Rochester, Mich. – The Youngstown State softball team used another late-inning comeback to win an 11-10 slugfest over Oakland on Saturday afternoon at the Oakland Softball Field. The Penguins dropped the nightcap, 6-3.
Youngstown State, who is the No. 1 seed in the upcoming 2026 Horizon League Championship, improves to 31-18 and 14-4 in league play. Oakland moves to 25-22 overall and 9-9 in the league action.
The Penguins cranked out 16 hits, and six different players recorded multiple hits in the opener.
Junior Tai Turner led the Penguins going 4-for-5 with two runs scored while freshman Naomi Bottomlee went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Sophomore leadoff hitter Bella Meyer was 2-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in and senior Kennedy Dean, sophomore Ayla Ray and freshman Leila Staszak each posted two hits.
The Penguins, who trailed by as many as five runs, erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh inning to overtake the Golden Grizzlies. Tai Turner, who led off the frame with a single, scored on what was called a fielding error, and Selah Moyer's base-loaded, run-scoring double plated Dean to get the Penguins within two, 10-8. Ray scored on Meyer's sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk to Emma Gilkerson scored pinch-runner Tatum Werley with the game-tying run. Turner's bases-loaded infield single drove in Bree Kohler with the go-ahead run.
Sophomore pitcher Autumn Boyd, who picked up the win, slammed the door in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the victory. Boyd fired three innings of scoreless relief and struck out two.
Youngstown State jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, scoring five times in the top of the second inning. Turner, Dean and Ray each singled to load the bases and Turner scored on an error. Staszak single to left field plated Dean, Meyer's sacrifice fly brought in Ray and Bottomlee's two-run single to right field drove in Kohler and Staszak to take a 5-0 lead.
Oakland took a 7-5 lead after scoring seven runs in the bottom of the third and added three more in the bottom of the fourth to extend its advantage to 10-5.
Penguins cut the deficit to four in the top of the sixth. Staszak reached on an infield single and came around to score on Meyer's double to center field.
In the nightcap, the Penguins tallied six hits, and Bottomlee drove in two of the three runs.
No. 1 Youngstown State will face the winner of the No. 4 Oakland-No. 5 Green Bay game on Thursday, May 7, at 12 p.m. at the Covelli Sports Complex.
