NORFOLK, Va. – Youngstown State rebounded after dropping a pair of games the day before, as the Penguins topped the Norfolk State softball team twice on Sunday afternoon at the NSU Softball Field.
 
YSU broke game 1 open with five runs in the fourth in an 8-2 victory. The Spartans issued eight walks in the second contest and left 11 runners on base in a 6-1 Youngstown State win. NSU dropped to 4-6 on the year despite having just as many hits as the Penguins did on the day.
 
Junior Gabby Vaughan had three hits on the afternoon for NSU, while the YSU duo of Maddi Lusk and Sophie Howell combined to limit the Spartans to just one earned run over the course of both games.
 
The Penguins (2-2) led 3-0 in the first game when NSU closed the gap with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. An error on a strikeout kept the inning going with two outs, and senior Tuli Iosefa singled home a run after Vaughan was walked to put two runners on base. Vaughan then scored when sophomore Imani Moore singled back up the middle.
 
But the Spartans committed three errors in the fourth as YSU plated five runs for the final margin. Nikki Saibene's two-run double highlighted the inning for the Penguins.
 
Lusk (1-0) pitched all seven innings and allowed six hits and two runs, none earned, while also working around five walks. The Spartans stranded nine runners in game 1.
 
Sophomore Kirsten Greene pitched 3.1 scoreless innings in relief and allowed just one hit.

In game 2, Vaughan scored the team's only run when she singled in the third and scored on junior Denisha Megginson's single to left. It was still a 2-1 ballgame in favor of YSU when the Penguins scored two more runs in the fifth on Grace Cea's two-run double. They capped the day's scoring with two more runs in the sixth.
 
Howell (1-1) allowed six hits and one earned run in five innings of work. Lusk finished the day with four RBI in addition to earning the win in the circle in the first contest.
 
The Spartans will host Cleveland State next Friday and Saturday for two more doubleheaders at the NSU Softball Field before hitting the road for the first time all season the following week.