Turner Grau went 3-for-4 and drove in pair of runs as the Youngstown State baseball team outlasted Akron, 8-5, on Tuesday afternoon at Eastwood Field.
The Penguins improve to 8-32 while the Zips fall to 14-26.
Steven D'Eusanio and RJ Sherwood each went 2-of-4 for the Penguins. D'Eusanio scored twice and Sherwood drove in a pair of runs to join Grau in the multi-RBI parade.
Freshman Cam Marshalwitz picked up his first win of his YSU career while his brother, Casey Marshalwitz, earned his second save of the year by pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Kenny Misik had a solid start for the Penguins pitching three scoreless innings with a strikeout and allowing just one hit.
The Penguins struck first with a three-run second inning to take a 3-0 advantage. Grau led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on Matt Thompson's walk.
After Andre Good's flyout to center moved the runners up a base, Ian Francis' sacrifice fly plated Grau. Two pitches later, Sherwood clubbed a two-run home run to dead center field for the three-run lead.
The Zips scored once in the fifth on a solo home run by Ty Stolarski and another in the sixth when Jack Poist singled, advanced to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch.
D'Eusanio led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to center and came around to score on Grau's two-run homer into the YSU bullpen as the Penguins went back in front 5-2.
With two outs and two on in the top of the seventh inning, Akron's Jack Firestone knotted the game at 5-5 with a three-run home run to right off Marshalwitz.
The Penguins responded with their own three-run frame in the bottom half of the inning. Joe Suarez walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a failed pick-off attempt. He later scored on a wild pitch. After Padraig O'Shaughnessy walked, pinch-runner Chase Franken advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on D'Eusanio's double down the left-field line. D'Eusanio then scored on a passed ball.
In the top of the eighth, Cam Marshalwitz opened the inning with a strikeout and YSU turned a nifty 5-4-3 double play to keep the three-run cushion. In the ninth, Casey Marshalwitz retired the first batter he faced on a ground out to first before striking out the final two Zips to seal the victory.
It was YSU's first victory over Akron since March 24, 2015. It was the first meeting between the programs since April 29, 2015. The Guins will play the Zips on May 16 at Canal Park in downtown Akron.
The Penguins host Milwaukee in a three-game series beginning Friday. First pitch against the Panthers is slated for 5 p.m. at Eastwood Field.
