Penn State rallies to beat YSU in ninth

Staff report

STATE COLLEGE, PA.

The Youngstown State baseball team lost a wild one Tuesday night at Penn State, falling 16-15 in a game that featured just about everything.

The Penguins took a 15-13 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Nittany Lions scored three times on a double, a wild pitch and a walk-off sacrifice fly by Ryan Ford to win in dramatic fashion.

YSU (7-25) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning on Dylan Swarmer’s RBI single and errors by Penn State (17-11). Swarmer led a 17-hit Penguins attack by going 5 for 5 with a double and two RBIs.

But YSU’s lead was short-lived. Penn State answered — and then some — with 10 runs in the bottom of the second inning knocking out Penguins starter Jon Snyder in the process.

The biggest blows were a three-run home run by Justin Williams and a bases-loaded triple by Parker Hendershot.

Snyder’s control was an issue — he walked four in 12/3 innings. He allowed four hits and eight runs, all of them earned.

YSU rallied with two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, five in the sixth, two in the seventh and two in the eighth. The Penguins led late 13-11 and 15-13.

YSU regained the lead for a third and final time in the eighth on an RBI triple by Drew Dickerson and Web Charles’ run-scoring single.

But relievers Kip DeShields and Brett Souder couldn’t close out Penn State in the ninth.

DeShields (2-2), the fourth of five YSU pitchers, took the loss.

Kyle Virbitsky (2-3), the last of five Penn State pitchers, got the win after a scoreless top of the ninth.

Dickerson had three hits, including two triples, and three RBIs. Phillip Glasser singled, tripled and drove in three runs for the Penguins.

Blaze Glenn also had two hits for YSU, which hosts Toledo at 5 p.m. today at Eastwood Field.