Purdue Fort Wayne hit four home runs and scored nine times with two outs to beat the Youngstown State baseball team 12-9 on Friday evening at Eastwood Field.
Cleanup batter Ben Higgins hit three of those home runs for the Mastodons, and Grant Thoroman hit a crucial three-run blast with two outs in the seventh inning after YSU had cut the deficit to 8-7.
While the Mastodons had 15 hits, YSU also had a solid night offensively with 12 hits, six of which went for extra bases. Eight different Penguins had hits, and Trey Law, Braeden O'Shaughnessy, Turner Grau and Andre Good each had two hits. O'Shaughnessy hit his fourth homer of the season and also doubled.
Higgins finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs and four runs scored, and leadoff batter Cade Nelis went 4-for-6 to lead the Mastodons. Purdue Fort Wayne scored in seven of the nine innings, and eight of its 12 runs came on homers.
Higgins hit his first homer in the top of the first to give the Mastodons a 2-0 lead, and Purdue Fort Wayne doubled its lead with a two-run single by Dylan Stewart from the ninth spot in the lineup in the top of the second.
The Penguins cut into the lead in the bottom of the second when Andre Good led off with a double and went the final 180 feet on a pair of 4-3 groundouts.
The Mastodons got the run back in the top of the third when Higgins cleared the wall in straightaway center, but YSU matched the visitors with a run in the bottom half. Grau drew a leadoff walk, and he scored five batters later on an infield single by Ian Francis.
Penguins starter Travis Perry retired the Mastodons in order in the top of the fourth, and the offense backed him by scoring three runs in the bottom half to tie the score. The top of the lineup delivered four straight hits, and Grau had the big hit in the inning with a two-run triple to center to plate Law and O'Shaughnessy. Steven D'Eusanio then hit a bloop single to right to drive in Grau and tie the score at 5-5.
Purdue Fort Wayne scored two unearned runs in the fifth to go back on top 7-5, and the Mastodons did not trail again. A throwing error gave them an extra out, and Higgins made the Penguins pay by going deep for the third time.
A two-out RBI single from Nelis in the top of the sixth put the Mastodons up 8-5, and YSU answered with a pair of runs on its turn at the plate. Grau led off with a lined single to right, and Padraig O'Shaughnessy doubled off the wall in center to put runners on second and third with one out. Grau raced home on an infield error for the first run, and O'Shaughnessy scored on an RBI single by Good.
Thoroman hit his three-run blast with two outs in the seventh to give Purdue Fort Wayne an 11-7 advantage. The Penguins quickly erased two runs from the deficit when Chase Franken tripled to set the stage for a towering two-run homer to left by Braeden O'Shaughnessy. That made the score 11-9, and Purdue Fort Wayne added an insurance run with two outs on a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth.
Perry pitched five innings and allowed seven runs, five of which were earned, on nine hits. He threw 91 pitches and struck out five batters while dropping to 3-2 this season. Braeden Gebhardt came out of the bullpen and nearly matched Perry in pitch count with 89, and he surrendered five runs on six hits in his 3.2 innings of work. Four of those were earned, and the freshman left-hander struck out three hitters.
The Penguins scored five runs on seven hits and five walks against Purdue Fort Wayne starter Mac Ayres, who lasted three innings. JD Deany earned his third win for the Mastodons despite allowing four runs in his four innings. Justin Miller retired all six batters he faced and recorded three strikeouts in two innings to post his second save.
The teams are scheduled to resume their three-game series at Eastwood Field on Saturday at 3 p.m. For weather-related updates, follow @YSUBaseball on Twitter.
