Box Score Pittsburgh, Pa. -- Duquesne scored seven runs in the seventh
inning to overcome 14 hits by the Youngstown State baseball team as
the Dukes won their home opener 14-8 on Tuesday at Duquesne
Field.
Duquesne led just 7-6 before scoring seven runs on eight hits
and two walks in the seventh. The Dukes also had a five-run fourth
to overcome YSU's early 2-1 lead.
Joe Iacobucci went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, Jeremy Banks hit a
three-run home run and Tom Clayton had three hits to lead YSU
offensively.
Anthony DeFabio went 4-for-4, and Andrew Heck homered and drove
in four runs for Duquesne.
Iacobucci gave the Penguins their only lead of the game in the
third when his two-run single brought in Derek Carr and Neil Schroth. Duquesne cut the margin in half in the bottom of the
inning with an unearned run, and the Dukes went ahead 6-2 with a
five-run fourth. YSU starter Bill Turosky allowed the tying run to
score and left the game when two walks put runners on first and
second with one out. Anthony Munoz allowed a single to load the
bases, and Matt Carson cleared them with a double. Carson put the
Dukes up by four when he stole third and scored on a throwing
error.
The Penguins battled back to tie the score in the fifth with
four runs on four hits, the biggest of which was a three-run home
run by Jeremy Banks. Jacke Healey was hit by a pitch to start the
inning, and Carr singled to put runners at the corners. Iacobucci
drove in Healey with an infield single, and Banks homered two
batters later off Grant Gillespie.
The Dukes reclaimed the lead in the bottom half when Joe
Lombardo drew a bases loaded walk off Jim Kinnick, and they still
had the bases loaded when Alex Frey forced them into a 5-2-3
inning-ending double play.
Frey got through the sixth without giving up a run and kept the
deficit at 7-6, but the Dukes got to him in the seventh. DeFabio
homered to lead off the inning, and Heck hit a three-run blast
later in the inning to make the score 11-6. Frey walked the next
batter, and the Dukes scored twice off his replacement, Kevin McCulloh, before the inning was over.
The Penguins added two runs in the eighth for the final
tally.
Kinnick was charged with the loss, allowing one run in a third
of an inning in the fifth. Gillespie earned the win, improving to
1-2 on the season. Alex Oles did not allow a hit in 1.2 innings of
relief for YSU in the seventh and eighth.
The Penguins will play their home opener on Wednesday at Cene
Park against Canisius. First pitch from starter Cody Dearth is set
for 3 p.m.