Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes YSU freshman Sophie Howell pitches in relief during the second game of a doubleheader Friday against Green Bay. The Champion product recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts over six innings of work, but the Penguins fell, 6-5.

YOUNGSTOWN — Two very different games, two very different results.

A four-game series can feel like a marathon in softball, even more so when the nightcap goes nearly three hours.

Hosting fifth-place Green Bay, the Youngstown State Penguins looked to hold onto their top position in the Horizon League softball standings following a doubleheader sweep at Cleveland State on Tuesday.

The Phoenix walked off the field at YSU with smiles from ear-to-ear following a 6-5 win in nine innings in the back end of the doubleheader, but a 3-0 two-hit shutout by junior Elle Bufferbarger kept the Penguins in first place following the doubleheader.

Buffenbarger, who recorded her 10th win on the campaign, is now 8-1 within league play.

Keeping Green Bay hitless until the top of the fifth inning, seeing a team for the first time in two years presents a unique challenge that normally wouldn’t be present.

“The team can be different, two years ago, half the team was probably different,” Buffenbarger commented following the doubleheader “There’s a couple players that are the same, but players can develop and change in two years, and it’s not the team that we’re used to seeing.”

Seven defensive miscues by the Phoenix provided the Penguins opportunities to manufacture runs during the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings — Conchetta Rinaldi’s (Cardinal Mooney) RBI single down the left-field line which scored Grace Cea gave the Penguins room to breathe easy.

Fanning 11 hitters, Buffenbarger now has seven games in which she’s sent 10-plus hitters down by the strikeout.

“(Buffenbarger) has just found a way,” YSU coach Brian Campbell said. “Coming up with big strikeouts when needed, and I even say in the second game that Sophie (Howell) came up with big strikeouts when needed to with runners in scoring position.”

Fast forwarding to the nightcap, the Penguins (21-9, 14-4) plated four runs in the bottom half of the first, with an RBI single off the bat of Nikki Saibene down the right side of the infield scoring Alex DeLeon and Jillian Jakse.

Maddi Lusk allowed three runs over the next two innings on five hits.

Coming in for relief in the top of the fourth inning, freshman Sophie Howell (Champion) had a lot on her plate, but after allowing Green Bay to score twice on three hits, Howell kept her opposition off the board until the top of the ninth in extra innings.

Settling in, she tallied a career-best 11 punchouts, beating her previous mark of seven which was set during the first game of her collegiate career against Norfolk State.

“I was so happy that I even got the opportunity to even go in and try to help the team at all,” Howell said following the loss “The more I pitch, the more opportunity I get, I feel like I’m settling in more and hopefully we’ll keep doing better.”

As the reserve pitcher for YSU, her six innings were the most she’s thrown in a single game this spring, all while keeping the game within striking distance for her team’s offense.

“I was just throwing a lot of corners, trying to move it around a lot, trying to throw off the batters, moving up and down side-to-side.” Howell said

The Penguins tied the game-up on an Avery Schumacher groundout to score DeLeon, but YSU failed to find home plate again, despite having a runner in scoring position two more times.

Saibene is now batting .356 on the campaign after starting off the season slow. With an eight game-hitting streak and coming off being named Horizon League Player of the Week, it’s the approach that’s changed.

“Watching pitches.” Saibene said with a laugh “As weird as it sounds, I just am kinda later in the counts, kinda getting different pitches, but it’s more of focusing on the mental side and just putting myself aside and putting my team first.”

Schumacher and Saibene each had a pair of RBI, with Cea accounting for the fifth.

Following the split, YSU doesn’t have much time to sleep on Friday’s games, with another doubleheader against the Phoenix (17-13, 12-10) set for this afternoon, with an 11am first pitch.

“Get a good night’s sleep and just act like we never even played them today.” Saibene said “Reset, it’s completely different games.”