Tuesday’s line
Youngstown State (R-H-E-LOB): 10-14-2-14
Akron (R-H-E-LOB): 11-17-2-11
W: Floyd McKenna (1-1)
L: Mikey Rodriques (0-3)
It was déjà vu all over again for the Youngstown State Penguins baseball team (3-23, 1-5 Horizon) as they took a lead into the final moments of the game and still ended up on the losing end. On Tuesday afternoon, it happened in an 11-10 loss to the Akron Zips (13-14, 5-7 Mid-American) at Skeeles Field. YSU has now not only lost eight straight games, but also its sixth consecutive game in which they came up short by just one run.
The Penguins wasted no time getting ready to pounce on their backyard rivals when Alex Jang led off the game with a double and advanced to third on Misael Uriepero’s sacrifice bunt to third. Then, Luke Rossi and Nathan Beckley followed it up with back-to-back RBI doubles for the first runs of the day.
Akron responded in the bottom half of the next inning when Brennan Morgan led it off with a walk and went to second on Austin Lafferty’s base hit through the right side. YSU head coach Trevor Charpie then made a pitching change, taking out starter Aidan English in favor of reliever Aidan Norris, who got Atticus Huffstutler to foul out to the catcher on a bunt for the first out, but Norris then delivered back-to-back walks to Tucker Biehl and Kyle McConachie for the Zips’ first run of the afternoon.
Then, Kelton Phillips grounded into what should’ve been an inning-ending double play. But after shortstop Uriepero stepped on the second base bag for the second out, he made a terrible throw past first base, allowing two runs to score to give Akron its first lead at 3-2. Phillips was given an RBI on the fielder’s choice after Lafferty scored, while Biehl came home on the error. Brody Chrisman then bounced out to second to end the frame.
YSU got those runs back and then some in the top of the third inning, starting with back-to-back one-out singles from Rossi and Beckley. Then, Brady Shannon tied it up at 3-3 with a double to left before Brayden Kuriger gave YSU the lead back at 5-3 with a two-run double of his own to left-center. After a walk to Teddy Ruffner, Akron head coach Bryan Faulds made a pitching change of his own by taking out starter Landon Vandegrift in favor of reliever Parker Munday, who got Ryan Schummer to ground out to the mound for the second out of the frame. However, things changed for the worse for Munday as he walked Ryan Dilullo to load the bases. Then, Jang stepped up and delivered a two-run single through the right side to cap off a five-run third inning for the Penguins as they were now up 7-3.
Akron responded immediately in the bottom of the third as YSU reliever Sloan Ulrich led off the frame with a walk to Blake Bowen before giving up a base hit to Morgan and walking Lafferty to load the bases. Then, Michigan State transfer Atticus Huffstutler added insult to injury with a grand slam down the right field line – his first-career NCAA home run – which knotted it back up at 7-7.
After a walk to Biehl, Ulrich was brought out in favor of Kale Wemer, who struck out McConachie looking before Biehl stole second and advanced to third after Phillips singled through the right side. Then, Gabe Mathison laid down a bunt for what should’ve been the last out of the frame, but a throwing error by Rossi at third base allowed Biehl to score and the inning to continue. As a result, the Zips were back on top at 8-7 after pulling off a five-run third inning of their own.
The lead changed hands again with two outs in the top of the fourth inning when Kuriger hit his second double of the game to left-center before stealing third. After a walk to Ruffner, Schummer brought in Kuriger with an RBI single to right, which tied it up again at 8-8. Then, Dilullo reached on an error by Biehl, the Zips shortstop, allowing Ruffner to score the go-ahead run and give YSU the lead back at 9-8.
The score remained the same until Akron retaliated in the bottom of the seventh inning, beginning with back-to-back two-out singles from Chrisman and Bowen before Bowen stole second base to put both runners in scoring position. Then, Morgan brought both runners in with a two-run single up the middle to give the home team a 10-9 lead.
YSU would get that run back when Uriepero led off the ninth inning with a walk, advanced to second on Rossi’s groundout to short, reached third on a single to left from Beckley, and scored on Shannon’s RBI groundout to short to even things up at 10 runs each heading into the bottom half of the ninth inning.
Mathison kicked off the home half of the ninth with a leadoff walk, reached second on Chrisman’s single up the middle, and ended up at third after Bowen was intentionally walked to load the bases. Then, on a 0-1 pitch, Morgan slapped a hit up the middle to drive in Mathison and give Akron the 11-10 walk-off win to end the slugfest.
YSU’s Dorsch only pitched the first inning and allowed two runs on two hits before English was responsible for one unearned run in the second inning. Ulrich surrendered five runs in the third before Wemer and Griffin Almond both tossed two shutout innings of relief. Lane Rhodes allowed two runs in as many innings of work, while Mikey Rodriques suffered the defeat after inheriting the winning run in the ninth.
Vandegrift allowed seven runs in as many hits over 2⅓ innings for Akron, while Munday surrendered three hits and two runs (one earned) in an inning and two-thirds of relief. Garrett Groce, Nathan Currah, and Floyd McKenna combined to limit YSU to one run on four hits over the final five innings, with McKenna earning the victory.
YSU posted new season-highs as a team on the offensive side with 10 runs and 14 hits. Beckley went 3-for-5, Kuriger and Rossi both finished 2-for-5, Jang went 2-for-6, and Schummer went 2-for-4.
Chrisman and Morgan each recorded four hits, combining for eight of Akron’s 17 hits on the day.
The Penguins will end their 12-game road trip by jumping back into Horizon League play with a three-game series at Milwaukee on Friday afternoon for a doubleheader that will start at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT at Franklin Field in Franklin, WI.
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