The Youngstown State baseball program will hold the inaugural “First Pitch” Breakfast at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Banquet Hall in Youngstown on Feb. 12.  Keep in mind that the baseball program does not generate much revenue at the gate like football or basketball do, so these types of activities are paramount to the baseball and softball teams.

The fund-raising event will provide fans to meet the 2011 Penguins, as well as win great prizes through a Chinese Auction.

Doors for the event will open at 8:30 a.m., and the breakfast will begin at 8:45 a.m. The program will start at 9:30 a.m. The donation of $15 includes a breakfast buffet and a game ticket for any 2011 YSU baseball game.

Chinese Auction items include YSU baseball attire, gift baskets from Belleria Pizza and Italian Restaurant and the Mahoning Valley Restaurant (MVR), autographed YSU baseball memorabilia and the opportunity to spend pre-game in the Penguins dugout and throw out the first pitch at YSU’s May 17 game at Eastwood Field.

The “Home Run” prize includes dinner for four at the Belleria in Boardman with the YSU Coaching Staff, four YSU baseball season tickets, four YSU baseball hats and pullovers, the rights to throw out the first pitch at any YSU home game and two movie ticket vouchers for Cinemark Tinseltown at the Southern Park Mall.   Raffle tickets for the “Home Run” prize will be $10.

Pre-registration for the event is required. To reserve your seat, call the YSU Baseball Office at (330) 941-3485. Payment will be accepted at the door. Groups of eight will have tables reserved at prime locations. Individuals and smaller groups are also welcome for open seating.

Fans who would still like to contribute to Penguins baseball, regardless of attendance at the event, can sponsor a student-athlete’s breakfast for $10. For information, contact the baseball office.

The Banquet Hall is located at  343 Via Mount Carmel Ave., Youngstown, OH, 44505.

Detroit had about three centers, YSU had one (Dan Boudler), and sometimes Damian Eargle who is more of a power forward.  As a result of a serious problem with height, rebounds, especially on the offensive end would be scarce.  The Penguins overcame the size disadvantage but were their own worst enemy at the free throw line again finishing the game 6-14 from stripe as they dropped another close one, this time to Detroit, 73-69.

In the first half, Detroit raced out to a 10-point lead just over five minutes into the game.  YSU would keep cutting into that lead only to see Detroit extend the lead back to at least seven a couple of times.  By the time the buzzard sounded, Detroit held a 41-40 lead.  Eli Holman paced the Titans with nine points and nine rebounds.  Chase Simon and Chris Blake had ten each in the opening half for the visiting Titans.  YSU got 12 points from Blake Allen and eight more from Kendrick Perry.

In the second half, YSU came out smoking and nabbed a 48-43 lead with 15:49 to go.  Vytas Sulskis led the charge for the Penguins with a couple of buckets.  Blake hit a layup to give Detroit back the lead on an 8-0 run at 49-48 with 14:31 left.  Blake Allen gave YSU a one point lead, the eighth lead change in the game, to put the Penguins ahead 58-57 with 11:15 remaining in the contest.  Chris Blake popped his career high (16 points) with 9:27 remaining for Detroit, putting the Titans ahead, 61-58.

YSU was struggling at the free throw line.  With 8:23 left in the game, the Penguins were an awful 3-10 from the charity stripe, points they need to beat the bigger Titans.  Detroit would battle over the next five minutes to maintain the lead and at the 3:56 mark, the Titans still held a 66-64 lead thanks in part to the Penguins lousy free throw shooting and some equally lousy officiating.  YSU had three very questionable calls go against them over he span of two minutes, and the 3,000 + in attendance really let them know.

Trailing 67-64 with 3:09 left in the game, Tre Brewer took a good shot that hit every part of the inside of the rim, but did not go.  Perry then hit a pair of free throws to cut Detroit’s lead to 68-66.  Perry’s second three of the game came with 18.4 seconds remaining and cut Detroit’s lead to one point at 70-69. Nick Minnerath was fouled to shoot a pair of free throws with 15.5 seconds to go and he made the second to make it 71-69.  Perry tried to hoist a three, but was unsuccessful.  YSU fouled Blake and the rest is academic.

YSU was lead by Allen and Sulskis with 15 points each.  The Penguins dropped to 7-12 on the season, and 1-7 in the league.  With the exception of Butler and Valpo, YSU has been in every league game until the end.  Having seen each Horizon League team with the completion of this game, no one will be writing off YSU as an easy win in the second half.

Detroit got 20 points from Chris Blake, his career-high.  Simon also contributed 14 points for the Titans.  With the win, Detroit improved to 11-10 and 5-4 in the Horizon.

