ROCHESTER, Mich. — Oakland (10-23, 5-9 HL) dropped both games of a Friday doubleheader to Youngstown State (7-30, 5-9 HL) at Oakland Baseball Field, falling 13–12 in a back-and-forth opener before a 16–2 setback in the nightcap. In game one, the Golden Grizzlies rallied with a five-run sixth inning and finished with two home runs and 14 hits, but the Penguins used a four-run first inning and a 15-hit effort to hold on for the win. In the second game, Oakland plated runs in the fifth and seventh innings, but Youngstown State's offense surged behind two home runs and seven doubles to secure the Friday sweep.

GAME ONE
Sophomore Aidan Schuck led the team with three hits, including a home run, and drove in two runs. Redshirt-sophomore Lucas Day contributed with another home run and three RBIs in the ballgame. Fifth-year Kyle Revere tabbed on three RBIs on the board as junior southpaw Ryan Donley pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball.

Youngstown State opened the scoring with four runs in the top of the first, highlighted by an RBI single and a sacrifice fly. Schuck powered Oakland's offense in the bottom of the first inning to cut the deficit with a two-run homer to deep center field, bringing home junior Aidan Orr, who had singled earlier.

The Penguins managed to add one more run in their top half of the second, before Revere doubled to right-center, clearing the loaded bases and scoring grad senior Carter Hain, sophomore Sam Patton, and junior Ben Clark to even the score at five.

YSU responded with two runs, including one scored on a throwing error as Day contributed an RBI double down the left field line in the third inning for Oakland.

Youngstown State extended its lead in the fourth and fifth innings, with two runs from a two-RBI double in the fourth frame and a three-RBI double being the key hit in the fifth, bringing the score to 13–6 in favor of YSU.

The Golden Grizzlies mounted a comeback in the sixth inning when redshirt-sophomore Tony Konopiots singled, leading to three runs scoring, aided by a throwing error. Day followed with a two-run homer to left field, cutting the deficit to 13–11.

Oakland added another run in the eighth inning as redshirt-junior Sam Griffith, pinch-running for Day, walked in bases-loaded on a balk. This brought Oakland within one run, but YSU finalized the 13–12. game

George Hansen started on the bump for the Black and Gold, pitching only 1/3 of an inning while giving up four runs on two hits. Senior Jaxson Easterlin, junior Blake Sehlke, and sophomore Wyatt Ruppenthal each came in for relief, as freshman Tagertt Dillard was effective, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings without allowing a hit and picking up a strikeout. Donley closed things down on the mound, working 1.2 innings without allowing a run or a walk and giving up just a hit.


GAME TWO
Hain led the offense with two hits and an RBI, as Clark added to the tally with a sacrifice fly, driving in a run. On the rubber, grad senior Ethan Glassman struck out three batters over 3 innings, despite allowing five hits and four earned runs.

Youngstown State took an early lead with a solo home run in the first inning before extending its advantage, scoring five runs. The sequence began with a double and was highlighted by a two-RBI single and a two-RBI double.

In the fourth inning, Youngstown State tallied another five runs before Oakland got on the board in the fifth inning whenGriffith singled and later scored on a Hain RBI-single to bring a 10-run game.

Youngstown State added two more runs in the sixth and three additional runs in the seventh, as Oakland responded in the bottom half, with Hain scoring on a sacrifice-fly by Clark, concluding the inning in run-rule fashion at 16-2.

Senior lefty Tanner Ware started the game, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing six earned runs on five hits, despite two strikeouts. Glassman followed with 3.0 innings of work, before grad senior Camden Cooper contributed 1.1 innings, surrendering 3 earned runs, while Drew DelCollo pitched 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs off of three hits from the Penguin offense.

The series between Oakland and Youngstown State will conclude tomorrow, April 18 at the OU Baseball Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+.


How to Follow Oakland Baseball: For complete information on Oakland Baseball, follow the team on X at @OaklandBSB and head coach Brian Nelson at @CoachNelly11. The team is also on Instagram.