Youngstown, Ohio — Senior catcher Kennedy Dean broke the Youngstown State softball program's single-season RBI record, and the Penguins swept Mercyhurst in a Tuesday night doubleheader at the YSU Softball Complex.
The doubleheader started three hours later than originally scheduled due to rain in the Youngstown area, but the Penguins' offense wasn't deterred by the delay. YSU won the opener 11-1 in five innings, and game two was a 9-1 victory in five innings.
Dean came into the night needing two RBIs to tie the single-season RBIs record of 49 shared by Miranda Castiglione (2016) and Nikki Saibene (2021). Dean, a native of Winfield, W. Va., hit an RBI single in the opener, and she moved into sole possession of first place on a towering grand slam in the first inning of game two. She now has 52 RBIs this season.
With the doubleheader sweep of Mercyhurst, the Penguins improved to 24-14 overall with another two games scheduled against the Lakers on Wednesday in Erie, Pa.
The Penguins had high-scoring first innings in both contests, and they did not trail while picking up two wins in three hours and four minutes of game action.
In game one, Tai Turner singled in Bella Meyer to get the scoring started in the first, and Dean followed with an RBI single that plated Turner. Ayla Ray's single put two runners on, and Selah Moyer hit a three-run homer to right to put the Penguins ahead 5-0.
That's what the score remained until Moyer's two-run double with one out in the third gave YSU a 7-0 lead, and the margin reached 8-0 after Moyer stole third and scored on Naomi Bottomlee's ground out.
Mercyhurst scored on a one-out RBI double by Gabriella DeLuca in the fourth, but the Penguins answered with three two-out runs in the bottom of the inning to surge ahead 11-1. Turner singled to left to bring in Meyer, and Grace Pilaczynski's pinch-hit home run to center field upped the margin to 10 runs. It was Pilaczynski's first career homer.
Kennedy Kimball pitched the first four innings, allowing one run on two hits and a walk while striking out four Lakers batters. Paiton Murphy came on in the fifth and faced the minimum.
Offensively, Turner, Ray and Moyer had two hits apiece, and Moyer finished with five RBIs.
In game two, Dean's grand slam on a 1-0 pitch in the first inning plated Lydia Wilkerson, Emma Gilkerson and Turner. That lead held until Jazlynn Sanders' RBI single for Mercyhurst made the score 4-1 in the fourth inning.
Turner hit a two-run single with one out in the bottom of the fourth to push YSU's margin to 6-1, and Gabbie Evans' pinch-hit, two-run single later in the inning put the Penguins ahead 8-1. Turner's third RBI of the nightcap gave YSU a walk-off victory as her two-out single in the fifth plated Tatum Werley and extended the margin to the necessary eight runs for the mercy rule to take effect.
Turner accounted for two of YSU's six hits in game two, and Gilkerson drew four walks. In the circle, Isabella O'Brien did not allow an earned run and surrendered two walks and two hits while striking out five in five innings.
Wednesday's doubleheader at the Mercyhurst Softball Field is slated to begin at 3 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on NEC Front Row.
