The Youngstown State baseball team dropped a 3-1 decision to Bethune-Cookman in its 2022 season opener on Friday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Padraig O'Shaughnessy hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning, and he was one of four Penguins to record a hit in the contest. Lucas Nasonti, Austin Earl and Seth Lucero each recorded a single as Bethune-Cookman outhit YSU 7-4 in the season opener for both teams.

With the Penguins trailing 3-0 going into the top of the ninth, O'Shaughnessy led off the frame with a solo blast to right field. After Braeden O'Shaughnessy popped out and Steven D'Eusanio struck out looking, Lucero walked to bring the potential tying run to the plate. However, BCU reliever Hector Vazquez got Dylan Swarmer to fly out to center field to end the ballgame.

Bethune-Cookman starter Louis Lipthratt allowed just three hits and struck out six batters over seven shutout innings to earn the victory. Vazquez allowed only the O'Shaughnessy homer and fanned four batters over two innings of work to pick up the save.

YSU starter Jon Snyder suffered the loss after allowing two runs on six hits and striking out six batters over 4.2 innings while Chad Coles surrendered one run on one hit over 2.1 innings of relief. Alex Cardona and Brandon Matthews combined to work a scoreless eighth inning.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first inning. Malik Stephens led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third and then crossed the plate on a Snyder wild pitch.

In the bottom of the second inning, Jeremy Garcia drew a leadoff walk, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Garcia then scored on a two-out RBI single by Colton Olasin to give the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage.

The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning when Dakoda Grove was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a wild pitch to push the BCU lead to 3-0.

Youngstown State will try to even its series with Bethune-Cookman on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on YSNLive.com.