The Youngstown State baseball team dropped a midweek non-conference contest to Toledo by a final score of 19-6 on Tuesday afternoon at Scott Park.
The Rockets took an early lead with four runs in the bottom of the first before the Penguins cut the deficit in half with single runs in the third and fourth innings. Toledo struck for eight runs in the bottom of the fourth before adding six runs in the fifth to pull away for its third straight victory in the series.
RJ Sherwood hit a three-run home run for YSU while Alejandro Covas went 2-for-3 with an RBI triple and scored a run. Trey Law went 2-for-4 while Brett Stanley recorded an RBI single and scored a run.
YSU starter Mitchell Seymour, who was one of 10 pitchers to appear for the Penguins, suffered the loss after allowing four runs on three hits in his lone inning on the mound. Nolan Kubilus, Gavin Wilms and Cam Marshalwitz each came on to toss a scoreless inning of relief.
The Rockets jumped ahead with four runs in the home half of the first inning. Owen Jackson hit a two-out single, Luke Walton followed with a double and Tre Mariano walked to load the bases. Trey Wright then sent a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left field for a grand slam to give Toledo a 4-0 edge.
The Penguins got on the board with a single run in the top of the third inning. Brown reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to second on a single from Law and scored on an RBI single by Stanley.
YSU was able to cut Toledo's lead to 4-2 with another single tally in the top of the fourth inning. Matt Thompson drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on a throwing error after stealing third base.
The Rockets responded with eight runs in bottom of the fourth inning to extend their advantage to 12-2.
The Penguins scored their third run of the game in the top of the fifth as Brown reached with a leadoff single and scored on a two-out RBI triple to right center from Covas.
Toledo went on to plate six runs in the fifth and one in the seventh to build a 19-3 advantage before Sherwood hit his three-run blast to left center in the top of the eighth for the final margin.
Toledo starter Kyle Pijaszek was awarded the victory after one scoreless inning of work. Ryan Hughes came on to begin the second inning as one of seven Rockets relievers to record at least one inning on the bump.
The Penguins will return to Eastwood Field on Thursday to begin a three-game Horizon League series with Northern Kentucky at 5 p.m. Live audio will be available for all three games at YSNLive.com.
For the latest news and updates throughout the 2024 season, follow @YSUBaseball on X and Instagram.
