April 21, 2002

Box Score

NILES, Ohio - A day after two Youngstown State pitchers threw back-to-back complete games, Cleveland State's Jerry Long (Plymouth, Pa./West Side Tech) turned the tables on the Penguins tossing a complete-game nine-inning one-hitter in a 3-1 victory over YSU.

Long (2-4) allowed a first-inning run and held the Penguins (11-16, 5-4 Horizon League) without a hit until Clint Ford beat out an infield single to second with two outs in the seventh. Cleveland State (9-22, 4-4 HL) rallied late in the game, scoring once in the seventh and twice in the ninth to pull out the win and earn a split in the series.

YSU jumped ahead 1-0 in the first thanks to some Long wildness and poor Viking defense. With one out, Ty Furino walked and stole second. Long then walked Tim Stacey and on a double steal, Furino scored when junior Doug Besozzi's (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont) throw sailed into left field. CSU committed five errors in the first three innings, before playing solid defense the remainder of the game.

While Long was cruising along, Penguin starter Jonathan Smart was just as solid. Smart allowed a single to open the game by sophomore Pat Smith (Kent, Ohio/Kent Roosevelt) and did not allow another hit until the seventh inning. CSU tied the game in the seventh scoring a run. Senior Ernest Simpson (Warrensville Heights, Ohio/Warrensville Heights) walked to open the inning, moved to second on a groundout and third on a Smart wild pitch and scored on a single by junior Brian Beaumier (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North).

Paul Yates (0-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for YSU before giving up a lead-off triple to Simpson in the top of the ninth and was replaced by Clint Ford. Ford struck out freshman Dominic Erney (Parma Heights, Ohio/Holy Name) before hitting Beaumier with one out. Sophomore Stipe Miocic (Willowick, Ohio/Eastlake North) hit a soft grounder to Furino who mishandled the ball allowing the go-ahead run to score from third. Sophomore Jeff Katlen (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Brush) then hit a ground-rule double to score Beaumier and put the Vikings ahead by two.

In the bottom of the inning, Long retired the side in order to end the game.

Cleveland State is in action again when it hosts Akron for a doubleheader on Tuesday, Apr. 23 beginning at 3:00 p.m.