The Youngstown State baseball team survived a late push from Pitt to prevail for a 7-6 victory in 10 innings on Wednesday afternoon at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Penguins plated three runs in the first inning before the Panthers responded with two runs in the home half of the second. YSU scored twice in the fourth and once in the sixth before Pitt added a single run in the seventh. The Panthers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to erase a 6-3 deficit and force extra innings.
Trey Law hit a two-out double in the top of the 10th and scored when Derrick Tarpley Jr. reached on a misplayed fly ball to right field to give YSU a 7-6 advantage. Freshman right-hander Chris Domke worked around a one-out single in the bottom of the 10th to secure YSU's first victory of the 2024 season.
The Penguins have now won six of the last nine meetings with the Panthers overall. YSU picked up its fourth straight win over Pitt at Charles L. Cost Field and its seventh win over an ACC opponent during Dan Bertolini's tenure as head coach. Youngstown State now has a win over Pitt in each of the last five seasons that the two programs have faced off. The Guins have also collected six wins over Power Five opponents over the last three seasons.
Law went 4-for-5 with a double and four runs scored while Tarpley Jr. was 3-for-6 with an RBI single. RJ Sherwood went 2-for-5 with a double and a two-run single as the Penguins outhit the Panthers 13-11 for the contest.
YSU starter Colin Casteel allowed two runs on five hits with three strikeouts over 4.1 innings. Niall Todd recorded the final two outs of the fifth inning before Nick Perez permitted one run on three hits over three strong innings of relief. Casey Marshalwitz earned the win after allowing three runs in one inning while Domke picked up his first career save.
The Penguins jumped ahead quickly with three runs on two hits in the top of the first inning. Law hit a leadoff double, Alejandro Covas walked and Matt Thompson was hit by a pitch to set up a two-out, two-run single by Sherwood. Thompson was able to score when Eli Brown reached on an error to put YSU in front 3-0.
The Panthers pulled within a run in the bottom of the second as Justin Fogel hit a leadoff single and Josh Spiegel followed with a two-run home run to right center field.
Youngstown State pushed its lead back to three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Joe Suarez was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a single by Law and scored on an RBI single by Tarpley Jr. Ian Francis followed with an RBI groundout to plate Law and give the Penguins a 5-2 edge.
YSU added a single run in the top of the sixth as Law drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Covas.
Pitt pushed across a single run in the home half of the seventh to get within 6-3 as Dom Popa was hit by a pitch and came around to score when C.J. Funk grounded into a double play.
The Panthers mustered three runs on two hits in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 6-6. Marshalwitz issued three walks to load the bases and Fogel brought home the first run of the frame with a fielder's choice. Spiegel then delivered a two-out, two-run single to even the score and force extras.
Pitt starter Kyle Mosley allowed three runs, two of them earned, on four hits in 1.1 innings on the mound. Matt Fernandez was saddled with the loss after allowing a single unearned run on four hits in four innings of relief.
Youngstown State will play its 2024 home and Horizon League opener against Purdue Fort Wayne at Eastwood Field on Friday at 5 p.m. as part of a three-game series. The Penguins and Mastodons will proceed to play on Saturday at 3 p.m. before closing the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
For the latest news and updates throughout the 2024 season, follow @YSUBaseball on X and Instagram.
