Penguins Rally Late Before Falling 5-4 in Extras at Ohio State

The Youngstown State baseball team rallied late from a two-run deficit to take a 4-3 lead before falling 5-4 to Ohio State in 10 innings on Tuesday evening at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.

After Seth Lucero hit a go-ahead RBI triple in the top of the 10th inning to give YSU a 4-3 advantage, Colton Bauer hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the home half of the inning to give Ohio State the one-run victory.

The Penguins fall to 10-18 overall on the season while the Buckeyes improve to 9-16.

Trailing 3-1, Youngstown State forced extra innings with two runs on three hits in the top of the ninth inning. Trey Law drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on a single by Lucero and scored on a one-out RBI single by Braeden O’Shaughnessy. Padraig O’Shaughnessy followed with an RBI single of his own to tie the game at 3-3.

Braeden O’Shaughnessy went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI while Seth Lucero had two hits including the go-ahead RBI triple in the 10th inning. Lucas Nasonti went 2-for-5 with a triple and a run scored while Padraig O’Shaughnessy had an RBI single and two walks as the Penguins outhit the Buckeyes 9-5. The Penguins, who left 13 runners on base, had a runner in scoring position in six of the first seven innings but were only able to score one run before the ninth.

YSU starter Lane Rhodes allowed one run on just two hits with two strikeouts and five walks over a career-high five innings. Alex Cardona surrendered one run on one hit in 1.1 innings while Kenny Misik was responsible for one run without recording an out.

Chad Coles did not allow a hit in 0.2 innings while Casey Marshalwitz registered a career-high four strikeouts in two scoreless innings of relief. Nathan Ball suffered the loss after allowing the walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning.

The Buckeyes jumped in front with one run on one hit in the bottom of the second inning. Bauer was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a two-out RBI single by Brent Todys to give Ohio State a 1-0 lead.

The Penguins evened the score at 1-1 in the top of the third when Nasonti hit a leadoff triple and scored on a wild pitch.

Ohio State regained the lead with two runs on one hit and four walks in the home half of the seventh inning. Trey Lipsey hit a leadoff single before Mitchell Okuley and Marcus Ernst drew back-to-back one-out walks to load the bases. Lipsey and Okuley each scored on a wild pitch to give the Buckeyes a 3-1 edge.

Ohio State starter Jacob Gehring allowed one run on four hits and fanned five batters over three innings of work. Griffan Smith, Gavin Bruni and Tim Baird combined for five innings of scoreless relief before Nate Karaffa allowed two runs on three hits in the ninth. Jake Johnson earned the win after permitting one run on one hit over 1.1 innings.

Youngstown State will return to Eastwood Field for its home opener against Pitt on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Live audio for the game will be available at YSNLive.com. There will be a YSU Baseball schedule magnet giveaway and it will be Military Appreciation Day as anyone with a valid military ID receives free admission.