Box Score Niles, Ohio -- The Youngstown State baseball
team had one bad inning on Saturday, and Wright State capitalized
in it to score five runs as the Penguins lost 6-3 on Saturday
afternoon at Eastwood Field.
YSU's Drew Dosch had given the Penguins a 3-1 lead in the
bottom of the fifth with a two-run double. YSU starter Blake
Aquadro retired eight straight batters leading into the top of the
sixth, but the Raiders scored three runs off of him and two
unearned runs off of reliever Kevin McCulloh to pull ahead for the
victory.
Dosch finished with two doubles, and Jason Shirley added two
hits for YSU. Zach Tanner and Tristan Moore had two hits apiece for
Wright State, who had nine fewer hits on Saturday than it did in
game one on Friday.
The Penguins and Raiders will play the series finale on Sunday
at 11 a.m., an hour earlier than previously scheduled due to an
increased chance of rain in the afternoon. Jeremy Banks and David
Leon will be honored prior to the contest as part of the
program's annual Senior Day festivities.
Tanner hit a one-out triple and scored on Moore's single
in the first inning as Wright State took a 1-0 lead. Aquadro
allowed just one more hit through the fifth to give the
Penguins' offense a chance to get going.
Banks led off the fourth with a double down the left-field line,
and he scored two batters later on shortstop Justin Kopale's
throwing error. The Penguins then took the lead in the fifth on
Dosch's two-run double. Jack Graham was hit by a pitch to
start the inning, and David Leon followed with a soft single to
center. Phil Lipari advanced the runners on a sacrifice bunt, and
Dosch came through with a go-ahead double to left center off
reliever Jordan Marker.
Moore, who took an RBI double away from Dosch in the third with
a diving grab, flew out to start the sixth. Aquadro, though, walked
cleanup batter Ryan Ashe after being ahead 1-2 in the count, and he
gave up a single to Garrett Gray to put runners on first and
second. Corey Davis then followed with a double down the
right-field line that brought in Ashe to make the score 3-2.
McCulloh came in and intentionally walked Michael Timm to load the
bases, and he got Sam Picchiotti to pop out to shortstop for the
second out. Kopale then hit a chopper between first and second that
Lipari ran down, but the second baseman's desperation throw
to McCulloh covering first went wide. Kopale was awarded an infield
single, and Davis and Gray came in to put Wright State up 4-3. Two
more runs came in one batter later when Banks couldn't come
up with a low throw at first on Jake Hibberd's grounder to
short.
Marker allowed just two more base-runners after Dosch's
fifth-inning double, and Wright State closer Michael Schum retired
the Penguins in order in the ninth.
Aquadro was charged with three earned runs on five hits in 5 1-3
innings in the loss. Marker earned his ninth win despite allowing
the go-ahead double. He allowed three hits and struck out four in
four innings of work. Wright State starter Andrew Elliott was
charged with three runs, two of which were earned, on four hits in
four innings.