Youngstown State goes West to Illinois for games against UIC and Loyola this week.

After the game, Coach Slocum talked about the woes that hamper his squad.  “We just aren’t good enough yet to win those close games.  It is very disappointing to work so hard all of the time and not reap the reward of winning.  This was a very tough match up for us because of the size difference, but I thought we did a great job battling and working hard.”

The Youngstown State Lady Penguins could only get better was the general feeling coming into this season under first-year coach Bob Boldon. Boldon has taken the stance that, “close but no cigar“, means nothing.  The improvement since last season is obvious and the team is much more competitive and focused.  Saturday, the Penguins played Detroit, team that demolished the Lady Penguins twice last year.  The Titans ended up winning by nine, 66-57, competitive and close but no cigar, yet again.

In the first half, Detroit built big leads on two separate occasions with the largest being nine.  Jalesa Jones (top photo) paced the Titans with nine first half points as Detroit  was ahead 31-26 at the break.  Brandi Brown had eight points and four rebounds for YSU in the half.  The story was shooting percentage in the opening half.  Youngstown State shot almost 35% from the field, but the Titans shot 41.4%.

In the second half, Maryum Jenkins buried a three from the corner with 15:24 left to make it 41-37 in favor of Detroit.  YSU surged even closer when Kenya Middlebrooks hit a three to cut the lead to just one point at 43-42 with 13:01 left in the game.  As the second half rolled along, Detroit gained control of things and had a 55-47 lead with 8:59 to go.

Brown started to heat up and heat a three with 8:04 left to cut the deficit to three points at 55-52.  Tieara Jones fouled out with just over eight minutes to play.  Jones (next picture down) finished with 10 points and seven boards.

Interesting stat of the game, last year the Horizon League chose to award the Newcomer of The Year award to Detroit’s Yar Shayok instead of Youngstown State’s Brandi Brown.  Brown had much better statistics for the season but was passed over when the chalice was awarded.  In their first head-to-head meeting since that award was given, Brown had 18 points and 10 rebounds.  Shayok finished the game with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

With Detroit ahead 51-47, Dominique Dixon, who finished with 15 points,  hit a pair of free throws to extend the Titans lead to 63-57. With just under a minute to go, YSU went into auto-foul mode and Detroit converted enough to keep the Penguins at arms-length.  Jones finished the game with 13 and Shayok had 17.  The Titans evened their record at 9-9 and 3-4 in the conference.

Youngstown State was paced by Brown’s double-double (18 points, 10 boards).  Boki Dimitrov chipped in with 11 points.  The Penguins fell to 3-16, and 1-7 in the Horizon League.

After the game, Coach Boldon talked about the loss.  “Tieara [Jones] played well for us tonight, we really needed her when she fouled out with eight minutes left.  We came out flat in the second half and we are nota good enough team to try to exchange baskets with anyone.”

The Youngstown Phantoms didn’t let the law of averages get them, not until overtime.  Youngstown (12-19-2) was outshot 47-24 by the visiting Sioux Falls Stampede (18-10-4) but survived the barrage until overtime.  Marcus Perrier buried a twenty-five footer 1:53 into overtime to boost the Stampede to victory by the score of 3-2.

In the first period, Sioux Falls got a power play goal and a 1-0 lead from Thomas ORegan at the 11:33 mark.  ORegan’s goal was his third on the season.  Marcus Perrier and Sam Coatta were awarded assists on the game’s opening score.

Right before the first period ended, the Phantoms were able to tie the contest at one goal apiece when Jiri Sekac connected on an even-strength chance.  Sekac’s tenth goal came with just 19 seconds left in the opening session and he was assisted by Ty Loney and Ben Paulides. The Phantoms were outshot 16-6 in the period, but the only ones that count are the pucks that hit the back of the net.

In an entertaining second period, Youngstown took a temporary 2-1 lead when Adam Berkle made a beautiful pass across the front lip of the crease to Quinn Smith, who buried the puck for his eighth of the season.  Smith beat Sioux Falls Goaltender, Juho Oikinuora with 3:48 of the second period elapsed.  The Stampede rustled back to a 2-2 tie on the wings of a couple of Reilly boys.  Connor Reilly scored on an even-strength feed from Ryan Reilly. Connor was credited with his sixth goal, and you guessed it, Ryan, with his sixth assist.  The fraternal twins are both headed to Minnesota on hockey scholarships.  At the end of the second period, nothing was settled and the Phantoms were outshot 35-17 to this point.

