The Youngstown State baseball team rallied from a three-run deficit to tie the game late before Baylor scored once in the seventh and once in the eighth to earn a 9-7 victory in the series finale on Sunday at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas.
Youngstown State falls to 3-9 overall while Baylor improves to 4-8. With two wins over the Bears in the series, the Penguins have now collected four victories over Power Five opponents in the last two seasons.
Eli Brown went 2-for-2 with an RBI double, two walks and two runs scored. Trey Law was 2-for-3 with an RBI single and a run scored while Braeden O'Shaughnessy went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Steven D'Eusanio doubled and drove in two runs while Turner Grau and Eddie Saucedo also added RBIs for the Penguins.
YSU starter Patrick Gumto allowed four runs on three hits in one inning of work. Zach Stayduhar was responsible for three runs, one of them earned, on three hits with a career-high three strikeouts over a career-high three innings pitched. Kenny Misik and Trey Pancake combined to throw three innings of scoreless relief before Braden Gebhardt surrendered two runs on three hits over two innings to suffer the loss.
The Penguins took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Law hit a leadoff single, advanced to third on a one-out single by Braeden O'Shaughnessy and scored on an RBI groundout by D'Eusanio.
The Bears answered immediately in the home half of the first inning with four runs on three hits to take a 4-1 lead. Kolby Branch hit a leadoff double and Kobe Andrade followed with a walk to set up an RBI single by Hunter Simmons. Later in the frame, Hunter Teplanszky brought home a run with an RBI groundout before Cole Posey delivered a two-out, two-run double.
YSU pulled within 4-3 with two runs on three hits in the top of the second inning. Clay Wiesen hit a leadoff single up the middle and scored on a two-out RBI double by Brown. Law followed with an RBI single that plated Brown to make it a one-run game.
Baylor extended its advantage to 6-3 with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the second. Austin Stracener drew a leadoff walk, raced to third on a dropped fly ball and scored on an RBI groundout by Simmons. Branch, who reached on the dropped fly ball, came around to score on a wild pitch to give the Bears a three-run lead.
The Bears added a single run in the bottom of the fourth to push their lead to 7-3. Branch and Andrade hit back-to-back infield singles before Simmons brought home Branch with an RBI single to center field.
The Penguins pulled back within a run at 7-6 with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning. Saucedo, Brown and Law drew three straight walks before Grau plated Saucedo by reaching on a fielder's choice. Braeden O'Shaughnessy then brought home Brown with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Youngstown State tied the game at 7-7 in the top of the seventh when Wiesen was hit by a pitch and Saucedo came through with a two-out RBI double to right field.
Baylor moved back in front 8-7 in the home half of the seventh when Teplanszky hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on an RBI bunt single by Bergman. The Bears added an insurance run in bottom of the eighth when Andrade hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch.
Branch went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored while Simmons was 2-for-4 with a game-high three RBIs for the Bears.
Ethan Calder was awarded the victory after allowing one run on one hit with three strikeouts over 2.1 innings of relief. Grant Golomb worked a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his first save of the season.
Youngstown State will play its first midweek contest of the season on Tuesday at Kent State. First pitch from Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium is set for 3 p.m.
