May 17, 2008

Penguins Clinch Third Seed, Will Play Wednesday at 3 p.m.

    Youngstown -- Thanks to a strong final week of the regular season, Youngstown State has clinched the No. 3 seed in next week's U.S. Army Horizon League Baseball Championship at Eastwood Field.
    The Penguins will play at 3 p.m. on Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday's play-in game between No. 6 seed Valparaiso and seventh-seeded Butler.
    YSU guaranteed themselves at least the fifth seed by winning two out of three games against Milwaukee on Thursday and Friday. With UIC's series sweep of Valparaiso and Butler's doubleheader sweep of Cleveland State, the Penguins moved up to third.
    UIC scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to sweep Valpo and win its seventh straight regular-season title by one half game over Wright State. UIC enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed with a league record of 17-6 while Wright State is the second seed at 16-6.
    YSU finished 13-12 in league play, a big improvement from last year's 9-21 mark, to earn the No. 3 seed. Cleveland State enters as the fourth seed (10-13), Milwaukee is fifth (11-15), Valpo is sixth (8-13) and Butler is seeded seventh (7-17).
    The Bulldogs and Crusaders will have a one-game playoff on Tuesday at 3 p.m. The winner will move on to the double-elimination format on Wednesday against the Penguins.
    Cleveland State and Milwaukee will play Wednesday at 11 a.m. before YSU's opening contest.
    The two losers from Wednesday's games will play an elimination game Thursday at 11 a.m. At 3 p.m. Wright State will play the higher-seeded winner from Wednesday, and UIC will take on the lower-seeded victor.

Tournament Schedule

Tuesday - May 20
Game 1: No. 7 Butler vs. No. 6 Valparaiso - 3 p.m.

Wednesday - May 21
Game 2: No. 5 Milwaukee vs. No. 4 Cleveland State - 11 a.m.
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. No. 3 Youngstown State - 3 p.m.

Thursday - May 22
Game 4: Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser - 11 a.m.
Game 5: Higher seed of Game 2 and 3 winners vs. No. 2 Wright State - 3 p.m.
Game 6: Lower seed of Game 2 and 3 winners vs. No. 1 UIC - 7 p.m.

Friday - May 23
Game 7: Game 4 winner vs. Lower seed of Game 5 and 6 losers
Game 8: Game 7 winner vs. Higher seed of Game 5 and 6 losers
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Saturday - May 24
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 loser
Game 11: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner

Sunday - May 25 (if necessary)
Game 12: Game 11 winner vs. Game 11 loser