April 29, 2009 | Game One | Game Two

Kinnick Pitches Penguins to Victory in Program's 2,000th Game

    Struthers, Ohio -- Freshman Jim Kinnick earned his first collegiate victory, and the Youngstown State baseball team celebrated the program's 2,000th game with a win against Marshall on Wednesday at Cene Park.
    Kinnick allowed two base runners in 3.1 innings, and the Penguins used a five-run second inning to beat Marshall 8-5 in game two of the doubleheader. YSU fell 8-6 in 10 innings in the opener. Both games were scheduled for seven innings.
    John Koehnlein drove in three runs, including two in the five-run second that put the Penguins up 5-0. Marshall climbed to within 6-5 with two outs in the fourth, but Kinnick came on and got the Penguins out of the inning on one pitch.
    The freshman went on to only allow a walk in the fifth and a hit batsman in the sixth. Marshall had a runner on third with one out in the fifth, but Kinnick got a strikeout and a fly out to left to escape with YSU up 7-5.
    Derek Carr tripled, scored twice and drove in two runs, and Eric Hymel reached in all three of his plate appearances. Marshall pitchers walked seven in game two and eight in game one.
    Brian Mooney suffered the loss for Marshall, allowing seven runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings.
    In game one, YSU stranded 14 runners and fell victim to some very solid defensive plays by Marshall. One of those came with the score tied in the seventh on a two-out shot up the middle with the bases loaded. Second baseman Adam Yeager dove behind second and flipped to shortstop Kenny Socorro to steal a game-winning hit from Joe Iacobucci.
    Marshall scored four runs with two outs in the ninth with four straight singles, but YSU countered with a four runs in the bottom half. Anthony Porter's two-run single tied the score, and the Penguins had the bases loaded with one out and a chance to win it. Tyler Gatrell got David Leon to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning, and Marshall scored twice in the 10th.
    Anthony Munoz was charged with the loss, and Gatrell earned the win. Trent Wood had the best outing of his YSU career, allowing two unearned runs in six innings. Marshall had six hits and walked once off the junior hurler.
    YSU will play three games at Valparaiso this weekend, starting with Friday's contest at 4 p.m.