The Youngstown State baseball team dropped a 20-4 decision to Kansas State in the series opener on Friday at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.
The Wildcats scored in each of the first five frames and pulled away with an 11-run seventh inning.
Youngstown State falls to 3-11 overall while Kansas State improves to 9-5.
Turner Grau went 2-for-5 with three RBIs while Trey Law was 2-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and two stolen bases. Matt Thompson and Andre Good also had two hits apiece for the Penguins.
YSU starter Travis Perry suffered the loss after allowing five runs on four hits and six walks over three innings of work.
Kansas State grabbed an early lead with a run in the bottom half of the first inning. Brendan Jones drew a leadoff walk and proceeded to steal second and third before scoring on an RBI groundout by Nick Goodwin to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Youngstown State responded immediately in the top of the second to even the score at 1-1. Steven D'Eusanio reached on an error, advanced to third on a single by Thompson and scored on an RBI single from Good.
The Wildcats regained the lead with two runs on two hits in the home half of the second inning. Cash Rugely drew a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly from Raphael Pelletier. Goodwin brought home the second run of the frame with another sacrifice fly to give K-State a 3-1 edge.
Kansas State pushed its lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the third when Orlando Salinas drew a two-out walk and Rugely followed with a two-run home run to center field. The Wildcats increased their advantage to 7-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Roberto Pena hit a leadoff double and Jones followed with a two-run homer to left field.
The Penguins got back on the board with a single run in the top of the fifth inning. Law hit a one-out single, stole second and came around to score when Grau reached on a dropped fly ball to right field.
K-State got its lead back to six runs at 8-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Cole Johnson reached on an error and came around to score on an RBI single by Rugely.
YSU cut KSU's lead to 8-3 in the top of the seventh inning when Law drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Grau.
Kansas State answered with 11 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and one in the eighth to build a double-digit lead.
Law hit a leadoff double and scored on an RBI groundout by Grau in the top of the ninth for the final margin.
KSU starter Owen Boerema allowed two unearned runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts over six innings to earn the victory.
Pena went 3-for-6 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored to pace the Wildcats offensively. Goodwin and Rugely each drove in five runs.
The Penguins and Wildcats will continue their three-game series on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