In the third period, neither team could find the goal.  Sioux Falls had a total of 45 shots on goal while the Phantoms only had 23.  A five minute overtime period would be needed to determine a winner, or need be it, a shootout.

In the overtime, Perrier broke Youngstown’s hearts with a twenty-five foot slap shot just beyond the left face off circle that got past Greg Lewis for the game winner.

After the game, Coach Carr reflected on the loss.  “It’s a point, we are 3-1-2 in our last six games, and we can’t be upset getting a point out of this game, but we need to be better tomorrow. Greg [Lewis] played a great game for us tonight, and he got screened by that last shot and unfortunately, we could not block it, but give Greg credit.  He has five starts and we have at least one point in all but one of those games.”

The Phantoms are holding on to the final playoff spot and the team right on their heels, Waterloo, makes a visit on Saturday.  Puck drops at 7:30 at the Covelli Centre.

In a must-win game for both teams, Youngstown State needed a win to prove that it belonged in a conference.  Wright State, coming off of a 69-63 win over Butler, needed a win to prove superior in the same conference.  When it was over,  YSU (7-11, 1-7) was winning for a majority of the game, at times by as many as ten, but the team competing for a championship came out on top on this night, 66-62.

“We turned the ball over and we didn’t make shots”, was pretty much all Coach Jerry Slocum had to say after this game.

The Penguins came out fired up scoring the first five points.  Wright State would answer and take a 6-5 lead.  The rest of the opening half was nip-and-tuck and the Penguins forged ahead for a 28-24 halftime lead.  Ashen Ward hit a couple of threes and a couple of twos for ten first half points to lead YSU.  Wright State got eight from N’Gai Evans and seven from Vaughn Duggins.

In the first half, Damian Eargle blocked a shot to become the second player in Youngstown State history to record 50 blocks or more in a single season.  Eargle finished the game with xx points and xx blocked shots.  Eargle joins Ricky Tunstill in the blocked shots hierarchy at YSU.

The beginning of the second half looked like the start of the first half.  YSU opened up with a 5-0 run to open a 33-24 lead.  Wright State took a timeout and then unleashed AJ Pacher.  Pacher hit a couple of threes to keep Wright State close.  At the 13:23 mark of the second half, the Raiders pulled within one at 41-40 until Vytas Sulskis nailed a three to make it 44-40.  Devonte Maymon then tacked on another three to make it 47-40 with 11:32 remaining.

Sulskis commented on the disappointment of this loss afterwards.  “We didn’t finish.  Four points over the final six minutes is ridiculous and we know we are better than that.”

YSU pushed the lead all the way to nine points with 8:15 left in the game at 53-44.  Every time Wright State would score a bucket or two, YSU was able to respond.  Tre Brewer had previously scored six points in three separate games, hit his ninth point, a free throw, to help the Penguins to a ten point lead at 58-48, biggest lead for either team in the game.  Wright State would chop that lead in half, and with 5:39 left in the game, YSU was ahead 58-53.

The Penguins lead was carved to just one point at 60-59 with just under three minutes left in the game.  Sulskis hit a runner down the lane to increase the advantage to three points.  Troy Tabler kissed one off of the glass to give Wright State their first lead of the second half at 63-62 with 1:11 left.  Eargle missed both free throw attempts after being fouled to keep the Raiders in front.  The Penguins then had a couple of wild looks that they could not convert.  A pair of Tabler free throws put Wright State up three, 65-62 with just 26.2 seconds remaining.

Youngstown State got a good all-around effort from Ward.  The junior from Cleveland finished this game with 12 points and battled for six rebounds.  Eargle played a great defensive game and increased his Horizon League lead in the blocked shot category with six swats and Devonte Maymon chipped in twelve more.

Wright State got 10 points from Evans, and another 10 from Duggins.  Pacher finished the game with three successful long-distance rainbows.

Youngstown State University looked pretty solid despite dropping a hard-fought contest to Wright State, 64-61.  Brandi Brown scored 23 points for YSU, but the Penguins were not able to get a good shot with six seconds left and fell to 3-16 and 1-7 in the Horizon League.

The first half was pretty much a coin flip with Wright State calling “heads” and guessing properly.  The Raiders took a one point lead into the locker room, 32-31, but the statistics for the opposing teams were not similar.  Wright State held a 23-12 rebounding adantage, while the Penguins enjoyed a 9-3 advantage in steals.  The Raiders got nine boards from Shaunda Sandifer and ten points from Molly Fox. The Penguins got nine points each from Brandi Brown and Kenya Middlebrooks.  It was surprising that the score was so close at the half when Wright State shot nearly 10% better from the floor than YSU.

