Tuesday’s line
Youngstown State (R-H-E-LOB): 7-11-0-11
Eastern Michigan (R-H-E-LOB): 8-9-0-8
W: Greg Kennedy (1-0)
L: Sloan Ulrich (1-2)
The Youngstown State Penguins baseball team (3-18, 1-2 Horizon) had a big lead in the early going, but they blew it late in the contest and ended up with an 8-7 loss against the Eastern Michigan Eagles (7-17, 2-7 Mid-American) on Tuesday afternoon at Oestrike Stadium in Ypsilanti, MI as part of EMU’s annual Crayola Day.
The Penguins drew first blood in the top of the third inning, when Teddy Ruffner looked at the first pitch he saw and crushed a two-out solo home run over the left-field wall to kick off the scoring.
The Eagles knotted the game at 1-1 with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, when Devan Zirwas scored from third on a wild pitch immediately after a walk to Drew Jones.
The Penguins regained the lead in the top half of the fifth with three straight one-out doubles by Nathan Beckley, Garrett Cutting, and Brayden Kuriger to make it a 3-1 YSU advantage.
YSU added to their lead and then some in the top of the sixth inning when Ruffner hit his second home run of the afternoon on a one-out solo shot to left. One out later, Cutting was hit by a pitch and scored after Kuriger tripled down the right-field line. Kuriger then scored on a passed ball by EMU catcher Nick Weaver, which capped off YSU’s three-run sixth frame and made it 6-1.
In the home half of the sixth, that’s when EMU started to fly like Eagles on the comeback trail. It began when Weaver, with one out, singled through the right side and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Penguins reliever Lane Rhodes. After back-to-back walks to Jones and Phillip Thigpen to load the bases, Tristan Crane drove in a run after getting hit by a pitch. That urged Penguins head coach Tyler Charpie to make a pitching change by pulling out Rhodes in favor of Bryce Palms, who struck out T.J. Williams looking for the second out of the frame. Then, freshman Demir Heidelberg hit a ball off YSU second baseman Alex Jang and nearly into the outfield. While two runs did score, shortstop Misael Uriepero was able to throw out Crane at home plate to end the inning. Nevertheless, YSU’s lead was trimmed to two at 6-4.
The Penguins answered back when Uriepero led off the top of the seventh inning with a single to left and, one out later, stole second. After a walk to Beckley, Uriepero moved to third on Ryan Dilullo’s flyout to center. Eagles interim head coach Trevor Beerman then came out to make a change on the mound by pulling Nick Keane in favor of Jack Angus, who threw a wild pitch that allowed Uriepero to score to make it 7-4 YSU.
Eastern Michigan made it interesting when Jones led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk and went to third on Thigpen’s double to left, and scored on Crane’s sac fly to center. Following another walk to Williams, Garrett Almond was removed from the mound in favor of closer Sloan Ulrich. After Williams stole second to get in scoring position, Heidelberg singled to left to bring in both runners and tie it back up at 7-7.
The home team had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth inning when Keegan Knupp led it off with a single to right, reached second on Weaver’s sacrifice bunt to the mound, and advanced to third on Jones’ base hit up the middle. Jones also stole second base before Thigpen was intentionally walked to load the bases. Then, Crane walked in the winning run on four pitches to give EMU the 8-7 victory in come-from-behind fashion.
Youngstown State’s Luke Zmolik earned his first start in a Penguin uniform, surrendering just one run on two hits with three walks, a pair of strikeouts, and a wild pitch in four solid innings. Rhodes pitched an inning and a third of relief, surrendering three runs in the sixth. Palms threw an inning and two-thirds in two-hit shutout fashion, striking out a pair of hitters of his own. Almond got one out in the eighth, but still inherited three runs before leaving the game. Ulrich suffered the loss after walking in the go-ahead run in the ninth.
Eastern Michigan starting pitcher Ethan Davis pitched 3⅓ innings, allowing just one run on three hits with a walk and three strikeouts in just his seventh appearance (and third start) of the season. Brian Henson took over from there and gave up two runs on three hits in one inning out of the bullpen, before Aidan Norris recorded two walks in as many strikeouts and got the last two outs of the fifth.
Carter White pitched in the sixth and got two outs, but surrendered three runs on two hits. Emmett Gillies took over for White in that same inning and allowed one hit with a pair of walks, but never recorded an out. Keane pitched one inning and inherited one run before Angus came into get the last out of the seventh. Greg Kennedy pitched the eighth and ninth frames in one-hit scoreless fashion, striking out three hitters to earn his first win in an Eagles uniform.
Youngstown State, which lost its third straight game, outhit Eastern Michigan 11-9. Kuriger went 3-for-5 with a double, triple and two RBIs, while Jang went 3-for-4. Ruffner hit a pair of home runs after not hitting a single one all of last season.
Heidelberg, Thigpen, and Knupp all had two hits each for EMU, with Heidelberg recording four RBIs on the day. Crane went 0-for-2, but still managed to drive in three runs of his own.
Up next: Youngstown State starts the second half of its eight-game road trip when they visit Pitt on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. first pitch. The game will be televised on ACC Network Plus.
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