Youngstown State fifth-year senior pitcher Chad Coles provided 6.2 strong innings, but the Penguins couldn't provide him any run support in a 2-0 loss to Oakland late Thursday night and early Friday morning in the Horizon League Baseball Championship at Nischwitz Stadium.
In a contest that started at 9:16 p.m., more than six hours after its scheduled time, Coles blanked Oakland through the first six innings before the second-seeded Golden Grizzlies scored the game's only runs with one out in the seventh.
Youngstown State, the fifth seed in the tournament, will now play sixth-seeded Northern Kentucky in an elimination game that is scheduled for noon on Friday. First pitch is scheduled less than 12 hours after the conclusion of the Oakland contest, which ended at 12:16 a.m. on Friday. The Golden Grizzlies will advance to face the tournament's host, Wright State, in the top bracket for a spot in the championship game.
Coles struck out at least one batter in each of the first five innings, and he finished the night allowing two runs on two hits and four walks in 6.2 innings. He struck out eight batters, including five straight at one point, and threw 126 pitches.
The Penguins had a runner at third base with less than two outs in each of the final two innings but couldn't come up with a big hit. YSU stranded 12 runners in the game, including six over the final two innings.
Coles allowed a leadoff double to Brandon Nigh in the bottom of the second, but Oakland immediately went eight consecutive batters without putting the ball in play. Nigh advanced 90 feet on a deep flyout by Ian Cleary, and Cam Post was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners with one out. Nigh was then thrown out at the plate on a double-steal attempt as Braeden O'Shaughnessy stepped in front of the throw to second and promptly threw a dart to catcher Dylan Swarmer, who easily tagged the runner.
Coles then struck out Brandon Heidal, and the fifth-year senior proceeded to fan the next four Golden Grizzlies. He got Heidal swinging to end the second, froze Thomas Green to start the third, fanned Seth Tucker and Gabe Lux to complete the third, and got Jared Miller looking to start the fourth. Coles walked Brenton Phillips, the third batter in Oakland's lineup, to end the strikeout streak, and Nigh flew out to right for the first ball put in play since his double in the second.
Meanwhile, Oakland's Quinton Kujawa recorded 17 outs before allowing a base hit as he went toe-to-toe with Coles.
The Penguins loaded the bases against the Oakland starter without registering a hit in the third but couldn't get a run across. Dylan Swarmer reached on an error to start the inning, and he advanced to third on Trey Law's sacrifice bunt and Lucas Nasonti's ground out. Turner Grau and Braeden O'Shaughnessy then drew back-to-back walks to load the bases, but Kujawa escaped by getting Dominick Bucko to ground into a fielder's choice.
YSU got its first hit of the game when Bucko lined a single to left on a 1-1 pitch with two outs in the top of the sixth. Steven D'Eusanio followed with a hard single to left to put two runners on, but Kujawa struck out Andre Good on an offspeed pitch to end the scoring threat.
The Golden Grizzlies broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh with two runs off of Coles. The YSU right-hander walked Cleary on a full-count pitch, and Post took advantage of an open right side of the infield on a hit-and-run for a single to right. Cleary advanced to third, and Post was able to advance to second when Bucko's throw from right field hit a sliding Cleary at third base and rolled into foul territory.
With the infield in, Heidal hit a hard grounder at first baseman Padraig O'Shaughnessy on an 0-2 pitch, and the ball caromed off his glove and went into right field to allow both runners to score. O'Shaughnessy was charged with the error, and Coles walked Green as his final batter. Closer Nathan Ball came in to strike out Tucker to end the seventh, and he struck out two of the three batters he faced in the eighth.
The Penguins had a great opportunity to answer Oakland's runs by loading the bases in the top of the eighth, but they were turned away scoreless. Nasonti led off with a single as the final batter that Kujawa faced, and a fielder's choice and back-to-back walks by two different relievers allowed Youngstown State to load the bases with one out. Christian Stelling was brought in to face Bucko in a high-leverage lefty-versus-lefty situation and walked the cleanup batter on four pitches, but he responded by striking out D'Eusanio and Good on pitches at the bottom of the strike zone to get out of the inning.
Youngstown State loaded the bases again in the ninth, but Oakland's bullpen held. After an infield pop out to start the inning, Swarmer walked and Law doubled to put the tying run in scoring position with one out. Nasonti hit a come-backer to Stelling on the mound, who looked Swarmer back to third before throwing to first for the second out. Grau then walked to load the bases for the second straight inning, and right-hander Brandon Decker came on face Braeden O'Shaughnessy. O'Shaughnessy worked the count full before grounding out to the second baseman to the end the game.
Kujawa surrendered three hits and walked three while striking out six Penguins in his seven-plus innings of work. He improved his record to 4-1 on the season, and Decker recorded his third save by coming on for the final out in the ninth.
Youngstown State held a 4-3 edge in the hits column and no player in the game had multiple hits. Law had one of the two extra-base hits in the game, and Nasonti, Bucko and D'Eusanio each singled for the Penguins.
