Niles, Ohio -- A pair of Division I transfers powered the Youngstown State baseball team to a 4-2 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday in the Penguins' home and Horizon League openers.
Jacob Gehring, a transfer from Ohio State, pitched eight strong innings to earn his first victory at YSU, and Teddy Ruffner, who arrived from UNC Wilmington, hit a key three-run double in the third inning to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead. YSU led 4-2 as Gehring handed the ball to Casey Marshalwitz, and the fifth-year senior allowed two baserunners before striking out the next three hitters.
Ruffner finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Alejandro Covas also had two hits and scored a run. The Penguins finished with eight hits, while the Mastodons had five. Justin Osterhouse led Purdue Fort Wayne at the plate going 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Youngstown State won for the second straight game and is now 2-15 overall, while the Mastodons are 6-13.
The Penguins had three hits in their three-run third, and they held the advantage the rest of the night. Trey Law hit a leadoff single to center, and, following a fielder's choice, Ian Francis singled to left to put two runners on. Mastodon starter Mac Ayres got a strikeout for the second inning, but he walked Matt Thompson to load the bases for Ruffner. Ruffner lined the first pitch of his at bat for a double down the left-field line, and all three runners scored without a throw to the plate.
Ben Higgins hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth to get the Mastodons on the board, and YSU answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth as Trey Pancake walked and scored on a double play.
Starting with Higgins' sacrifice fly, Gehring retired eight straight batters before walking Osterhouse to lead off the top of the seventh. He scored three batters later after a single by Higgins and consecutive flyouts.
Gehring worked around a two-out double in the eighth to finish his first start in the home whites. The junior right-hander allowed just four hits and three walks while striking out six batters, and he threw 108 pitches. Marshalwitz allowed an infield single and a walk to bring the go-ahead runner to the plate, and he struck out the final three batters in Purdue Fort Wayne's lineup to earn his first save.
Ayres was charged with all four runs for Purdue Fort Wayne, and he allowed seven hits while striking out seven in five innings. Owen Willard pitched three shutout innings out of the bullpen.
Youngstown State will try to take game two of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m.
