Valpo, Milwaukee and Youngstown State Win on Day 2 of Baseball Championship

Horizon League Baseball Championship Scoreboard (May 22)
(3) Valparaiso 2, (5) Oakland 0
(4) Milwaukee 12, (2) UIC 4
(6) Youngstown State 7, (1) Wright State 1

Horizon League Baseball Tournament Schedule for Friday, May 23
11 a.m. - Game 6 - (3) Valparaiso vs. (2) UIC
3 p.m. - Game 7 - (1) Wright State vs. Winner of Game 6
7 p.m. - Game 8 - (6) Youngstown State vs. (4) Milwaukee

(3) Valparaiso 2, (5) Oakland 0
Valparaiso’s Dalton Lundeen fell one out short of a complete game shutout in the first game of the day at Kapco Park in Mequon, Wis., as the Crusaders defeated Oakland, 2-0.

The loss knocked the Golden Grizzlies out of the tournament.

After giving up four hits in the first three innings, Lundeen settled down and only gave up two hits in his last 5.2 innings of work as the sophomore struck out nine Golden Grizzlies on the day.  He got two quick outs in the ninth inning, but was pulled after walking and hitting a batter. Karch Kowalczyk came on and walked one batter, but then got a groundout to close out the game and record his 10th save of the season.

Lundeen lowered his League-best ERA to 1.94 on the season.

Valparaiso received the only runs it needed in the third inning. Junior Mark Johnson led off the inning with a single and then stole second base. Spencer Mahoney walked and the Crusaders loaded the bases after a beautiful bunt down the third base line by Jeff Edwards went for a single. With the bases loaded, senior Chris Manning  walked, forcing in Johnson to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead. Kowalczyk staked Valpo to a 2-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to score Edwards.

Eight different Crusaders recorded a hit in the game. Johnson and Andrew Bynum both recorded multi-hit games for the Crusaders.

Junior outfielder Robby Enslen led Oakland’s offensive effort as he went 3-for-4 at the plate. The rest of the Golden Grizzly batters went a combined 3-for-28 at the plate.

(4) Milwaukee 12, (2) UIC 4
Milwaukee hit early and often and pitcher Brian Keller kept the high-powered UIC offense at bay on Thursday afternoon as the Panthers defeated the Flames,12-4, at Kapco Park.

The Panthers outhit the top-hitting team in the League in the regular season, 15-7, while Keller went eight innings to earn the win.

The 7-8-9 hitters in the UWM lineup combined for seven runs scored, seven hits and four runs batted in to pace a potent 15-hit attack.

Sophomore Nick Unes went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, junior Tyler Hermann finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored and freshman Eric Solberg had a big two-RBI hit that opened the scoring and tacked on a third RBI later in the game.

Sophomore Mitch Ghelfi continued his strong play in the postseason, finishing 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a pair driven in.

Junior Ryan McShane and sophomore Dan Barwick (1-for-1, run scored) each added two RBI apiece.
Fast-paced and scoreless until the top of the third, the Panthers struck first on Solberg's single up the middle that plated a pair of runs. Junior Derek Peake and McShane tacked on RBI-singles in the fourth to make it 5-0 at the time.

The Flames finally crossed the dish in the bottom of the sixth with two runs as John Coen ripped a double to right center to begin the frame.  After freshman Mickey McDonald was walked, junior slugger Jeff Boehm posted his 16th double of the season, driving in Coen and McDonald.

UIC made it a 9-4 ballgame in the seventh after McDonald drove in redshirt junior Zenon Kolakowski on a fielder’s choice, his 24th RBI of the season.

(6) Youngstown State 7, (1) Wright State 1
Youngstown State hurler Jeremy Quinlan pitched a gem for the Penguins on Thursday night to keep YSU in the winner’s bracket with a 7-1 win over top-seed Wright State.

The freshman right-hander entered the contest with a 6.33 ERA on the season and zero wins, but he had no problem dispatching a Raider squad that went 25-4 in the Horizon League regular season as he set career-highs for innings pitched and strikeouts in his complete game victory.

He finished the contest with six strikeouts (entered with 11 on the season) and previously his career-long outing was four innings. His ERA now stands at 5.00 on the year.

The Penguins jumped on Wright State starter Joey Hoelzel for five runs and ended the Horizon League Co-Pitcher of the Year's day after three innings. The Raiders bullpen limited YSU to two runs over the final six innings, but Quinlan had all the help he needed.

Phil Lipari led off the game with an infield single, and Alex Larivee followed with a walk. Brent Gillespie doubled in Lipari, and Matt Sullivan followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Larivee. Three batters later, Kevin Hix brought in Gillespie with a two-out single up the middle.

The Penguins added a run in the second when Gillespie was hit by a pitch and scored on a wild pitch. That came after Hoelzel retired the first two batters of the inning. Shane Willoughby doubled and scored on an error in the third to put the Penguins up 5-0.

Youngstown State went ahead 6-0 when David Saluga was hit by a pitch and scored on Lorenzo Arcuri's sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, and Arcuri singled in Willoughby in the ninth for the final tally.