Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Youngstown State’s Taylor Truran runs toward home plate, awaiting a greeting following her grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning of a game Wednesday against Robert Morris.

YOUNGSTOWN — It took Youngstown State a game to get its bats going on Wednesday, but once it did, the Penguins were off to the races.

After struggling at the plate in the first game of the doubleheader, putting together just four hits in an 11-3 defeat to Robert Morris, YSU bounced back in Game 2 — racking up nine hits en route to a 7-4 upset victory over the Colonials.

“We made the adjustments on the pitchers,” head coach Brian Campbell said. “I think coming out in the second game, we did a good job sitting on our pitch and were able to be disciplined enough to stay in the zone and be able to drive it and not chase.”

In Game 1, Robert Morris struck early and often. The Colonials had five hits over the first three innings, but only got one run on the board courtesy of an RBI from freshman Mary Brant, a Poland alum who was making her return to the Youngstown area.

YSU leveled the score with an RBI from Macy Littler in the bottom of the third inning, but then the floodgates opened for RMU.

Jess Metheny kicked things off with a leadoff solo home run in the top of the fourth, and the Colonials added four more runs throughout the inning. Metheny’s moon blast triggered a pitching change for the Penguins, as freshman Autumn Boyd made way for sophomore Maci Boggess after three innings.

After the Penguins pulled two runs back in the bottom of the frame thanks to back-to-back RBIs from junior Kennedy Dean and senior Taylor Truran, RMU’s bats went to work again in the fifth inning.

Robert Morris batted around, getting a double from Metheny, a pair of RBI base hits from Kaylyn Hopf and Anna Resnick and a two-RBI triple from Courtney Poulich to put five more runs on the Penguins.

Boggess was pulled for freshman Kelsey Ogin after giving up five earned runs in an inning. YSU’s three pitchers combined for four strikeouts and six walks.

“I think when the first freshman came out, we were able to get through three pretty good solid (innings),” Campbell said. “Then once the one kid hit the home run and walked, we went right to the next one. … It’s part of a process, a learning process. We’re learning each day and they’re taking steps in the right direction to get where they need.”

Colonials pitcher Madison DeVault then went one-two-three in the bottom of the inning to close out the victory.

In Game 2, YSU seized early control with an RBI double from sophomore Lydia Wilkerson in the first inning and plated another run with an RBI from freshman Ayla Ray in the third inning after a pair of leadoff hits.

Then in the fifth inning, the Penguins did to RMU what the Colonials did to them in the first game — put five runs on the board.

With two outs on the board, Wilkerson and senior Elyssa Imler each got on base with a pair of hits. A walk then loaded the bases and Truran capitalized on the situation, blasting a grand slam into the outfield bleachers beyond center field.

In the next at-bat, freshman Kami Diaz’s solo shot added to YSU’s total.

After the Penguins struggled in the circle during the first game, sophomore Autumn Behlke went the distance in the second game.

She gave up two early hits to the Colonials in the first inning, but then plowed through each of the next 15 batters, going three-up, three-down over the next five innings.

“I think just trusting each other, trusting our defense and trusting our offense to come and score first — which we did — that was huge,” Behlke said. “Took some pressure off my back, and ultimately the defense played great today. Just really trusting and feeding off each other got us through the game.”

But things got dicey for Behlke and the Penguins in the top of the seventh. The Colonials led off with a pair of hits and eventually scored four runs during the inning, as they took advantage of some nervy plays in the infield.

“(I was just trying) to relax and not change my approach at all,” Behlke said. “Those are the uncontrollables. We talk a lot about that in our mental coaching sessions as a team and just trusting each other to make the plays. We all knew that we were going to get out of it just fine.”

Despite the late scare, Behlke helped close out the much-needed win for YSU with a routine groundout to hold off the Colonials’ rally.

“They did a good job of putting runs on the board there,” Campbell said. “But we had enough on the board to withstand that seventh inning.”

RMU (18-11, 10-3) and the Penguins (11-29, 3-8) are scheduled to wrap up their three-game series today at 3 p.m. at Covelli Sports Complex in Youngstown.