May 6, 2009 | Notes

    The Youngstown State softball team (8-40) earned the No 8 seed for the upcoming Horizon League Softball Championship and will face No. 5 Butler, Thursday, May 7, at 11 a.m. at Legends Field in Pendleton, Ind.
    The Penguins, who won the tournament in 2006, have lost four straight tournament games over the last two seasons.
Earlier this season, the Penguins won one of three games against Butler. The Penguins defeated the Bulldogs, 6-5 (Apr. 26), and dropped a 1-0 and 3-1 decision (4/25).
    The Penguins are coming off three losses to Horizon League member Green Bay last weekend.
 

With a Win
With a win over Butler on Thursday morning, the eighth-seeded Penguins will take on second-seeded Cleveland State at 6 p.m. on Thursday evening.

With a Loss
If the Penguins lose to Butler on Thursday morning, they will face the loser between No. 6 Valparaiso and No. 7 Green Bay on Friday morning at 9 a.m.

Against Butler
Earlier this season, Butler won the season series winning two-out-of-three games against the Penguins on April 25-26. The Penguins lost 1-0 and 3-1 and defeated the Bulldogs, 6-5, in the series finale. Sophomore Kim Klonowski batted .500 (6-for-12) in the three games against the Bulldogs. Junior pitcher Cheryl Cale went 1-2 in the circle but was the hard-luck loser twice, picking up the loss in the 1-0 and 3-1 defeats.

Guins Post 500th Win
With its 6-5 win over Butler last Sunday (April 26), the Youngstown State softball team recorded the 500th win in the program’s history. Sophomore Kristina Rendle’s seventh-inning two-out single broke a 5-5 tie and lifted the Guins to the victory.

Ingalls Improving at the Plate
Over the last 11 games, freshman Jordan Ingalls has been a tough out. She is batting .438 (14-for-32) over that span, including a 5-for-6 performance against Saint Francis (Pa.) on April 23, and improved her batting average 30 points from .294 to .324. Over the last six game, Ingalls has recorded at least one hit and owns a .412 batting average.

Last Time Out
The Penguins almost erased a six-run deficit against Green Bay, scoring four runs in the last two innings. Haley Thomas and Kim Klonowski each tallied two hits for the Penguins.

Klonowski in the Clutch
Sophomore Kim Klonowski seems to be at her best when runners are on base. The Canton, Mich., native is batting .383 with runners on base and .396 with runners in scoring position. When a runner is on third and less than two outs, Klonowski is hitting a blistering .667. She is also hitting .352 with two outs and has 13 tw-out RBIs.

Grove Ties Two Marks
Junior Autumn Grove tied two YSU single-game records against Akron on April 21. Grove tied the single-game record for most home runs in a game with two and most runs batted in with six. The last time a YSU player recorded six RBIs in a game was Assistant Coach Tiffany Patteson against Army in 2004.

Cale Nabs Seventh Win
Junior Cheryl Cale picked up her seventh win of the season with a 6-5 win over Butler on April 26. In her wins, Cale owns a 1.49 earned-run average with two shutouts and 17 strikeouts. She has also limited her opponents to a .238 batting average in those games.

Klonowski Notches Team-High BA in League
Sophomore Kim Klonowski led the Penguins with a team-best .351 batting average against Horizon League foes. Klonowski belted six home runs and three doubles for a .623 slugging percentage and drove in 15 runs in league play.

Cale Climbs IP Charts
With 185.1 innings pitched this season, junior Cheryl Cale moved into third place on the YSU single-season innings pitched chart. Cale needs .2 more innings to move into second place on the list. She also ranks second with 30 starts. The record is 33 held by Kelly Murphy in 2003.

Thomas Ties Runs Record
By scoring four times in YSU’s 11-2 win over Toledo on April 8, freshman Haley Thomas became just the second player in school history to accomplish that feat. The last time a YSU player scored four times in a game was Debbie Garvin against Ohio State on May 1, 1981.

Rendle Rakin’ Against the League
Sophomore Kristina Rendle has been giving Horizon League pitchers difficulty at the plate. The left-handed batting second baseman owns a .303 batting average against Horizon League foes.