Youngstown State notebook: Late rally leads baseball team to doubleheader split against Baylor
The Youngstown State baseball team rallied late in game two to earn a doubleheader split against Baylor on Saturday at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas.
The Bears scored the final seven runs of game one to pick up a 12-5 victory before the Penguins rallied from a 5-4 ninth-inning deficit to win 7-5 in 10 innings in game two.
The Penguins and Bears are both 3-8 overall on the season following Saturday’s results. YSU took a 2-1 lead in the weekend series after winning the series opener 7-5 on Friday night.
Bowling team sets two school records
Youngstown State bowler Madyson Marx posted the highest individual tournament average in school history, and the Penguins set a team record for best match total on Saturday at the Big Red Invitational. The tournament is being held at Hollywood Bowl in Lincoln, Neb.
The lineup of Lyndsay Ennis, Megan Grams, Jade Cote, Kirsten Moore and Marx combined to shoot 1,190 in the Penguin’s third match of the day to beat No. 3 Nebraska. That was the highest single-match score regardless of format in program history, topping the previous traditional match record by 20 pins. YSU’s record in Baker format is 1,189.
Marx shot a 258 in the record-setting win over the Huskers, and she posted a 1,137 set over five games to break Cote’s record of 1,128 that was set at the same tournament in 2022. Marx averaged 227.4, which also broke Cote’s record of 225.6. Moore finished three pins behind Marx and now occupies the second spot in program history on both lists.
“The ladies did an excellent job today across the board,” said YSU head coach Doug Kuberski. “Our shotmaking was solid, and our spareshooting may have been the best that it’s been all season.”
“We ran into some tricky transition the last two matches, and we haven’t seen conditions quite like that before. It’s incumbent upon me to better prepare us with different options for such contingencies. But, overall, I love where we are as a group and am excited to take the lanes with the ladies tomorrow.”
The Penguins registered a 2-3 record for the day in their five matches, beating the Huskers and Upper Iowa. Youngstown State fell 1,155-1,040 to No. 4 Arkansas State and 1,122-1,049 to No. 17 Central Missouri prior to its 1,190-1,079 win over the No. 3 Nebraska. The Penguins dropped their fourth match 1,035-978 to No. 21 Central Missouri, and they finished the day with a 920-906 win over Upper Iowa.
Softball team drops doubleheader against Lipscomb
The Youngstown State softball team was on the short end of two walk-off games on Saturday with a pair of one-run losses at Lipscomb’s Purple & Gold Challenge.
The Penguins dropped their opening game to Saint Louis 2-1 in eight innings. YSU then took a 4-0 lead against Lipscomb before the Bisons scored the final five runs and won 5-4 with an infield single in the bottom of the seventh.
Conchetta Rinaldi had hits in both games, and she hit a two-run homer against Lipscomb.
Youngstown State will play two more games at Lipscomb’s Draper Diamond on Sunday at the Purple & Gold Challenge. The Penguins will take on Providence at 11 a.m. Eastern, and they’ll finish up their time in Nashville with another contest against Saint Louis at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
Golf team to open season Monday
The Youngstown State men’s golf team will start the spring portion of its 2022-23 season on Monday when it begins play in the Daytona Beach Spring Invitational hosted by Eastern Kentucky at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The spring season opener will begin a slate of six events for the Penguins from early March to late April. The spring season will culminate with the 2023 Horizon League Golf Championships on April 23-25 at Mission Inn Resort in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla.
The tournament field for the Daytona Beach Spring Invitational will feature 17 other schools including Bellarmine, Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Embry-Riddle, Florida A&M, Long Island, Longwood, Loyola Chicago, Morehead State, Niagara, North Dakota State, Northern Kentucky, Purdue Fort Wayne, Robert Morris, Stetson and Xavier.
The teams will play 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday in the two-day, 54-hole event. Monday’s first round will begin with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. while tee times for Tuesday’s final session will start at 7:30 a.m. off No. 1 and No. 10. The tournament will take place on LPGA International’s Hills Course. The course will play approximately 6,984 yards and par is 72. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.
Head Coach Tony has announced that YSU’s lineup will include Bryan Kordupel, Cade Kreps, Cole Christman, Ryan Sam and Dean Austalosh. In addition, Conner Stevens, Jacob Sylak and Brian Terlesky will be competing as individuals.