Niles, Ohio -- The Youngstown State baseball team held a 13-11 edge in the hits column, but the Penguins issued 11 walks and couldn't take advantage of scoring opportunities in the middle innings as they fell 13-8 to Kent State on Tuesday afternoon at Eastwood Field.
Trey Law had a game-high three hits, and Youngstown State's top five hitters in the lineup each had two hits or more.
The Penguins trailed 10-0 early, but they kept battling and got to within 10-7 after eight innings. Inning-ending double plays in the seventh and eighth hurt their chances of closing the gap even more, and Kent State scored three runs in the top of the ninth to gain late separation.
The Penguins hit three triples in the game, and freshman Alejandro Covas tied the program's single-season record with his seventh triple. He ties Turner Grau (2021 and 2023) and Lou Vassalotti (1994) with at least a month left in the season.
All nine Kent State starters had at least one hit, and the Golden Flashes finished with 11 as a team. Eight of those hits came in the first three innings.
Kyle Jackson hit a two-run homer for Kent State in the top of the first, and the back-to-back singles to start the second led to two more Golden Flashes runs as the visitors took a 4-0 lead.
Kent State then had six of its first seven batters reach in the third as it batted around and added six runs to its advantage. Josh Johnson delivered a two-run single with the bases loaded to make it 8-0, and Tim Orr's RBI triple upped the margin to 10-0.
Gavin Wilms came on to get the final two outs of the top of the third for YSU, and the Penguins showed fight behind the freshman right-hander. Youngstown State had four straight hits in the bottom of the third as it scored four runs to immediately cut into the deficit.
Law hit a one-out single to provide the spark, and Brett Stanley and Covas followed with back-to-back triples to get two runs across. Ian Francis then hit a 1-2 pitch into the left-field bullpen for his third home run of the season to make the score 10-4.
Starting with the two outs he recorded to end the third, Wilms retired 12 straight batters before allowing a one-out walk in the seventh. He finished the seventh to end an outstanding outing, and Brandin Anderson worked out of trouble in a scoreless eighth.
The Penguins had a chance to cut into the six-run deficit while Wilms was blanking the Golden Flashes, but they missed on chances in the sixth and seventh and had an opportunity for a bigger total in their three-run eighth.
Thompson hit a leadoff triple in the sixth, YSU's third three-bagger of the game, but the Penguins couldn't get him home. Kent State reliever Gavin Jones induced an infield popup and a strikeout, then worked around a walk before another strikeout to end the inning. Youngstown State then had runners at second and third with one out and lined into a double play to end the seventh.
In the eighth, Thompson hit a leadoff double, and Teddy Ruffner and Eli Brown followed with singles to bring in a run. Pinch-hitter Chase Franken then walked to load the bases, and RJ Sherwood's sacrifice fly made it 10-6. Law followed with a single to right on a hit-and-run to plate Brown and bring the tying run to the plate, but Stanley grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.
Kent State answered with three runs on three hits and two walks in the top of the ninth to reclaim the six-run advantage. In the bottom of the ninth, Covas was hit by a pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly.
YSU starter Colin Casteel allowed four runs in 1.1 innings and was charged with the loss, and the Golden Flashes scored six runs off of Cam Marshalwitz.
Wilms had the best day of any pitcher on Tuesday, blanking the Golden Flashes over 4.2 innings while striking out six batters. Anderson was charged with the three runs in the ninth.
The Penguins scored four runs off of Kent State starter Benny Roebuck, and Gavin Jones pitched 3.1 shutout innings of middle relief to earn his second victory of the season. YSU's final four runs came off of Jacob Beam, who recorded the final eight outs for the Golden Flashes.
Youngstown State will host another Mid-American Conference opponent on Wednesday as Akron will come to Eastwood Field. First pitch against the Zips is set for 5 p.m.
