By Robert Hayes
Beau Keathley of the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies pitched a complete game shutout, while allowing three hits to take down the Youngstown State University Penguins baseball team by a final score of 8-0 in the third game of their weekend series at Eastwood Field.
“[Keathley] pitched a great game, I mean he has a good arm,” Penguins coach Dan Bertolini said after the loss.
Bertolini thought the game plan went well, but the team couldn’t execute.
“I thought we had a good game plan. We just couldn’t execute today, and [Oakland] made some good plays,” Bertolini said. “They just outplayed us today. They played with better effort and energy.”
The Penguins had opportunities to score in the bottom of the second and third innings, but couldn’t cash in. Jeff Wehler’s two singles, and Trevor Wiersma’s single were the only three hits for the Penguins (2-20, 1-5) all afternoon.
Keathley recorded 13 strikeouts against the Penguins.
Chad Coles started the game for YSU and only allowed two runs on four hits through three innings of work. Coles gave up a solo home run to Ryan Fitzgerald in the top of the second inning, but did an effective job of only allowing Oakland to score one run in the top of the third when they had multiple runners on base.
John Snyder came out of the bullpen in the top of the fourth and tossed a 1-2-3 inning, but the bottom fell out in the top of the fifth, when Myles Zilinsky and Drew Demumbrum both hit home runs to make it a 5-0 game in favor of Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies (2-18, 2-4) tacked on two more runs in the top of the sixth to make it a 7-0 ballgame.
Kip DeShields pitched the seventh and eighth innings, allowing one run on two base hits. Grant Kersh finished the game for YSU, as he pitched in the ninth. He gave up one base hit and stroke out a batter.
“We’ve got to be better on the mound,” Bertolini said. “We haven’t thrown enough competitive pitches. They got us deep into a lot of counts. I thought both Chad and John had some good stuff, I thought their velocity was were it needed to be.”
On Saturday, YSU beat Oakland in game one of a double header by a final score of 6-5 for their first home opener win since 2012. The Penguins dropped game two after Oakland scored twice in the eleventh inning to claim a 7-5 victory.
Bertolini said he is ready for his team move forward.
“This is a game that doesn’t let you feel too sorry for yourself for too long. You have to get back out and play,” Bertolini said.
YSU will take travel to Bowling Green State University to take on the Falcons (7-12) in a non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon. The first pitch will be at 3:05 p.m.
“We have to regroup and find a way to come out and play good baseball against Bowling Green and build some momentum because it doesn’t get much easier the rest of the way,” Bertolini said. “We have a good group, and we gotta get some leadership here in the next couple days.”
The Penguins will then play a home game at Eastwood Field against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers (7-15) in another non-conference matchup on Wednesday afternoon with first pitch set for 5:00 p.m. YSU had success against the Panthers earlier in the season, as the Penguins won 4-2 at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh.
