The Youngstown State baseball team scored eight unanswered runs and came from behind to beat UIC for the second straight day with a 10-6 victory on Friday afternoon at Eastwood Field. The contest was the annual School Day Game, presented by Akron Children's Hospital of the Mahoning Valley, and an estimated 3,200 area students were in attendance.
Youngstown State led 2-0 after an inning, but UIC scored three runs in the top of the second to take a 3-2 lead. The Penguins tied the score in the bottom of second, took the lead with two runs in the fifth and blew the game open with seven singles in a five-run sixth. The Flames scored three runs and brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the eighth, but YSU senior reliever Chad Coles slammed the door to record his first save of the season.
YSU, after winning 6-4 on Thursday, has already won the series by taking the first two games this week against the Flames. The Penguins will try to complete the sweep on Saturday in the final game of the 2022 regular season. Youngstown State has already clinched a spot in the Horizon League Baseball Championship.
After rain delayed the start by 1:35, the game itself took 3:34 on a long day at the ballpark.
Eight different Penguins combined for 16 hits, and Padraig O'Shaughnessy and Dylan Swarmer both had three hits from the seventh and eighth spots in YSU's lineup. Steven D'Eusanio was 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and Braeden O'Shaughnessy, Dominick Bucko and Trey Law also had two hits.
YSU starter Jon Snyder got a 4-6-3 double play to erase a leadoff walk in the top of the first, and the Penguins gave their starter a 2-0 cushion in the bottom half with RBI singles from Braeden O'Shaughnessy and D'Eusanio.
Two walks, a double, a single and a wild pitch resulted in three runs for UIC in the top of the second as the Flames took a 3-2 lead. With a runner on third, Law made a nice defensive play running to his right at shortstop to retire Ryan Lin-Peistrup and save a run.
The Penguins loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third and scored the tying run on Turner Grau's ground out, and the score remained 3-3 until the bottom of the fifth.
Alex Cardona came on to record the final out with two runners on in the bottom of the fourth for the Penguins, and Travis Perry took the ball to start the fifth and provided three solid innings of relief. Perry picked off a runner in a scoreless fifth, and the offense gave him immediate support with two runs in the bottom half.
Braeden O'Shaughnessy reached on an error to start the inning, and a walk to Bucko and a wild pitch put runners on second and third. O'Shaughnessy scored on D'Eusanio's sacrifice fly to give YSU a 4-3 lead, and Andre Good greeted reliever Sam Menegat by singling on his first offering and plating Bucko from second.
The Penguins extended their lead to 10-3 when they sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the sixth, and seven different players singled. After Lucas Nasonti hit a leadoff single, UIC failed to convert a possible double play that resulted in a fielder's choice. The Penguins made the Flames pay for the missed opportunity by scoring five runs runs, two of which scored after there were two outs. Bucko singled in Grau for the first run, and D'Eusanio followed two a two-run single to center to make the score 8-3. With two outs, Padraig O'Shaughnessy beat the shift with an opposite-field single that scored D'Eusanio, and Law's RBI single made the advantage 10-3.
UIC cut into the lead with three runs in the top of the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate before Nasonti made a diving catch and a fully-extended catch on a sprint in left center to end the inning. Lin-Peistrup and Bryan Rosario walked with the bases loaded to force two runs in, and Coles came on with the bases loaded and nobody out to work out of the jam. He got Cole Conn to fly out for the first out, and Breck Nowik's brought in a run on a sacrifice fly on Nasonti's diving catch. Ryan Nagelbach gave a 1-1 pitch a ride into deep left center, but Nasonti tracked down what could have been a bases-clearing, extra-base hit.
Coles worked around a two-out walk in the top of the ninth to complete a six-out save.
Snyder, a fifth-year senior, pitched 3.2 innings and allowed three runs on three hits and five walks before handing the ball to Cardona for the final out in the fourth. Perry earned his third victory of the campaign, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks over three innings that provided stability out of the bullpen. The first two runs of the eighth went against Perry, and Nick Perez was charged with the other run.
Bobby Grimes and Conn each had two hits for UIC, which finished with eight hits and stranded 12 runners. Flames starter Tyler Ingram lasted just 1.1 innings and allowed three runs, and Joey Morris was charged with the loss after allowing two runs in three innings. The Penguins scored at least two runs off of all four UIC pitchers who took the mound.
Youngstown State will try to complete the series sweep as it hosts UICÂ in the regular-season finale on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for noon, and YSU will honor its seniors in a ceremony beginning at 11:30 a.m.
