Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Youngstown State softball team received a pair of solid pitching performances and timely hitting in a doubleheader split against Horizon League preseason favorite UIC on Friday afternoon at the YSU Softball Field. The Penguins extended their win streak to seven with a 5-2 victory, but dropped game two, 4-0.
Senior Maddi Lusk fired a complete-game with seven strikeouts and allowed just three hits to collect her third victory of the season.
Alex DeLeon went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Hailey Niederkohr had two hits and an RBI while Nikki Saibene and Conchetta Rinaldi each drove in two runs.
Rinaldi belted her first career home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to turn a one-run lead into a 5-2 advantage. Niederkohr led off the inning with a single to left but was forced out at second on Grace Cea's fielder's choice. On the next pitch, Rinaldi drilled a two-run homer to left-center field for the three-run cushion.
The Penguins struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Saibene ripped a two-out, two-run single run single to center field that scored DeLeon, who singled, and Jillian Jakse, who doubled down the left-field line.
Niederkohr gave the Penguins a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third with an hard-hit infield single that plated DeLeon.
In the top of the fifth, UIC's Kayla Wedl delivered a two-out, two-run single to left field.
In the nightcap, Elle Buffenbarger tied a career high with 13 strikeouts and scattered six hits but suffered a hard-luck loss.
Buffenbarger retired the first five batters she faced and the first six outs of the game were by strikeout.
The Flames tallied just one hit through the first 4.1 innings before a pair of walks and an infield hit loaded the bases. Wedl hit a grand slam, her fourth home run of the year, over the left field fence to give the Flames a 4-0 lead.
Rinaldi went 2-for-3 to lead the Penguins offensively.
The Penguins and Flames close out the four-game series with a doubleheader, Saturday, March 13. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
