Matt Thompson hit a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Youngstown State baseball team survived for a 15-14 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on a windy and cold Saturday at Eastwood Field.

The Penguins trailed 4-2 after three innings, but Cam Marshalwitz was strong out of the bullpen and held the Mastodons scoreless until the eighth. That allowed YSU's offense to heat up, and the Penguins took a 14-4 lead through seven innings.

The Mastodons scored five runs in the eighth and five more in the ninth to tie the game at 14-14. That all went by the wayside as Thompson, a freshman infielder from Wadsworth, Ohio, singled home Braeden O'Shaughnessy from second base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Penguins the win in just under four hours.

The victory allowed YSU to even the series at a game apiece, and the Penguins will try to win the weekend on Sunday as the teams complete the three-game set.

Steven D'Eusanio reached base six times to lead the Penguins offensively, going 4-for-5 with three doubles, a walk and four RBIs. The Willoughby, Ohio, native tied the single-game school record of three doubles. He is the first Penguin to double three times in a game since Blaze Glenn had three doubles against St. Bonaventure on March 21, 2021. He also reached on an error in the bottom of the ninth that gave YSU an extra out and led to the game-winning hit by Thompson. Seven different YSU batters had hits, and Trey Law also provided firepower by going 3-for-6 with three RBIs from the leadoff spot in the lineup. RJ Sherwood hit a pair of doubles, drove in three runs and scored twice.

The Penguins took a 1-0 lead early when D'Eusanio drove in Turner Grau with a two-out double to right center. Grau was down 0-2 in the count before starting pitcher Jacob Myer threw four straight balls, and D'Eusanio's double came on the first pitch of his at bat.

Caileb Johnson hit a leadoff homer in the top of the second inning for the 'Dons to even the score at 1-1, but Penguins starter Nick Perez was able to work out of a jam to keep the game even. With the bases loaded and facing the top of the order, Perez struck out Cade Nelis and got Jacob Walker to fly out.

The Penguins answered with another two-out run in their half of the second as Thompson walked and raced home on Sherwood's RBI double to right center to make the score 2-1.

Purdue Fort Wayne took its only lead of the game when it scored three times in the top of the third to go ahead 4-2. Ben Higgins hit an RBI double to tie the score, and he came home on a ground out for the go-ahead run. The Mastodons were able to get another run across with three straight two-out singles, and they loaded the bases before Perez struck out Walker to end the inning and limit the damage.

The Penguins scored five runs on three hits and three walks in the fourth inning to take a 7-4 lead, and they never looked back after taking the upper hand. With one out, Ian Francis and Sherwood drew back-to-back walks, and Law followed with a single to load the bases. Braeden O'Shaughnessy brought in Francis and Sherwood with a two-out single to left, and Grau walked to re-load the bases. Bryce Martens came out of Purdue Fort Wayne's bullpen to face D'Eusanio, and the YSU first baseman greeted the reliever with a three-run double down the left-field line that put the Penguins ahead 7-4.

Francis reached on an error and scored on Law's RBI single in the bottom of the fifth as YSU increased its lead to 8-4, and the Penguins blew the game open with another five spot in the sixth. All of the damage came after Martens retired two of the first three batters of the inning. After a walk to Andre Good loaded the bases, Colin Bauer relieved Martens and threw a wild pitch and hit Francis to bring in a run and reload the bases. Sherwood then hit a two-run double to left that got the Penguins in double digits in the run column, and Law followed with a two-run single that upped the lead to 13-4.

Youngstown State added a run in the seventh as Grau and D'Eusanio led off with singles, and Grau scored on an infield single by Thompson.

The Mastodons shaved the 10-run deficit in half by scoring five times in the top of the eighth. Marshalwitz allowed a one-out RBI single and walked in a run, and he handed the ball off to his older brother Casey Marshalwitz with two outs, the bases loaded and the score 14-6. Bickel welcomed the older Marshalwitz with a bases-clearing double on a 1-2 pitch that made the score 14-9.

Three straight walks loaded the bases to start the top of the ninth, and Higgins brought in Nelis with an infield single to make the score 14-10. Patrick Gumto came on in relief of Brandin Anderson, and he surrendered a two-run double to Johnson and a sacrifice fly that made the score 14-13. Gumto got a clutch strikeout of Bickel for the second out with the tying run on third, but pinch-hitter Luke Miles singled off of new reliever Kenny Misik to plate the tying run.

In the bottom of the ninth, O'Shaughnessy drew a leadoff walk, and D'Eusanio's grounder to short was misplayed to put two runners on with one out. Following a strikeout, Thompson hit the first pitch of his at bat to a diving second baseman, allowing O'Shaughnessy to sprint home from second with the winning run.

Cam Marshalwitz allowed five runs on three hits over a career-high 4.2 innings of relief. He pitched four consecutive shutout innings, and he left with a 14-6 lead before three of his inherited runners scored to inflate his final totals. The freshman left-hander from Gibsonia, Pa., struck out four hitters and walked three while throwing 76 pitches out of the bullpen.

Perez was charged with four runs on seven hits and four walks in three innings in his start for the Penguins. No runs went on Casey Marshalwitz's record, and Anderson was charged with four runs in the ninth. The tying run went against Gumto, and Misik was awarded the victory by recording the final out in the ninth.

Myer allowed seven runs on five hits and six walks in 3.1 innings in the starting role for Purdue Fort Wayne. Brendan Reid was charged with the loss, allowing one run in the seventh and the winning run in the ninth. The game-winning hit came with Kevin Fee on the mound.

The series finale between the Penguins and Mastodons is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Follow @YSUBaseball on Twitter for the latest weather updates.