-4. After Bosozzi advanced to third on a fly out, the Vikings took the lead for good on Gary Ball's single to right field that plated Bosozzi and gave the Vikings 5-4 advantage. Ben Smith drove in Erney and Ball with a double to extend the CSU lead to 7-4. Recap | Box Score

May 26 | Game 1 - No. 5 Milwaukee 11, No. 4 Wright State 3

UW-Milwaukee Topples Wright State, 11-3

    UW-Milwaukee junior and 2004 Horizon League Pitcher and Player of the Year Ben Stanczyk struck out nine and allowed just three hits in seven innings while going 2-for-5 at the plate with a two-run home run to lead the No. 3 Panthers (22-28) to an 11-3 victory over No. 4 Wright State (22-32) in game one of the 2004 Horizon League Championship.
    The Panthers pounded out 18 hits led by Joe Nowicki, Ross McCoy, who drilled two doubles and a triple, and Sam Jansen, who each collected three hits. Brooks Graff drove in three runs and went 2-for-5 for the Panthers. Recap | Box Score