By Cameron Mitchell / The Jambar
The Youngstown State University softball team has gone on a cold streak, only winning three of its last 10 games from March 1-8 in South Carolina.
The Penguins’ started their March matchups at the Coach Cooke Memorial Tournament in Rock Hill, South Carolina on March 1. Against Marist University, Youngstown State lost, 3-1, while Game Two against the team fell 8-3 to the University of South Carolina Upstate.
In the opening game against the Red Foxes, junior Ashlyn Bishop and sophomore Macy Littler each went 2-for-3 at the plate, while junior Kennedy Dean recorded a hit and scored a run.
Facing the Spartans, Dean scored her first home run of the season. Following in her footsteps was sophomore Lydia Wilkerson, who marked another home run for the Penguins.
To close out the tournament, YSU played the University of Southern Indiana, where the ’Guins scored 7-4 and took home their first win of the weekend.
Youngstown State scored all seven of its runs in the top of the fourth. Bishop added to the total by scoring on a wild pitch that put YSU on the board. Wilkerson furthered the score by hitting a two-run single.
The Penguins continued their road trip against Mount St. Mary’s University and Winthrop University at Terry Field in South Carolina.
Despite home runs from Dean and senior Taylor Truran, the team dropped a pair of games in a 5-4 loss to Mount St. Mary’s and a 8-3 defeat against Winthrop.
Wilkerson went 4-for-7 with two runs batted in on the day, while fifth-year senior Elyssa Imler went 3-for-6.
YSU took on the University of South Carolina on March 5. The Penguins scored early, but ultimately lost, 10-2.
The ’Guins started off by collecting four straight hits to lead off the game. Littler, Wilkerson and freshman Ayla Ray all singled to load the bases. Junior Bree Kholer’s single down the first-baseline drove in Littler for the Penguins’ first score.
Youngstown State couldn’t keep pace offensively March 7, on the opening day of the Furman Round Robin. The team lost a pair of games at Pepsi Softball Stadium in Travelers Rest, South Carolina.
In a doubleheader, YSU fell to Gardner-Webb University in the afternoon, 9-1, and faced an 11-1 loss in its second game against Furman University. Kholer went 2-for-3 with a run scored in Game One to highlight YSU’s offense in the two games.
The Penguins snapped their losing streak March 8 with victories against the Bulldogs, 10-7, and the Paladins, 5-0.
Freshman Kelsey Ogin’s dominance in the pitching circle allowed YSU to hang around and score five runs over the final two innings against Furman. Ray earned three RBIs and nine different Penguins had hits in their win over the Bulldogs.
The softball team improves to 4-18 on the season with a current two-game win streak.
Youngstown State will host Cleveland State University in a single at 3 p.m. today and a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. March 14 at the YSU Softball Complex.
All games will air on ESPN+.