Niles, Ohio -- Eli Brown hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Youngstown State baseball team rallied to beat Akron 10-9 on Wednesday evening at Eastwood Field.
The Penguins trailed 6-0 after two innings, but they scored the next nine runs to take a 9-6 lead. Akron tied the game in the eighth, and Brown's RBI single in the ninth plated Matt Thompson from third and gave Youngstown State a season sweep of the Zips.
After YSU's Chris Domke got a big flyout to end the top of the ninth with the bases loaded, Thompson singled up the middle on an 0-2 pitch to start the bottom half of the inning. Two wild pitches allowed Thompson to move to third and forced the infield to play in, and Brown lined a single over the second baseman's head with the count full for the game-winner.
Brown finished 4-for-5 at the plate and drove in four runs, and Thompson and Ian Francis both had two hits. That trio helped the Penguins hold a 12-6 advantage in the hits column.
While the game had 19 runs, all of the scoring was done in five half innings.
Akron jumped out to a big lead with a six-run second inning despite having just two hits in the frame. There were two walks and three hit batters in the inning, and the Zips took advantage of the control deficiencies and an error. Austin Lafferty plated the first two runs on a single with the bases loaded, and Evan Bottone delivered the big blow with a three-run triple to right once the Zips reloaded the bases.
Youngstown State got back in the game with four unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth that made the score 6-4. Francis and Thompson hit back-to-back two-out singles, and a throwing error allowed Francis to score and extended the inning. Eli Brown followed with a two-run double to right-center that plated Thompson and Teddy Ruffner. Jack Johnson then singled to right, and Brown raced home and made a great slide to avoid the tag at the plate for the fourth run of the inning.
The Penguins then took their first lead of the game by scoring five runs in the bottom of the seventh. The first five batters of the inning reached base, and YSU loaded the bases as RJ Sherwood and Trey Law singled and Brett Stanley was hit by a pitch. Alejandro Covas was down 0-2 in the count but worked a walk to bring in the first run, and Francis delivered a two-strike, two-run double to left that put the Penguins ahead 7-6.
After an infield popup, Teddy Ruffner singled in Covas, and Brown plated Francis on a bunt single that extended the margin to 9-6.
Akron immediately tied the score in the top of the eighth as Charlie Schebler hit an RBI double and Max Bowman hit a two-run single. YSU reliever Casey Marshalwitz struck out the final two Zips batters of the inning to keep the score tied, and Domke worked around two walks and a hit batter in the ninth to set the stage for Thompson and Brown.
YSU starter Lane Rhodes was charged with all six runs in the second inning in a no-decision. The Penguins got outstanding middle relief from Nolan Kubilus and Mitchell Seymour, who kept the Zips scoreless in 5.1 combined innings. Kubilus came on in the second inning and proceeded to get 12 outs while allowing just one hit, and Seymour got the final out of the sixth and pitched a shutout seventh. Marshalwitz had three runs on his record from the eighth, and Domke earned his first career victory.
The Penguins scored four unearned runs off of Akron starter Elijah Griffith in five innings of work. Emmett Gillies was charged with four runs and did not record an out in the seventh, and YSU scored one run apiece off Yassir Kahook and Josiah Ross.
Youngstown State will begin a three-game Horizon League series against Oakland at Eastwood Field on Friday at 5 p.m. The Penguins and Golden Grizzlies will proceed to play on Saturday at 3 p.m. before closing the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. YSU will celebrate members of the 2004 and 2014 Horizon League Championship teams on Saturday.
