Softball to Honor Seniors in Regular-Season Finale This Weekend
5/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The Youngstown State softball program will celebrate Senior Day as the Penguins host Green Bay in the 2011 regular-season series finale, May 7-8, at McCune Park in Canfield, Ohio. The seniors will be honor prior to the 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, May 7.
The Guins and Phoenix will play a doubleheader, Saturday, starting at 1 p.m. and a single game, Sunday, May 8, beginning at Noon.
Senior Salute
The Guins will honor seniors Erin Gilmour, Kim Klonowski and Kristina Rendle prior to Saturday's first game. Gilmour joined the program in 2010 and has served as one of the Guins' top pinch-runners. Klonowski is a four-year letterwinner and ranks tied for third all-time with 18 career home runs. Rendle joined the Guins in 2009 and is batting a career-best .336 in 2011.
About Green Bay
The Phoenix enter the series with an overall record of 20-21 and a league mark of 7-13. Alli Rivera leads the Phoenix with a .325 batting average with five doubles, five home runs and 26 runs batted in. Katie Cooney leads the pitching staff with a 9-10 record and a 3.47 earned-run average. Cooney has struck out 91 and walked just 22 in 121 innings pitched.
The Green Bay Series
The Penguins and Phoenix have met 29 times previously and Green Bay owns a 19-10 advantage in the all-time series, including winning the last five contests and seven of the last eight games. The last time YSU defeated Green Bay was an 8-3 win in 2008.
Klonowski Finishing Strong
Senior Kim Klonowski is certainly finishing her career on a strong note. Over the last 16 games played, Klonowski is batting .476 (20-for-42) with three doubles, two home runs and eight runs batted in. Over that span, Klonlowski has raised her batting average 103 points from .215 to .318.
Thomas Climbining HR Chart
With a home run last weekend at Cleveland State, junior Haley Thomas ranks sixth on the YSU all-time home run chart. She needs just one more to move into a tie for fifth place with Amanda Berry (17, 2001-04).
Crozier Movin' Up Single-Season K List
Freshman pitcher Casey Crozier now ranks fifth on the YSU single-season strikeout list with 92. She is also just the fourth pitcher in school history to record at least 90 strikeouts in a season. The last pitcher to accomplish that feat was Karlie Burnell who struck out 110 in 2006. Her 92 strikeouts are second most by a freshman and the most by a freshman pitcher since Kelly Murphy set the school mark of 179 in 2003.
Guins Need One Win Secure .500 Mark
With one win this weekend, the Penguins will be guaranteed of have at least a .500 overall record. The last time the Guins owned a winning record was in 2004 when they went 29-22.
Jordan Ingalls Nearing RBI Mark
Junior Jordan Ingalls is close to eclipsing the single-season runs batted in record. Ingalls currently ranks third on the list with 38. The school record is 41 set by Amanda Berry in 2003.
