Matt Thompson hit a grand slam in a six-run sixth inning, and the Youngstown State baseball team beat Milwaukee 11-8 on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Eastwood Field.

Thompson's blast between the batter's eye and the scoreboard in right-center came after Brett Stanley's two-run double that had broken a 5-5 tie earlier in the inning. Youngstown State's only deficit was 1-0 after two innings, and the Penguins erased that with four runs in the third.

The Penguins scored 11 runs on nine hits and eight walks, and they took advantage of opportunities with runners on base as they stranded just five. All 11 runs came after there were two outs.

Trey Law had a game-high three hits from the leadoff spot in the lineup for Youngstown State, and Stanley finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs from the second spot. The top four batters each scored twice for the Penguins, who had an impressive response after being swept by the Panthers in a doubleheader on Saturday.

While the offense put up 11 runs, Youngstown State's bullpen held the Panthers to one run on three hits in a four-inning stretch from the fifth through eighth innings. Casey Marshalwitz earned the victory by throwing three innings of relief and allowing one run on two hits while striking out three.

Milwaukee's 1-0 lead came when Carson Hansen homered to lead off the top of the second. YSU starter Sloan Ulrich worked around two singles later in the inning to keep the deficit at one, and the offense erupted for four runs in the bottom of the third.

After Milwaukee starter Owen Rice struck out the first two batters of the inning, Law and Stanley hit back-to-back singles to get two runners on. Consecutive walks to Alejandro Covas and Ian Francis brought the first run in, and Stanley scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. A third straight walk re-loaded the bases for Teddy Ruffner, who hit a two-run single to up the margin to 4-1.

Milwaukee had four straight two-out hits in a two-run fourth inning that brought the score to 4-3, and Eli Brown was hit by a pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Stanley in YSU's half of the fourth to make it 5-3.

The Panthers tied the game with a two-run single by Zach Lane in the top of the fifth, and they had a chance to take the lead later in the inning with Lane on third with one out. Thomas Otto hit a chopper to Stanley at third, and catcher Jack Johnson made a great defensive play to field a low throw and tag out Lane at the plate to prevent the go-ahead run.

Youngstown State's two-out offense came through again in a big way in the sixth, and it ended up being the difference in the game. Brown hit a one-out single to left and moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch, and reliever Keagon Kaufmann retired Johnson before handing the ball to James Severson out of the bullpen. Severson got behind Law and eventually walked him intentionally, and Stanley followed with a two-run double down the left field line that plated Brown and Law.

Severson walked Covas and Francis to load the bases, and Thompson delivered the big blow with a grand slam to right-center on a 2-1 pitch that made the score 11-5.

Teige Lethert doubled and scored for the Panthers in the eighth, and Milwaukee scored twice and got the tying run to the plate in the ninth before Chris Domke struck out Andrew Jimenez on three pitches to end the game.

Ulrich struck out five batters in four innings and worked around eight hits and two walks in a no-decision. Aidan English got three outs in the fifth after coming in with runners on in the inning, and Domke allowed the two runs in the ninth.

Youngstown State will play four road games next week, starting with a contest at Bowling Green on Wednesday at 3 p.m.