Struthers, Ohio -- Youngstown State batted around twice and recorded 21 hits for the seventh time in school history to defeat Bowling Green 18-13 in a slugfest at Cene Park on Tuesday.

The Penguins and Falcons combined for 31 runs and 37 hits, including 11 that went for extra bases. Three different Penguins had three hits and five more had two.

Every starter for Bowling Green had at least one hit, but only two had more than one.

A week earlier, YSU banged out 18 hits and scored 12 runs in its home opener against IUP. Combined, YSU has scored 30 and is batting .464 as a team in its two home games.

Sophomore Eric Marzec had a career day at the plate going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored at the plate. He also came on with one out in the eighth and retired all five batters he faced to earn his first career save.

Sean Lucas and Cory Hornyak also had three hits apiece for YSU, which gave Bowling Green its second loss in the last 12 games.

YSU fell behind 3-1 and 10-8 in the game but had a seven-run third and a six-run seventh. The Penguins went 13-of-25 with runners in scoring position, which is something they have been inconsistent with throughout the season.

"I told the guys before the game that if we're going to be a good team we need to battle back when we give up a lead and come up with some two-out hits, and we did both today," head coach Rich Pasquale said. "We were aggressive on the bases and at the plate and just played scrappy."

"You have to give the game ball to 'Marz' today after what he did at the plate. Then he came in and had that bulldog mentality on the mound that we need from him."

Bowling Green scored a run in each of the first three innings and led 3-1 before the Penguins erupted for seven runs on six hits in the third. Lucas hit a two-run single with the bases loaded to tie the score, and Anthony Porter, Marzec, Hornyak and David Leon also had RBIs in the inning. Hornyak's came on a two-run blast to center, which was his first career home run.

Bowling Green reclaimed a two-run advantage by scoring seven times in the fifth. Brian Hangbers hit a leadoff homer, and Dennis Vaughn added a three-run shot down the right field line that was originally ruled a foul ball. Hangbers also had a three-run double in the inning that put the Falcons back on top 10-8.

Four straight Penguins singled with two outs in the fifth to tie the score, and five straight singled in the seventh to blow the game open at 16-10. Dustin Wachter broke the tie with a bases-loaded RBI single, and Marzec followed with a two-run single.

Derek Spencer hit a three-run homer for Bowling Green in the top of the eighth to cut the margin to 16-13, but Marzec came on and retired all five hitters he faced.

The Penguins got two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out error.

The Penguins will play five more home games in the next four days. Wednesday they will play Duquesne at 3 p.m. at Cene Park.