Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Milwaukee, Wis. -- Eric Marzec's RBI single in the 13th
lifted Youngstown State to a doubleheader sweep of Milwaukee, 8-6
and 5-4, at Miller Park on Thursday.
With the sweep the Penguins can finish no worse than fifth in
the final Horizon League standings. They can finish third and earn
the No. 3 seed in next week's Horizon League Baseball Championship
with a win tomorrow or a loss by both Cleveland State and
Valparaiso. The two wins also give YSU 999 total victories as a
program.
Erich Diedrich tied YSU's career home runs record in game one,
and Sean Lucas homered in game two. Junior John Koehnlein had his
best day of the season at the plate, going a combined 6-for-9 with
three RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base.
The Penguins will play their final game of the regular season
Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern against the Panthers.
In game one, YSU led 4-0 and used a three-run eighth to break a
5-5 tie.
Diedrich singled home Page in the first and hit a two-run blast
in the third to put YSU up by three. Joe Iacobucci then followed
with a double in the third, and Marzec hit a sacrifice fly two
batters later.
Milwaukee left fielder Nick Wichser threw out David Leon at the
plate to end the top of the fourth, and the Panthers carried the
momentum into the bottom half by scoring four times to tie the
score.
Both teams scored once in the seventh, and YSU outscored UWM 3-1
in the eighth for the final tally. Anthony Porter led off the
eighth with a single, and Marzec walked to set up Leon's sacrifice
bunt. C.J. Morris walked to load the bases, and Koehnlein moved
everyone up a base with an RBI single up the middle. Page then
walked to force in a run, and Lucas brought home pinch-runner Jason
Reitenbach on a sacrifice fly.
Reliever Craig Gillet earned his first win, allowing one run
over the final 2 1/3 innings. Starter Aaron Swenson allowed five
runs, three of which were earned, on eight hits in 6 2/3
innings.
Matt Holzheuter was tagged with the loss, allowing three runs on
two hits and three walks in 1/3 of an inning.
In game two, the Penguins scored twice in the eighth and once in
the ninth to overcome a 3-1 deficit. Wichser's two-out RBI single
in the bottom of the ninth extended the game to extra frames where
Marzec had his heroics.
The Panthers loaded the bases in the third on three infield
singles, and Jesse Hart hit a two-run single to put UWM up 2-0.
Another infield single loaded the bases again, but Iacobucci ended
the inning by catching Shawn Wozniak's fly ball to left and gunning
Andy Gerhartz at the plate.
Koehnlein drove in Leon on a two-out single in the fifth to cut
the lead in half, but Milwaukee scored again in the sixth to go
back up by two.
Koehnlein led off the eighth with a double to right center, and
Lucas hit his second homer of the season two batters later to tie
the score.
The Penguins then executed well with two outs in the top of the
ninth to pull ahead 4-3. Reliever Adam Ferrell came on to retire
the first two batters before Reitenbach hit a pinch-hit single to
center. The redshirt freshman stole second, and Koehnlein brought
him home with a single between short and third.
John Sarcia led off the bottom half with a single, and he
advanced on Gerhartz's sacrifice. YSU starter Chuck Schiffhauer
retired Jesse Hart on a come-backer for the second out, but Wichser
tied the game with a two-strike single up the middle.
The Panthers had runners in scoring position in the 10th, 11th
and 12th innings, but they left the bases loaded in the 10th,
stranded two in the 11th and left one on in the 12th.
Ferrell did not allow more than one runner to reach in any of
the first three extra frames, but a leadoff walk to Diedrich in the
13th ended up resulting in the loss. Ferrell retired Cory Hornayk,
hit Porter and threw a wild pitch to allow Diedrich to go to third.
With the infield in, Marzec singled between short and third with
the eventual game-winner.
Ryan Sellman, who retired the final batter in the 12th, allowed
just a two-out single in the bottom of the 13th to earn his first
win.
Schiffhauer allowed four runs on 12 hits in nine innings, and
Joe Antinone, Ryan Wackerman and Sellman did not allow a run out of
the bullpen.