The Youngstown State baseball team overcame an early five-run deficit to earn its first victory of 2022 with a 7-6 triumph over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Nick Perez, Casey Marshalwitz and Nathan Ball combined to allow one run and strike out nine batters over seven innings of relief as the Penguins mounted their comeback. Bethune-Cookman struck for five runs in the bottom of the second to grab the early lead. YSU chipped away by scoring twice in the third before exploding for five runs in the fourth to take a 7-5 edge. The Wildcats added a run in the seventh, but the Penguins' bullpen would stiffen late to even the series at a game apiece.

Youngstown State and Bethune-Cookman each sit at 1-1 on the season after splitting the first two games of the opening-weekend series.

Perez came up big out of the bullpen as he allowed one run on six hits and fanned five batters over 4.2 innings to earn his first win of the season. Marshalwitz allowed one hit over a scoreless inning of work while Ball struck out three of the four batters he faced to earn his first-career save. Ball entered the game with two outs and the potential tying run at second base in the bottom of the eighth, and proceeded to strike out Coby Tweten to send YSU to the ninth with the lead. Ball went on to the retire the side in order with a pair of punch outs in the ninth to seal the victory.

Lucas Nasonti and Steven D'Eusanio each had two hits as seven different Penguins recorded a hit in the contest. Nasonti, Dominick Bucko, Braeden O'Shaughnessy and Trey Law each drove in a run. Youngstown State outhit Bethune-Cookman 11-9 and capitalized on six errors committed by the Wildcats.

YSU starter Travis Perry allowed five runs on four hits and had five strikeouts in two innings of work. The senior right-hander struck out the side in the bottom of the first inning.

Bethune-Cookman plated five runs on three hits in the home half of the second inning to grab a 5-0 lead. Brian Perez was hit by a pitch with one out and Irvin Escobar followed with a single to left field. After Colton Olasin walked to load the bases, Malik Stephens brought home Perez with an RBI groundout and Escobar scored on a wild pitch. Later in the frame, Christopher Patterson delivered a two-run single and Tweten recorded an RBI double.

Youngstown State responded with two runs on two hits and three errors in the top of the third inning. Law hit a leadoff single and advanced to second on a throwing error before reaching third on a failed pickoff attempt. Nasonti then delivered a one-out RBI double down the left field line to get the Penguins on the board. Nasonti reached third on another failed pickoff attempt before scoring on a wild pitch to cut Bethune-Cookman's lead to 5-2.

YSU continued its momentum by scoring five runs on five hits and two errors in the top of the fourth. D'Eusanio and Seth Lucero hit back-to-back one-out singles to set up an RBI single to center field by Braeden O'Shaughnessy that plated YSU's third run. Lucero, who reached third on O'Shaughnessy's single, came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Law to make it a one-run game. After Ian Francis singled through the left side, Nasonti reached on an error that allowed two runs to score, giving the Penguins a 6-5 lead. Nasonti then scored on an error following a single by Bucko to push YSU's edge to 7-5.

In the bottom of the seventh, Franki Febles hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch to pull the Wildcats within a run at 7-6.

BCU starter Gabriel White was responsible for seven runs, three of them earned, on eight hits over 3.2 innings. Nolan Santos was stellar out the bullpen for the Wildcats as he allowed just one hit and struck out five over 5.1 innings of work.

Patterson and Escobar each had three hits to pace Bethune-Cookman offensively. Patterson finished the game 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and four stolen bases.

Youngstown State will go for the series win over Bethune-Cookman tomorrow at noon. The series finale will be broadcast live on YSNLive.com.