March 8, 2008 | Box Score

Slow Day at Plate Results in 6-2 Loss at Alabama

    Tuscaloosa, Ala. -- Youngstown State allowed three runs in the bottom of the fifth and did not register a hit in the final four innings in dropping the series finale at Alabama 6-2 on Sunday afternoon.
    The Penguins made the score 3-2 in the top half of the fifth on David Leon's two-out double, but UA's pitching combination of Miers Quigley, Jimmy Nelson and Nathan Kilcrease allowed only two walks the rest of the way.
    Sean Lucas had two hits for YSU, which dropped to 0-6 after three-game sets against Georgia Tech and Alabama. Starter Aaron Swenson allowed all six runs, five of which were earned, on six hits in 4.1 innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter for the second straight outing.
    "We struggled at the plate today and just couldn't get anyone on base," head coach Rich Pasquale said. "Swenson was ahead on what seemed like every hitter. He just started to get a little tired there in the fifth."
    "We got to see some more pitchers and learn how they are going to be. It was important to get those guys in."
    "Coach (Jim) Wells, who has won more than 750 games in his career, told me after the game that we played hard, were aggressive and that we played the right way. That was encouraging."
    Alabama got two runs across in the first on two hits and two errors and upped its advantage to three on a squeeze in the second.
    YSU got on the board in the third when Lucas brought in Mike Turjanica on a two-out single. Leon then brought the Penguins within one in the fifth when he doubled in Dustin Wachter.
    Brandon May hit a two-run single and later scored on a wild pitch in the fifth for Alabama's final tally.
    Freshman Phil Klein threw a scoreless sixth, and freshman Matt Tucker retired all six hitters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings.
    The winter storm over the weekend will affect YSU's schedule this upcoming week's schedule. The Penguins will now play at Cincinnati on Tuesday at 4 p.m. instead of at Dayton. YSU is also scheduled to play a three-game series at Xavier starting Thursday. Updates will be announced on YSUsports.com.