The Youngstown State baseball team will look to continue its
three-game winning streak when it takes on Pittsburgh on Wednesday
at 3 p.m. at Eastwood Field. Live video will be broadcast on the
Horizon League Network, and live stats will be available through
YSUsports.com.
YSU enters the game against Pitt riding a season-best three-game
winning streak. The Penguins earned their first-ever series sweep
of UIC over the weekend, beating the Flames 11-3, 9-7 and 9-0. YSU
scored 29 runs in the three-game series, which nearly equaled the
34 runs it scored in the first 13 games of April. Youngstown State
also got outstanding efforts from its starting rotation in the
three-game series as Russ Harless, Ryan Krokos and Blake Aquadro
combined to allow three earned runs in 19 1-3 innings.
Redshirt sophomore Alex Frey is slated to start Wednesday's
contest against the Panthers. It would be Frey's first career start
and his first appearances in 23 months. The left-hander pitched in
23 games as a true freshman in 2010 before missing all of 2011 and
the first 41 games of this season with an elbow injury and eventual
Tommy John surgery. He had a 7.45 ERA in 19 1-3 innings as a
freshman in primarily lefty-versus-lefty situations. The goal is
for Frey to pitch at least two innings before handing the ball off
to the bullpen for midweek work.
Scouting Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh enters this week with a 21-21 overall record and a
6-12 mark in Big East play. The Panthers have won three of their
last five games, including two of three against Georgetown over the
weekend. Senior first baseman Rick Deveraux leads the Panthers in
batting average (.356), hits (63), home runs (7), RBI (47), total
bases (99), and slugging percentage (.559). Sophomore righty J.R.
Leonardi, who is 2-1 with a 4.62 ERA in 13 appearances, is
Wednesday's probable starter for Pitt. Pittsburgh plays at Ohio on
Tuesday evening.
Production Throughout the Line-Up
The Penguins had consistent production throughout the lineup
over the weekend in their sweep of UIC. They had hits in 20 of
their 24 innings at the plate, and the nine players who registered
at least five at bats all scored at least two runs. Six players
with more than 10 at bats hit at least .333, and Drew Dosch, Jeremy
Banks and Jason Shirley all had batting averages of at least
.500.
Ending April on a High Note
YSU struggled offensively in April leading up to last weekend,
but the Penguins now enter May with confidence as high as it's been
all season. YSU hit .346 and averaged 12.3 hits and 9.7 runs in the
three games against UIC last weekend. The Penguins were hitting
.247 and averaging 8.2 hits and 2.6 runs per game in their first 13
games of the month. The biggest difference over the past weekend
was hitting in the clutch. YSU was 14-for-38 (.368) with runners in
scoring position and had 17 two-out RBIs in the three-game series
against the Flames. The Penguins were hitting .183 and had 11
two-out RBIs in the first 13 games in April.
Banks, Aquadro Sweep Weekly Awards
Senior designated hitter Jeremy Banks and junior pitcher Blake
Aquadro are the reigning Horizon League Players of the Week for
their contributions in the Penguins' sweep of UIC. Banks batted
.636 with seven hits in 11 at bats in three games for YSU, reaching
base at least twice in each game. He had three RBIs in YSU's 11-3
win on Friday and added three more in YSU's 9-0 win in the series
finale. Banks was 4-for-4 in the finale and recorded his 200th
career hit with an eighth-inning single. Aquadro pitched the
Penguins' first nine-inning complete-game shutout since 2004
against UIC on Sunday. The junior southpaw scattered eight hits and
struck out three while throwing 144 pitches. Only one of the
Flames' hits went for extra bases.
Banks Collects 200th Hit
Senior Jeremy Banks became the 10th player in school history to
record 200 career hits on Sunday with an eighth-inning single to
left field. Banks has 200 hits exactly - 42 this season, 64 in
2011, 56 in 2010 and 38 as a freshman in 2009. Kendall Schlabach is
the school record holder with 265 hits from 2001-04, and third on
the all-time list in Justin Banks, Jeremy's older brother. Justin
Banks had 249 hits in 778 at bats for a .320 batting average in his
career from 2003-06. Jeremy Banks is 200-for-623 for a .321 batting
average. The list of YSU players with 200 career hits is below.
- Kendall Schlabach - 265 (2001-04)
- Erich Diedrich - 252 (2005-08)
- Justin Banks - 249 (2003-06)
- Brandon Caipen - 247 (2003-06)
- John Koehnlein - 245 (2006-09)
- Joe Iacobucci - 245 (2008-11)
- Josh Page - 233 (2005-08)
- Charles Schultz - 219 (2003-06)
- Todd Santore - 202 (1998-2001)
- Jeremy Banks - 200 (2009-present)
Up Next
Youngstown State will travel to Indianapolis for a three-game
series at Butler. Game one of the series will be Friday at 3
p.m.
