The Falcons baseball team fell to the Youngstown State Penguins 6-5 on Wednesday afternoon – the team’s sixth consecutive loss to Youngstown State.
“We were two outs away from getting a W,” Falcon Head Coach Danny Schmitz said. “I don’t take anything away from Youngstown State. They did what they needed to do and played a really solid game, and we did too.”
The game began with both teams going scoreless throughout the beginning portion until the fourth inning, where Youngstown State sophomore outfielder Kyle Benyo hit a two RBI single to put Youngstown State ahead; the team added another run in the fifth with an RBI single from senior infielder Shane Willoughby to go up 3-0.
However, the Falcons began a comeback in the sixth, starting with an RBI single by junior catcher Justin Mott and another RBI single from Senior infielder Nick Glanzman; cutting the deficit down to just one run. However, Youngstown State responded in the bottom of the inning as they got a solo home run from junior outfielder Trey Bridis, making it a 4-2 game.
“We started grinding out at-bats there and seeing more pitches,” Schmitz said. “We got guys get walks, get hit by pitches. Nick Glanzman beat out a double play ball which gave us a run, so we had a lot of good things.”
The Falcons offense would continue in the eighth, as Senior outfielder Greg Basalyga kicked off the inning with a solo home run to cut the lead in half. Junior infielder Derek Drewes tied the game up with an RBI single, then took the lead courtesy of a Glanzman RBI fielder’s choice. The team held the lead until the bottom of the ninth inning, since Youngstown State hit a walk-off two run homer from Benyo to claim the 6-5 victory.
“Unfortunately, baseball can be a cruel game,” Schmitz said. “That was one of those games where it wasn’t from the lack of effort, but that’s baseball.”
The team feels although they got a loss from the game, they want to turn around and continue the effort going forward.
“We’ve got to have a short-term memory,” Schmitz said. “Obviously, the guys are extremely disappointed, and I don’t blame them. They put together a good effort, but there’s nothing we can do about it, we’ve got to take whatever positives we can.”
The team will next play on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons at home against the Central Michigan Chippewas.
“The most important thing is coming up on Friday’s game against Central (Michigan),” Schmitz said. “We have three of our last four series at home; we’re halfway through the conference season, so we’ve got to go ahead and take advantage of our home field.”
