Niles, Ohio -- Alejandro Covas broke Youngstown State's record for triples in a season, and Jacob Gehring earned a complete game victory as the Penguins beat Oakland 10-4 on Friday evening at Eastwood Field.
Covas hit his eighth triple in the fourth inning to put YSU ahead 6-3, and the Penguins outscored the Golden Grizzlies 7-1 after the top of the third. The freshman from Peninsula, Ohio, also hit his third homer of the campaign, and Teddy Ruffner also hit a home run for Youngstown State.
On the mound, Gehring pitched his first career complete game and the first by a Penguins pitcher in nearly two years. The junior from Canfield, Ohio, threw 108 pitches while scattering eight hits and walking one. He struck out five batters, and Oakland's four runs came on three home runs.
The Penguins outhit the Golden Grizzlies 15-8, and Eli Brown posted a game-best three hits. Covas, Ian Francis, Matt Thompson and Ruffner had two hits apiece, and all nine Penguins had at least one hit.
Youngstown State set the tone in the first inning as Gehring worked around his only walk and the Penguins backed their starter with three runs in the bottom half. Trey Law started the inning with a hustle double and, with the second baseman playing up the middle to keep Law close, Brett Stanley singled through the right side to plate the first run. Matt Thompson then hit a bloop single to center that plated Stanley, and Brown continued his blistering week at the plate with a two-out, RBI double to left-center that brought in Francis.
The Golden Grizzlies scored the next three runs as Brandon Heidal homered in the second, and Brandon Nigh hit a two-out, two-run homer in the third to the score. Gehring thought he was out of the inning on a two-out, two-strike pitch to John Lauinger that was just off the corner, and the left fielder singled to left to set the stage for Nigh.
The Penguins answered immediately in the bottom half as Francis hit a one-out triple and scored on a ground out by Thompson. Ruffner then reached on an infield single, and Brown followed with an RBI triple to make it 5-3.
Covas' record-breaking triple sailed over the centerfielder's head on a 1-2 pitch with two outs in the fourth, and he plated RJ Sherwood to up the advantage to 6-3. Ruffner hit a solo homer to left field in the fifth to make it a 7-3 lead, and Oakland's final run came in the top of the seventh on a solo home run by Trent Rice.
Jack Johnson's two-out, two-strike single to left plated Brown and Thompson in the seventh, and Covas hit a solo blast in the eighth for the final tally.
The Penguins recorded 11 hits in 4.1 innings off of Oakland starter Hunter Pidek, who allowed seven runs in a losing effort. The Penguins scored twice in 2.1 innings off Tanner Ware, and Covas' homer came off of Gage Smith.
Youngstown State and Oakland will play the second game of their three-game series on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Penguins will honor members of the 2004 and 2014 Horizon League Baseball Championship teams before the game as those squads celebrate the 20th and 10th anniversaries of their tournament titles.
