Youngstown, Ohio – Senior Conchetta Rinaldi's walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning led the Penguins to a 4-3 comeback victory over Purdue Fort Wayne in the Youngstown State softball team's home and Horizon League opener at the Covelli Sports Complex on Tuesday. The Penguins won game two, 7-2.
The Penguins improve to 9-13 overall and 2-0 in the Horizon League while the Mastodons fall to 5-18 overall and 0-2 in league play.
In the bottom of the seventh in game one, Megan Turner led off the frame with a walk and pinch-runner Ellie Hardman advanced second on Bree Kohler's sacrifice bunt. Kohler reached on a throwing error to put runners on first and second, and Sara Fessler loaded the bases with a bunt single.
After a strikeout, Rinaldi blooped a 3-2 pitch into shallow center field to plate Hardman with the game-winning run.
Youngstown State fell behind 3-0 through four and a half innings before Turner unloaded a two-run home run to left field to cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Hailey Roach knotted the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Sara Fessler and Rinaldi each had two hits for the Penguins while Kohler picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief.
In the nightcap, Fessler went 3-for-4 while Jillian Jakse, Roach and Turner each had two hits to lead the Penguins 12-hit barrage.
After giving up two runs in the top of the first, the Penguins answered with one in the first, two in the second and two more in the third en route to the 7-2 victory.
Sophie Howell earned her fourth win of the season with four strikeouts in a four-hit complete game.
Jakse plated Hailey Niederkohr with a single up the middle in the bottom of the first to cut the lead in half, 2-1.
Niederkohr drove in two on a bases-loaded ground-rule double in the bottom of the second to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead, and Fessler scored on a Rinaldi ground out to put the Penguins up two.
Avrey Schumacher led off the bottom of the third with a double left-center and scored on Roach's two-run blast to left field.
Elyssa Imler followed with an infield single and scored from first on Turner's double to left-center field to end the scoring.
Youngstown State hosts Morehead State in a doubleheader, Wednesday, at 3 p.m. at the YSU Softball Field in the Covelli Sports Complex.
