The Youngstown State baseball team belted three home runs but could not overcome a middle-inning surge by Oakland in an 11-6 defeat in the Horizon League series opener on Friday at the Oakland Baseball Field.

The Penguins fall to 9-16 overall and 2-2 in Horizon League play while the Golden Grizzlies improve to 12-12 overall and 5-2 in league action. Oakland has now won five straight games while YSU has dropped five consecutive contests.

YSU trailed by just one run at 5-4 after four innings, but Oakland struck for three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to build a 10-4 edge that proved to be too much to overcome. The Penguins put up single runs in the seventh and eighth frames to get within 10-6, but the Golden Grizzlies countered with one in the home half of the eighth to produce the final margin.

Steven D'Eusanio and Chase Franken each had two hits to pace the Penguins offensively. Franken, who set a new career high with two hits, doubled, drove in a run and scored a run. D'Eusanio and Dylan Swarmer each hit solo home runs while Braeden O'Shaughnessy drilled a two-run blast. YSU matched its season high with three home runs while out hitting Oakland 9-8.

YSU starter Jon Snyder suffered the loss after allowing seven runs, six of them earned, on two hits and six walks while striking out five batters over 4.1 innings. Kenny Misik was responsible for one run without recording an out while Chad Coles struck out a pair of batters in two thirds of an inning. Brandon Mikos surrendered three runs, two of them earned, on five hits with two strikeouts over a career-high three innings pitched.

The Penguins jumped in front with two runs on two hits and an error in the top of the first inning. Lucas Nasonti reached on a one-out error and Braeden O'Shaughnessy followed with a two-run home run to left center to give YSU a 2-0 lead.

The Golden Grizzlies responded with four runs on one hit and four walks in the home half of the first inning. Gabe Lux drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Ian Cleary. Brenton Phillips followed with a three-run home run to right center field to give Oakland a 4-2 advantage.

Youngstown State pulled within 4-3 in the top of the second when Swarmer led off the inning with a solo home run to right center field.

Oakland extended its lead back to two runs with an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning. Cleary drew a two-out walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on an error in right field to push the Golden Grizzlies' lead to 5-3.

The Penguins cut the deficit to 5-4 in the top of the fourth when Padraig O'Shaughnessy hit a leadoff single and came around to score on an infield single by Franken.

The Golden Grizzlies increased their lead to 8-4 with three runs on two hits in the bottom of the fifth inning. Brad Goulet hit a leadoff double, stole third and scored on a wild pitch for the first run of the inning. After Misik came on in relief of Snyder, Michael Stygles greeted him with a pinch-hit, two-run home run to left center field.

Oakland pushed its lead to 10-4 on a two-run single by Brandon Nigh in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Youngstown State made it a 10-5 game in the top of the seventh inning as Franken hit a one-out double and scored on an RBI single by Trey Law. D'Eusanio laced a solo home run to left center field in the top of the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 10-6.

The Golden Grizzlies added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as Cam Post reached on a two-out error and scored on an RBI double by Nigh.

Oakland starter Brett Hagen earned the win after allowing four runs, three of them earned, on five hits and striking out three batters over five innings of work. Christian Stelling notched two strikeouts in two thirds of an inning while Hunter Pidek was charged with two runs on three hits in 2.1 innings of relief. Quinton Kujawa came on to work a scoreless ninth inning.

Goulet, Nigh and Stygles each had two hits to lead the Golden Grizzlies offensively.

The Penguins and Golden Grizzlies will continue their three-game Horizon League series on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on YSNLive.com.