Phil Klein On A Roll, Leads YSU To Win

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Youngstown State senior pitcher Phil Klein won his third straight start and got plenty of offensive help to lead the Penguins to a doubleheader split at Le Moyne on Saturday.

Klein, who has allowed five earned runs in the last 27 innings, allowed one run on five hits in posting the seven-inning complete game. The Penguins won Klein’s start 5-1 in game two but fell 8-4 in game one.

“Phil was dominant today,” YSU head coach Rich Pasquale said. “He worked ahead and stayed ahead of hitters all day. We played well defensively behind him, and we had a much better approach at the plate in game two than we did in game one.”

Klein did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the third, and three of Le Moyne’s five hits came consecutively in the seventh inning.

The Penguins gave Klein all the help he would need in the top of the third when they scored three runs on five hits and an error to go up 3-0. YSU had five straight hits in the inning, and all three of its runs scored after there were two outs. After Armani Johnson was thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning, Joe Iacobucci singled in Padraic Williams for the game’s first run. Greg Dissinger then singled in Iascobucci, and Dan Hurlimann drove in Jeremy Banks.

Dissinger singled in Iacobucci, and Banks scored on a passed ball in the fifth to give Klein a 5-0 cushion.

The Dolphins’ lone run came with two outs in the seventh when Ryan Mahoney singled, stole second and scored on Kody O’Connor’s single.

Iacobucci was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Dissinger was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

In the early game, Le Moyne built a 4-0 lead and through four innings and matched the Penguins the rest of the way in an 8-4 victory.

Mahoney hit a solo homer in the second to give Le Moyne a 1-0 lead, and the Dolphins scored twice in the third. O’Conner’s solo blast in the fourth made the score 4-0.

Williams brought in Johnson with an RBI groundout for YSU in the top of the fifth, but Le Moyne equaled that with a run in the bottom half.

The Penguins mounted a rally with three runs in the sixth, but the Dolphins scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to maintain their four-run edge. In YSU’s half, Craig Goubeaux drew a bases loaded walk, Johnson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Phil Lipari singled in a run.

YSU starter Kevin McCulloh allowed six earned runs on 12 hits while striking out three in 5.1 innings. Reliever Blake Aquadro allowed one run on four hits in 2.2 innings.

Le Moyne’s Mark Kuzma earned the win despite allowing four runs on four hits and five walks in 5.1 innings. Reliever Casey Cannon surrendered two hits and struck out six in 3.2 innings to earn the save.

Johnson had two of YSU’s six hits in the opener. Pat Wiese and Don Schaaf had four hits apiece for Le Moyne, which posted 16 hits as a team.

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