Note: Due to rain in Saturday's forecast, first pitch in the series finale between Youngstown State and Milwaukee has been pushed back to 1 p.m.
Youngstown State third baseman Steven D'Eusanio tied the program's single-game hits record with six, but the Penguins came up on the short end of an offensive marathon with Milwaukee on Friday in a 17-13 loss at Eastwood Field.
D'Eusanio hit four singles, a double and a home run to go 6-for-6 to match John Koehnlein's six-hit effort in seven at bats on May 24, 2007.
D'Eusanio hit one of seven home runs in the game with a stiff wind blowing out. Milwaukee first baseman Nate DeYoung homered in his final three at bats and hit a three-run blast in the eighth inning that put the Panthers ahead 13-11. Conner Goodman hit a two-out grand slam for Milwaukee in the ninth to extend the advantage to 17-11, and YSU scored twice in the bottom of the ninth for the final margin.
Milwaukee hit five home runs, which accounted for 13 of its 17 runs in the game. In addition to D'Eusanio's solo homer in the third, Braeden O'Shaughnessy hit a two-run dinger in the seventh as part of a 4-for-6 performance. Padraig O'Shaughnessy was 3-for-6 with four RBIs, and Chase Franken was 3-for-4 with a walk.
DeYoung finished 3-for-5 with seven RBIs, and Goodman was 1-for-4 with six RBIs for Milwaukee, which tied the three-game series with YSU at a game apiece. The Penguins won the opener 4-2 on Thursday. Due to rain in the forecast, Saturday's finale has been moved back one hour to a 1 p.m. start.
Milwaukee had a hit in each inning and finished with 16, which was four fewer than Youngstown State's total. The Penguins committed three errors, two of which preceded two-out homers that resulted in six runs.
Both teams overcame deficits of at least four runs in the game as Youngstown State had a 5-0 advantage after three innings, Milwaukee led 10-6 after six, and YSU held an 11-10 advantage after seven.
Youngstown State scored four runs on five hits in the second when it sent nine batters to the plate to take a 4-0 lead. The first three Penguins singled, and Andre Good brought in Braeden O'Shaughnessy for the first run of the game. Padraig O'Shaughnessy hit a two-out, two-run single four batters later, and Lucas Nasonti followed with an RBI double that gave Milwaukee starter AJ Blubaugh an early exit.
D'Eusanio homered off of reliever Logan Schulfer in the third to extend YSU's lead to 5-0.
Penguins starter Travis Perry pitched a scoreless first four innings, but he gave up six hits in the fifth before handing the ball to the bullpen. He allowed two-run home runs to Mitchell Buban and DeYoung in the inning, and DeYoung's first round tripper of the game put Milwaukee ahead 6-5.
Braeden O'Shaughnessy led off YSU's half of the fifth with a single, and he scored on an RBI ground out by pinch-hitter Dominick Bucko to tie the score at 6-6. Milwaukee struck again in the sixth with four runs to go up 10-6. Back-to-back walks and an error started the inning, and DeYoung hit his second two-run blast in as many innings to put the Panthers ahead by four.
Youngstown State wasn't deterred by the four-run deficit and responded with a five-run inning in the seventh. The Penguins sent 10 batters to the plate, and the O'Shaughnessy brothers drove in five runs in the inning. Braeden O'Shaughnessy hit a two-run homer with Seth Lucero on board to make the score 10-8, and the Penguins got within a run when Dylan Swarmer plated D'Eusanio on a sacrifice fly. Following a Franken single that loaded the bases, Padraig O'Shaughnessy delivered a two-run single to right that gave the Penguins an 11-10 lead.
That advantage was YSU's final of the day as Milwaukee scored three runs on one hit in the eighth to go up 13-11. Two walks by Casey Marshalwitz put runners on for DeYoung, who hit a three-run blast off closer Nathan Ball.
Youngstown State stranded two runners in the bottom of the eighth, and Goodman hit a two-out grand slam in the top of the ninth to provide a six-run cushion. YSU got two-out RBI singles from Braeden O'Shaughnessy and D'Eusanio in the bottom of the ninth for the final margin.
Milwaukee reliever Keagon Kaufmann was awarded the victory despite allowing two runs on two hits in one inning of work. Marshalwitz was charged with the loss after permitting a pair of runs with two walks and two strikeouts in two thirds of an inning.
The Penguins and Panthers will conclude their three-game Horizon League series on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on YSNLive.com.
