Niles, Ohio -- Purdue Fort Wayne scored eight runs in the fifth inning and went on to defeat the Youngstown State baseball team 13-3 in seven innings on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Eastwood Field.

The Penguins scored the first three runs of the game, but the Mastodons scored the final 13, 12 of which came in the final three innings. YSU won the series opener 4-2 on Friday, and the teams will play the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Mastodons starter Carter Sabol held the Penguins to four hits over six innings while issuing three walks and striking out seven. Two of the three runs on his record were unearned. Two Purdue Fort Wayne pitchers combined to retire the Penguins in order in the bottom of the seventh and protect the 10-run lead that led to the shortened game.

Purdue Fort Wayne, which had five hits on Friday, erupted for 19 hits on Saturday, and three Mastodons had three hits apiece.

Youngstown State built a 3-0 lead on just one hit in the top of the second. Teddy Ruffner drew a one-out walk, and the Penguins got an extra out and baserunner when Eli Brown reached on a throwing error on a third strike. Trey Pancake then ripped a 2-2 pitch over the centerfielder's head for a two-run triple to plate Ruffner and Brown for the game's first two runs. Joe Suarez followed with a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Pancake and give the Penguins a 3-0 lead.

The Mastodons, who had three hits but did not score in the top of the second, got a two-out run in the top of the third when Grant Thoroman hit an RBI triple to right to get within 3-1. YSU had a chance to build on the lead but stranded two runners in the third and fourth innings, and Purdue Fort Wayne sent 12 batters to the plate on an eight-run fifth that titled the decision in its favor. The Mastodons had nine hits in the inning, five of which came off of starter Sloan Ulrich and four off of reliever Braden Gebhardt.

Ben Higgins hit a two-run homer for Purdue Fort Wayne in the sixth, and the Mastodons added two more runs in the seventh to take a 13-3 lead.

Ulrich was charged with six runs on 11 hits, and he struck out six batters in 4.1 innings. Gebhardt was charged with three of the eight runs that came across in the fifth inning, and Gavin Wilms surrendered three earned runs and four tallies overall in two innings.