Box Score Norfolk, Va. -- Norfolk State outscored the
Youngstown State baseball team 7-1 in the final six innings to
defeat the Penguins 10-4 on Tuesday at Marty L. Miller Field.
YSU led 3-1 after the top of the second despite having just two
hits, and the Penguins' bats managed six hits for the game.
The Penguins missed opportunities to take a sizable lead early.
They had runners on second and third with nobody out in the first
and managed just one run, and an inning-ending double play with the
bases loaded in the second limited them to two runs.
David Leon and Craig Goubeaux both had two hits for YSU, whose
top five batters in the line-up did not have a hit.
Jason Shirley and Drew Dosch walked to start the game and
advanced on a wild pitch. Jeremy Banks brought in Shirley on a
sacrifice fly, but two more flyouts kept YSU to just one run.
The Spartans also used two walks and a sacrifice fly to score in
the bottom of the first, and both teams scored twice in the second.
Singles from YSU's Kevin Hix and Goubeaux and a walk to Phil Lipari
loaded the bases with one out, and Norfolk State pitcher Horace
Smith walked Shirley and Dosch to force in two runs. He then got
Banks to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning, and YSU
got just one more run the rest of the contest.
Norfolk State's two runs in the second also came without a hit.
A sacrifice bunt followed two walks, and Justin Lee brought in a
run with a ground out. Another walk ended starter Joey Gajda's
afternoon, and the Spartans tied the score on a wild pitch from
reliever Josh North.
Neither team scored in the third, but the Spartans scored three
two-out runs in the fourth to take a lead they would not
relinquish. Shane Hoggard hit a leadoff single and went to third on
a wild pitch and sacrifice bunt. After North got a ground out to
keep Hoggard on third, James Taylor put the Spartans up with an RBI
single. Taylor then scored on a wild pitch, and Chris Warren scored
on Ryan Montgomery's RBI single that put Norfolk State ahead
6-3.
Goubeaux doubled in Leon with two outs in the sixth to cut YSU's
deficit to 6-4, but that was the Penguins' last hit until there
were two outs in the ninth.
North retired the first batter in the seventh, but a double and
single in consecutive at bats ended his day. Reliever Ryan Krokos
got the second out before allowing back-to-back RBI singles to
Hoggard and Tyon Ore that make the score 8-4. Hunter Kenney doubled
in two runs in the eighth for the final two runs of the game.
North was charged with the loss, allowing five runs on eight
hits in 4.2 innings of work. Although he did not allow a walk, the
Penguins issued seven bases on balls as a staff. Jeremy Sandifer
earned the win for Norfolk State, holding the Guins scoreless over
the third and fourth innings. The Spartans walked eight
hitters.
YSU will start a three-game series with Milwaukee on Friday at
Eastwood Field. Friday's game will be the Penguins' 2012 home and
Horizon League opener.