With 14:34 left in the game, Middlebrooks hit a three to give YSU a 42-37 lead, their largest of the game to that point.  Maryum Jenkins pushed the lead to 49-43 with just under eleven minutes to go in the game when she buried a three.

With 8:47 left in the game, Wright State grabbed their first lead of the second half, 52-51, when LaShawna Thomas hit a couple of baskets for the visitors.  The Penguins would reclaim a one-point lead with 7:27 left when Brandi Brown gathered in a long rebound on the offensive end and dribbled through three Raider defenders like orange cones for a layup. Thomas tied the contest at 57 when she hit one of two free throws with 4:24 left.

After the game, Coach Boldon talked being competitive.  “Yeah, we played well, but it is still a loss. Until we get tired of losing it will not change and it really has to.  We got some good shots, but the last play was not very good, and I take responsibility for that.”

The Penguins got another solid night out of Brandi Brown, who just continually punches her card and works hard until the final whistle has been blown.  Brown’s evening consisted of 23 points and eight rebounds and the reigning Horizon League Player of The Week was just everywhere on both sides of the court.  Kenya Middlebrooks finished with 14 points.

Wright State got a good night from LaShawna Thomas who knocked down 17 points, as did her teammate Molly Fox.  Maria Bennett also chipped in 15 points for the Raiders who improved to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in the Horizon League.

The Penguins tee it up again Saturday against Detroit as part of a mens-womens doubleheader starting at 5.

Youngstown State sophomore forward Brandi Brown has been named Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan 10.

Brown notched two double-doubles as the Penguins split a pair of road games last week.  She averaged 25 points and 14 rebounds for the week while shooting 63.6 percent from the field.

The Pomona, Calif., native had a career-high tying 29 points and a season-high 18 rebounds in YSU’s 61-55 victory over Valparaiso. She was 12-for-19 from the field in the contest as she helped Youngstown State snap losing streaks of 39 on the road and 22 in conference play.

On Saturday, Brown overcame early foul trouble to post 21 points and 10 rebounds against Butler.  She was 9-for-14 from the floor against the Bulldogs, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range.

Brown has reclaimed the top ranking among the Horizon League’s scoring leaders. She is averaging 17.65 points per contest, which is just ahead of Wright State guard LaShawna Thomas‘ average of 17.63. Brown also ranks second in the league in rebounding at 9.4 boards per contest.

Brown was also named the Horizon League Player of the Week on Nov. 29.  No other Penguin has been named Horizon League Player of the Week twice in a season since YSU joined the conference in the 2001-02 season. She is that good…

Youngstown State welcomes Wright State on Thursday for a 5:15 p.m. contest. The Penguins then host Detroiton Saturday in a 4:35pm tipoff.

Butler shot a blistering 61.5 percent and nailed 14 3-pointers to win 88-69 and offset a solid offensive effort by the Youngstown State women’s basketball team on Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Youngstown State had its best road performance of the year on the offensive end, shooting 46.4 percent overall and 38.1 percent from 3-point range. YSU’s 26 field goals were also season high.

Brandi Brown led four Penguins in double figures, posting game highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Monica Touvelle scored a career-high 14 points while Tieara Jones had 12 and Kenya Middlebrooks added 10.

Alyssa Pittman hit six 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 18 points to lead Butler. Five other Bulldogs scored at least eight points.

Butler improved to 11-6 overall and remained undefeated in Horizon League play at 5-0. Youngstown State dropped to 3-14 overall and 1-5 in conference play.

Both teams found the net early and often in the first half as Butler shot 66.7 percent in the opening period while YSU shot 56 percent. The Penguins hit their first four attempts from 3-point range, and Touvelle’s second triple of the contest cut YSU’s deficit to 17-16 at the 11:55 mark.

YSU did not score for nearly five minutes, and Butler went on an 8-0 run to go up 25-16 with 9:04 remaining. Jones scored the next six points for YSU, which climbed back to within five twice over the next three minutes. Claire Freeman and Pittman hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push Butler’s margin up to 11, but YSU did not let the game get away and remained in striking distance at halftime with the score 43-36.

Two free throws by Macey Nortey made the score 56-49 with 13:28 left in the second, but Butler’s Devin Brierly scored the next five points, and the Bulldogs led by double digits the rest of the way.

The game was still within 10 points after Bojana Dimitrov hit a free throw with 10:33 left, but Butler scored the next five points to back up by 15 at 67-52. The Bulldogs led by 19 at the 5:50 mark, and they closed out the contest by scoring the final five points to equal that margin.

