DAYTON, Ohio - The Golden Grizzlies overcame a six-run deficit in the seventh but fell in the ninth inning to the Youngstown State Penguins, 13-10, this afternoon in the first round of the Horizon League Baseball Championship Tournament at Nischwitz Stadium.
 
The No. 3-seed Golden Grizzlies (31-26, 18-12 HL) were led by John Lauinger who tallied a trio of RBI and led the team with four hits, as starting pitcher Tanner Ware struck out three batters for a team lead.
 
The No. 6-seed Penguins (13-42, 9-21 HL) grabbed five RBI from Ian Francis as he tied Lauinger with four hits, as its starter, Jacob Gehring, led the team with five strikeouts
 
The Penguins started the game early as it scored two runs during its first at-bats. A solo home run in the second bumped its lead to three, but the Golden Grizzlies answered in the bottom of the frame. A ground-rule double from Lucas Day, followed by a wild pitch, advanced him 90 feet from home, as John Lauinger sent one through the left side to bring him home.
 
Youngstown State, once again, grabbed a pair of runs in the top of the third to make it a four-run game, but Oakland delivered once again with a pair to bring its deficit back to two. The Golden  Grizzlies started the frame with three-straight hits, as Brandon Nigh and Ian Cleary ripped singles, as Nigh raced from second to home off a Brandon Heidal RBI single. Lauinger grabbed his second RBI of the game as his single brought Cleary home to trail by two, 5-3.
 
The Golden Grizzlies defense came up strong in the top of the fourth as the Penguins put two on with one out. A near wild pitch was halted under Heidal behind the dish as the runners attempted to jump a bag, but Heidal threw a laser towards third to get the runner out, followed by a fly out to leave the inning unscathed.
 
The Penguins threatened once again as it loaded the bases in the fifth with no outs but only crossed one home as the Golden Grizzlies got out of the jam. Youngstown State kept it up though as it tallied three more in the sixth to put Oakland in a six-run hole.
 
The team didn't count itself out though as the Golden Grizzlies juiced the bases in the bottom of the seventh with no outs. Cleary grabbed another hit on the day with a double as Heidal was hit by a pitch and Day was walked while Lauinger recorded another RBI as he drove in Cleary to make it 9-4. Carter Hain came to the dish and delivered in a big way as singled through the right side and brought home two, but a throwing error brought Lauinger home for a third and moved Hain to second to clear the pads and make it, 9-7.
 
Oakland wasn't done as it had runners on the corners with two outs in hand. A sacrifice fly brought in Hain to cap off the team's five-run inning to head into the eighth down one, 9-8. The Golden Grizzlies left three runners stranded in the top of the eighth as Oakland put runners on first and second with one out. The Penguins recorded a second out as Gavin Arseneau pinch hit and answered the bell as he sent a single towards right center for what appeared to be a RBI single. However, after Hain crossed the plate, the Penguins hung around the diamond while the play was still live as Lauinger saw his opportunity to go home and take the lead, 10-9.
 
Oakland was a strike away from taking the game before the Penguins knotted things up at 10, followed by a bases-clearing double to take a 13-10 lead, as Oakland had three outs to attempt another comeback. The Golden Grizzlies came up short as it had a runner on base but couldn't complete another comeback as it fell, 13-10
 
The teams equaled the same amount of hits, at 16 apiece, as each team committed a pair of errors. Both the Penguins and Golden Grizzlies left 12 runners stranded as Youngstown State tallied one more extra-base hit with four.
 
The Golden Grizzlies have a quick turnaround time as it's set to face off against No. 5-seed Purdue Fort Wayne tonight at Nischwitz Stadium, live on ESPN+, to hold off elimination.