The Youngstown State baseball team fell 9-7 to Northern Kentucky in the series opener on Friday at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex in Highland Heights, Ky.

The Norse scored twice in the bottom of the first inning to grab an early lead before the Penguins evened the score with a pair of runs in the top of the third. NKU struck for five runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to build an 8-2 lead. YSU got one run on the board in the sixth before Northern Kentucky answered with a run of its own in the seventh. The Penguins plated one run in the eighth and three in the ninth to produce the final margin.

Trailing 9-4 heading into the top of the ninth inning, YSU attempted to mount a comeback. Jeff Wehler and Phillip Glasser drew back-to-back walks before Dominick Bucko hit a three-run home run to right field to make it a two-run game with nobody out. NKU reliever Kaleb Meeks came on and gave up a single to Blaze Glenn before retiring three straight batters to end the game.

Youngstown State falls to 16-16 overall and 11-10 in Horizon League play while Northern Kentucky improves to 12-15 overall and 10-10 in league action.

Turner Grau went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored while Bucko drove in a game-high four runs. Nick Caruso went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored while Glenn was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Wehler and Lucas Nasonti also recorded base hits for the Penguins.

YSU starter Colin Clark suffered his fifth loss of the season after allowing eight runs on 10 hits and striking out six batters over 4.1 innings. Travis Perry allowed just one run on three hits and fanned five batters over 3.2 strong innings of relief.

NKU starter Ben Gerl earned his third win of the season after giving up four runs on eight hits and striking out six over eight innings of work. Tyler Ollier surrendered three runs without recording an out in the ninth before Meeks came on to pick up his first save of the season.

Jayden Wakeham went 3-for-4 with two RBIs while Noah Fisher was 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Sam Hedges, Griffin Doersching and Andrew Bacon each collected two RBIs for the Norse.

In the bottom of the first inning, Doersching reached on a wild pitch after striking out and Bacon followed with a two-run home run to give the Norse an early 2-0 edge.

The Penguins evened the score at 2-2 with a pair of runs on three hits in the top of the third inning. Caruso, Nasonti and Wehler hit three straight singles to load the bases with nobody out. Glasser followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Caruso, and Bucko brought home Nasonti with an RBI groundout.

Northern Kentucky regained the lead with five runs on six hits in the home half of the fourth inning. Fisher hit a one-out single and advanced to third on a base hit by Wakeham. Treyvin Moss followed with an RBI single to left field and John Odom singled to load the bases. Hedges then hit a two-out, two-run single to right center, and Doersching delivered a two-run double to right center to give NKU a 7-2 advantage.

The Norse added a run to build an 8-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Fisher hit a one-out double and scored on an RBI double by Wakeham.

YSU shaved NKU's lead to 8-3 with a run in the top of the sixth inning. Glenn drew a leadoff walk, reached third on a double by Grau and scored on a sacrifice fly from Braeden O'Shaughnessy.

The Norse pushed their lead back to six runs in the bottom of the seventh when Fisher hit a leadoff triple and scored on an RBI double by Wakeham.

The Penguins scored their fourth run in the top of the eighth when Grau hit a one-out single and came around to score on an RBI single by Caruso.

The Penguins and Norse will continue their four-game Horizon League series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. ET. Live audio for both games will be available at YSNLive.com.