Oakland scored at least three runs in three different innings and held off a charge by the Youngstown State baseball team to win 14-9 on Friday in the series finale at the Oakland Baseball Field.
The Golden Grizzlies led 6-3 after two innings, and they built their lead to 10-4 through seven. Andre Good hit a grand slam as part of a five-run eighth inning for the Penguins to get them to within a run at 10-9, but Oakland answered with four runs in the bottom half for the final tally.
Braeden O'Shaughnessy led Youngstown State with three hits from the leadoff spot in the lineup, and seven different Penguins had hits in the game. Turner Grau belted a solo homer as part of a two-hit day, Matt Thompson also had two hits, and Good hit the grand slam for his fourth home run of the campaign.
Ian Cleary and Gabe Lux both had three hits, and the top four batters in Oakland's lineup combined for nine hits.
O'Shaughnessy started the day, which was delayed for two hours due to rain, with a double to right, and he scored two batters later on Steven D'Eusanio's sacrifice fly to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
Lux and Brandon Nigh walked to start Oakland's half of the first, and both came around to score as the Golden Grizzlies took a 2-1 lead. The Penguins struck right back on their next turn at the plate with two unearned runs to go up 3-2. Thompson led off with a single and eventually scored on a balk, and Carter Koick reached on an infield hit and scored on a go-ahead RBI single by RJ Sherwood.
Lux tied the score with an RBI single with one out in the second, and Oakland went on to score four times in the inning to take a 6-3 lead. The Penguins had two errors in the inning that led to two unearned runs, and they had to play from behind for the rest of the game. The Golden Grizzlies scored two more unearned runs during a three-run fifth that put them up 9-3.
Grau's second home run of the season came with one out in the sixth and shrunk the deficit to 9-4, and Oakland got that run back in the bottom of the sixth when Lux hit a leadoff double and scored on a double-play grounder.
Youngstown State made one last push in the eighth as it scored five runs to get within 10-9. Padraig O'Shaughnessy led off with a double to right, and a D'Eusanio walk and Thompson single loaded the bases with one out. Good then hit his grand slam to right to shave four runs off the deficit with one swing. The Penguins added an unearned run before the inning was over as Kocik reached on a two-out error and raced home on Braeden O'Shaughnessy's single.
The Penguins couldn't get a shutdown inning from the bullpen in the bottom of the inning, and Oakland negated Good's grand slam by scoring four runs for the final result.
Travis Perry started and pitched five innings for the Penguins, and five of the nine runs he surrendered were earned in the loss. Brandin Anderson pitched two innings and was charged with three of the runs in the eighth, and Casey Marshalwitz yielded the other two runs in the inning. Zach Stayduhar came on to record the final three outs of the frame.
Oakland starter Travis Densmore allowed two earned runs and four runs overall in 6.2 innings to earn the victory. The Penguins scored five runs off of relievers Ben Paugh and Noah Stants, and Brandon Decker came on to record his fourth save.
The Penguins will play four games at Eastwood Field next week, beginning with a Tuesday contest against Akron. First pitch against the Zips is scheduled for 5 p.m.
