In a three-game series that started on Friday, April 4 and ended on Sunday, April 6, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies baseball team dropped two games to the Youngstown State Penguins before ending the series with a win.
Game 1: Oakland 3, Youngstown State 4
The Golden Grizzlies struck first in game one. After John Lauinger was walked to start the first, Taylor Tomlin grounded out, as Lauinger moved to second. With Brandon Nigh up to bat, he sent a single to right field, bringing home Lauinger to make the score 1-0.
After the Penguins struggled in the early frames of the game, they responded in the fourth inning as Tommy Rover crushed a solo home run to tie things up. Riding the momentum, Youngstown State found some consistency inside the box, recording two more runs in the inning to take the lead, 3-1.
In the sixth inning, Trent Rice stole second and third after notching a single before Tomlin sent him home with a sacrifice fly to left field. Next, Nigh hit a double and Matthew McGann tied things up with an RBI single.
However, the Penguins quickly reestablished their lead in the following inning as Jay Wrona hit what would be a game-securing RBI single to bring home Garrett Cutting.
Oakland had a shot in the eighth inning to change their fate following a single from Rice and Lauinger getting hit by a pitch. However, the Penguins held on, ultimately winning the first game of the series.
Game 2: Oakland 4, Youngstown State 7
The second game of the series was much more grim than the first, as the Golden Grizzlies trailed the entire game.
After three solo home runs from Youngstown State in the first two innings, Oakland scored two runs in the third after Rice scored on a passed ball and a Lauinger groundout RBI, putting the Golden Grizzlies down 3-2.
Despite the pushback from Oakland, the home runs kept coming from the Penguins, as Eli Brown gave Youngstown State breathing room with a grand slam in the seventh inning, putting the Penguins up 7-2.
The Golden Grizzlies showed some fight in the bottom of the seventh, as Ben Clark scored on a wild pitch and a groundout from Aidan Schuck gave Rice enough time to reach home plate for another run, but the Penguins locked down on defense, not allowing another hit from Oakland the rest of the game.
Game 3: Oakland 15, Youngstown State 5
At the start of the game, Kyle Fossum of the Penguins hit a home run to give Youngstown State the early advantage. However, after a Tomlin single and a Lauinger hit by pitch, McGann hit a long double to right field, giving Tomlin enough time to score to make it a 1-1 ball game.
Despite the solid start for Oakland, Youngstown State scored a run through each of the first four innings, leaving the Golden Grizzlies down 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
In the fourth, Oakland really let it fly. McGann started the inning for the Golden Grizzlies as they cycled through the entire batting order, recording five hits and eight runs to give the team a 9-4 advantage.
Now that the Golden Grizzlies were in the driver’s seat, the Penguins managed to tab on a run in the fifth inning thanks to a Jack Johnson single. However, Oakland’s momentum carried over as Griffith hit a two-run RBI double in the fifth and Clark hit an RBI double in the sixth.
With a chance to put the game to bed early, the Golden Grizzlies did just that in the seventh inning. After Rice and Griffith scored following an error from the Penguins, Tomlin hit a sacrifice fly to bring Nigh home, giving Oakland the win.
Next, the Golden Grizzlies will travel to Milwaukee to take on the Panthers in a three-game series that starts on Friday, April 11, and ends on Sunday, April 13.
