West Virginia scored the final five runs of the game to defeat the Youngstown State baseball team 6-4 on Thursday night in the series opener at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark.

Youngstown State falls to 9-12 overall while West Virginia improves to 11-8.

After the Mountaineers jumped ahead 1-0, the Penguins scored the next four runs to take a three-run lead. West Virginia scored once in the third and twice in the fifth to even the score at 4-4 before plating single runs in the seventh and eighth to secure the series-opening victory.

Dominick Bucko, Braeden O'Shaughnessy and Steven D'Eusanio each had two hits as the Penguins outhit the Mountaineers 8-5. Andre Good hit a two-run triple and scored a run.

YSU starter Jon Snyder allowed four runs on five hits and struck out six batters while walking four over 4.1 innings in a no-decision. Kenny Misik hit the only batter he faced while Alex Cardona walked three batters over a scoreless inning of relief. Lane Rhodes suffered the loss after surrendering two runs on no hits and two walks while striking out three batters over 2.2 innings.

The Mountaineers jumped in front 1-0 when JJ Wetherholt hit a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the first inning.

The Penguins responded immediately with three runs on three hits in the top of the second inning. Braeden O'Shaughnessy and Padraig O'Shaughnessy hit back-to-back singles to begin the rally, and Good followed with a two-run triple to right center field to put YSU ahead. Later in the frame, D'Eusanio brought home Good with a sacrifice fly to give YSU a 3-1 lead.

In the top of the third inning, Lucas Nasonti drew a one-out walk, advanced to third on a single by Bucko and scored on a wild pitch to give YSU a 4-1 advantage.

West Virginia pushed across its second run on a sacrifice fly by Grant Hussey in the bottom of the third inning to cut YSU's lead to 4-2. The Mountaineers tied the game at 4-4 with two runs on one hit in the home half of the fifth. Austin Davis drew a one-out walk and came around to score on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, McGwire Holbrook drew a bases-load walk to tie the contest.

WVU grabbed a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh when Victor Scott II drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a balk, moved to third on fly out and stole home. The Mountaineers added their final run in the bottom of the eighth when Braden Barry drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on a sacrifice squeeze play.

West Virginia starter Michael Kilker allowed three runs on three hits and fanned three batters over two innings of work. Chris Sleeper was responsible for one run on two hits over three innings while Zach Bravo earned the win after tossing two scoreless innings of relief. Trey Braithwaite picked up his first save of the season after working two scoreless frames with four strikeouts.

Davis and Wetherholt each had two hits and scored two runs to lead the Mountaineers offensively.

The Penguins and Mountaineers will conclude their three-game series on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and YSNLive.com.