Youngstown -- The Youngstown State baseball team will step back into Horizon League play after a two-week break and play four big games this weekend at Eastwood Field. The Penguins will play a doubleheader against Milwaukee on Friday at 3 p.m. and another doubleheader versus Butler on Sunday at noon. Live video of all of the weekend's action will be carried on the Horizon League Network.

Although the Penguins have 17 more Horizon League contests remaining on their schedule, they will have only three remaining at Eastwood Field after this weekend. YSU is tied with Milwaukee for fourth place in the standings with equal 5-4 records in the circuit entering the weekend, and Butler sits sixth at 3-9. The top six teams qualify for the Horizon League Tournament. All seven teams play four conference games this weekend, which means the standings could look a lot different when the games are concluded Sunday evening.

On The Mound

Senior right-hander Aaron Swenson will take the mound for the Penguins in the first game of the weekend against Milwaukee, and he'll be followed by freshman left-hander Blake Aquadro. Phil Klein will start Sunday's opener against Butler. YSU's fourth starter of the weekend has not been announced.

Swenson leads the Horizon League with six wins, and he ranks second in the circuit with 58 strikeouts and 59.1 innings pitched. He allowed two earned runs in seven innings against the Panthers last season in a no-decision. Aquadro has won his last two starts and has allowed just one earned run in his last 17.2 innings. The southpaw held Le Moyne to one unearned run on three hits in nine innings last Sunday. Klein leads all starters with his 4.43 ERA, and he's allowed five earned runs in his last two conference starts. He allowed five runs in five innings at Butler when the teams played on March 27.

Quick Pitches

YSU already has more wins than last season. YSU was 10-24 through 34 games in 2009.The Penguins are 5-1 on Fridays this year. YSU and Milwaukee are the only two teams in the Horizon League to have its top three starters with ERAs under 5.00.YSU hit eight home runs in the first four games in April. The Guins have since hit one round-tripper in the last nine contests. The Guins are batting .333 against Horizon League opponents, but that ranks only fourth in the conference. Tom Clayton leads the Horizon League with his .468 batting average. He enters the weekend on a seven-game hitting streak. The Guins had at least 12 hits in seven straight games from March 27 to April 7. They've had 12 twice in the past nine contests.

Scouting Milwaukee

Milwaukee enters the weekend tied with YSU in the Horizon League standings with a 5-4 record. The Panthers swept Cleveland State the first weekend in April, but they lost two out of three contests to both UIC and Butler. Both of those series were on the road, where Milwaukee is 5-16. For the Penguins to defend Eastwood Field, they'll have to score off the top pitching staff in the Horizon League. UWM leads the circuit with a 4.85 ERA and a .283 batting average against. UWM ace Chad Pierce leads all Horizon League starters with a 2.91 ERA, and he'll start game one on Friday. Opponents are hitting .230 against him, which is second in the circuit to only YSU's Blake Aquadro. Kyle Schmidt will start game two. Milwaukee also ranks second in the Horizon League in batting average and slugging percentage, and UWM has the top on-base percentage. Sam Sivilotti is hitting .453, and Tim Patzman is batting .431. In league games, Milwaukee is hitting .350.

Scouting Butler

Butler is on its hottest streak of the season, having won four of its last five games. Two of those wins came last weekend when the Bulldogs took two of three games from Milwaukee. Butler has also beaten Dayton and Ball State during the stretch. Butler enters the weekend with a 3-9 mark in the Horizon League and a 12-21 overall record. Aside from the two wins against UWM last weekend. Butler's only other Horizon League victory came against YSU on March 27. The Bulldogs were swept in three game series by both Wright State and UIC. Butler ranks fourth in the Horizon League in batting with a .312 average, and its .330 average in league contests ranks fifth. The Bulldogs have a 7.55 ERA as a staff, which ranks fifth. Right-handers Jared Earle and David Dennemann are scheduled to start on the mound for the Bulldogs. Earle is 2-1 with a 10.09 ERA in 12 appearances, four of which have been starts. Dennemann has made only one start, but he's 1-1 with a 3.93 ERA in eight total appearances.

Swenson Closing in on Career Records

Senior Aaron Swenson is nearing the conclusion as one of the top pitchers in school history. Swenson, the 2008 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year, already ranks among the top five pitchers in three career categories. He ranks second in school history in career innings pitched (306.2), and he ranks third in career strikeouts (229). Swenson also ranks fifth in starts with 40. He will almost assuredly break Corey Ohalek's current record of 320 innings pitched, and Swenson is just 23 strikeouts away from surpassing Dave Dravecky's school record of 251.

Klein's Been Better Than 2-2

In his first eight starts, junior pitcher Phil Klein has performed much better than his 2-2 record shows. Klein left with leads of at least three runs against both Saint Joseph's and UIC. Additionally, his only two losses came when YSU was shutout against Valparaiso and scored one run against Le Moyne. Klein has also been victimized by seven unearned runs. Klein's 4.43 ERA is the lowest among YSU's starters.

Aquadro on Hot Streak

Freshman starter Blake Aquadro has been among the hottest starters in the Horizon League over the past two weeks. The southpaw has won each of his past two starts, allowing one earned run combined. He held Valparaiso to one run on four hits in eight innings on April 11 for his first career victory. Aquadro then allowed just three hits and did not surrender an earned run in his victory over Le Moyne on Sunday. Aquadro's .207 batting average against leads all Horizon League starters.

Not Many Close Games

After playing in 18 one-run games and four more contests decided by two runs last year, Youngstown State has not been in many close games in 2010. The Penguins have played in just five contests decided by a run and six more separated by two runs. More than half (19 of 34) of YSU's games this season have been decided by at least five runs.

Nearing 2009 Runs Total

Youngstown State needs just seven runs this weekend to bring its season sum past its 2009 total. The Penguins have scored 268 runs in their first 34 games, which is a big increase from the 274 runs last year in 51 contests. The Penguins are averaging 7.88 runs per contest, which is the highest rate in school history. The current school record is 7.5, set back in 1964.

Hitting for Power at Record Pace

Youngstown State is averaging 1.03 home runs per contest, which is the highest rate in school history. The Penguins have hit 35 round-trippers in their first 34 games, which is already more than the 25 they had last season in 51 games. In fact, YSU has already hit the fourth-most home runs in a season in school history. The school record is 43, which was set in 1995 in 54 games. As a team, the Penguins are slugging .471, which is a big improvement from .398 in 2009. The school record for slugging percentage over an entire season is .456, which was set back in 1971.