Brown was 9-for-14 from the field and hit both of her attempts from 3-point range. Jones was 6-for-11 before fouling out with 5:51 remaining in the contest.

The Penguins will return home to play Wright State on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. The game will be the first half of a doubleheader with the YSU men’s basketball team.

The Youngstown Phantoms (12-18-2, 26pts) went to a shootout for the second time in a row against Team USA(13-6-3 , 29pts) avenging their shootout loss exactly seven days ago. Adam Berkle scored on the Phantoms final shot to pick up the 2-1 victory.

The Phantoms and Team USA each had the opportunities in the first period, but it was Team USA who found the back of the net first. With less than two minutes to play in the period, Ryan Haggerty beat Phantoms goaltender Greg Lewis to put Team USA up by one heading into the intermission. Even though the Phantoms trailed at the break they doubled up Team USA in shots, 12-6. The Phantoms and Team USA were unable to capitalize on power play opportunities in the first.

Unlike the first period, the Phantoms were outshot 13-6, but like Team USA in the opening frame, the Phantoms were the only team getting on the scoreboard. Phantoms forward Jiri Sekac scored just 2:25 into the period for his ninth goal of the year. The tying goal was assisted by defenseman Chris Bradley. The Phantoms were guilty of two penalties, but they were able to deny Team USA of any power play goals.

In the third period, neither the Phantoms nor Team USA could find the go ahead goal. The Phantoms were again outshot in the period, 18-12, but great goaltending by Lewis kept the game ties as both teams went to overtime for the second time in a week. In the overtime session, the Phantoms were forced to kill off a penalty to Scott Mayfield. A final penalty kill put Team USA 0 for 4 on the night. With three shots put on net and no goals, these two teams were headed for a shootout.

In the Phantoms’ second shootout of the year, Lewis was able to deny all but one Team USA shooter. For the Phantoms, Stu Higginsand Berkle beat USA netminder Matt McNelly to grab the 2-1 victory. The win gives Lewis his third in a row in four starts this season. On the year, Lewis has posted a 2.45 goals-against-average and .920 save percentage.

Youngstown State University seems to play well but come up just a bit short when playing quality opponents.  The Penguins did well at North Carolina State, and more recently, at Butler.  Cleveland State brought their 15-3 record to Youngstown, and the Penguins would once again play the underdog and take swings at Goliath.  Norris Cole again torched the Penguins, this time for 21 points, and guided the Vikings to a 61-51 win.

The first half was defense-oriented.  Neither team shot real well as YSU only shot 21% (6-28) and Cleveland State shot 28%.  Both teams committed 11 turnovers and neither team shot more than five free throws.  The Vikings held a 21-14 lead at intermission, which was their biggest lead of the half.  Jeremy Montgomery and Norris Cole, a couple of guys who seem like they have been playing at Cleveland State since 1997, had seven points each.  Youngstown State got seven points and five rebounds from Damian Eargle, who played well at both ends of the court.

Once the action resumed, both offenses showed signs of life.  With Cleveland State ahead 27-15, Youngstown State went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to five points with 15:57 to go in the game.  Cleveland State’s Trevon Harmon and YSU’s Vytas Sulskis then took turns scoring for a few minutes.

Cleveland State then went on a 14-0 run to open their lead to 46-29.  The Penguins got a three from Devonte Maymon to end the run with 11:46 left in the game, but still trailed 46-32.  Maymon hit another three with 8:56 left in the game to cut the score to 46-37, but Cleveland State regain their bearings and full-court pressure was causing Youngstown State to commit a few turnovers in the last ten minutes.

Eargle hit a bucket and got fouled with 4:50 left in the game to but could not convert the charity toss, keeping YSU down by an even ten points.  Norris Cole threw the Vikings on his back hitting a couple of game-defining shots to keep YSU safely at an arms length.  A weak reach foul on Sulskis with 1:56 left in the game sent him to the bench for the night.  Sulskis finished with nine points.

With the loss, YSU dropped to 7-10 and 1-6 in the Horizon League.  Cleveland State improved to 16-3 with the win and may be peeking into the Top-25 soon.

Cleveland State got 21 from Cole and 12 from Montgomery.  Youngstown State was paced by Eargle who finished the game with 20 points and 8 rebounds.  Maymon also chipped in with 9.

After the game, Coach Slocum pointed out the major difference in the loss.  “We shot 54% in the second half, they shot 37% in the second half, and we lost by ten.  The free throw shooting tells the tale.  If we can’t make free throws, we can’t win the game.  In the second half we really executed well, but we still need to make free throws, they were the difference.”