Niles, Ohio -- Wright State scored a single run in the top of the ninth inning to break a 3-3 tie and held on to defeat the Youngstown State baseball team 4-3 in the Horizon League series opener on Friday at Eastwood Field.
Friday's contest was played in front of more than 3,900 area students as part of the annual Akron Children's Hospital of Mahoning Valley School Day Game in partnership with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
The Penguins scored once in the bottom of the first inning, and the score remained the same until the Raiders evened the contest at 1-1 in the top of the fifth. Wright State plated a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to take a 3-1 lead before RJ Sherwood's two-run blast in the home half of the frame locked the score at 3-3. The Raiders pushed across a two-out run in the top of the ninth which proved to be the difference.
Seven different Penguins recorded a hit as the teams were tied in the hit column with seven apiece. Alejandro Covas doubled and drove in a run while Trey Law and Chase Franken each singled and scored a run.
YSU starter Jacob Gehring suffered the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in his second complete-game performance of the season. Wright State scored three of its four runs via the long ball as Gehring blanked the Raiders in six different innings. The junior right-hander also retired the side in four different frames.
The Penguins struck first in the home half of the first inning as Law hit a leadoff single, advanced to third on a single by Brett Stanley and scored on a sacrifice fly from Covas.
The Raiders tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth when Patrick Fultz led off the inning with a solo home run to left field. Wright State took its first lead of the game with two runs in the top of the seventh. Boston Smith hit a leadoff single and Andrew Patrick followed with a two-run homer to left to put the visitors in front 3-1.
Youngstown State responded immediately with a two-run seventh of its own to even the score at 3-3. Franken was hit by a pitch with two outs and Sherwood followed with a towering blast over the left field wall.
The Raiders scored the game's deciding run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. Ben Vore reached with a leadoff single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Smith. After Gehring struck out Patrick for the second out of the inning, Fultz sent a seeing-eye single up the middle that allowed Vore to race home and put WSU ahead 4-3.
Wright State starter Jake Shirk allowed three runs on six hits with six strikeouts over 6.2 innings in a no-decision. Garrett Peters tossed 1.1 scoreless innings of relief to earn his fourth win while Cam Allen pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his third save.
The Penguins and Raiders are scheduled to continue their three-game Horizon League series on Saturday at 3 p.m. Live audio will be available at YSNLive.com.
Be sure to follow @YSUBaseball on X and Instagram for the latest schedule updates.
