Friday, April 29
3 pm
Youngstown State University
at
Wright State
Photo by: Robert Hayes
Baseball Continues Road Stretch with Three-Game Series at Wright State
4/28/2022 4:26:00 PM | Baseball
Weekend Preview
- The Youngstown State baseball team (15-26, 8-8 Horizon League) will visit Wright State (18-19, 11-4 Horizon League) for a three-game Horizon League series beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio. The Penguins and Raiders will proceed to play on Saturday at 2 p.m. and on Sunday at 1 p.m.
- Live audio will be available for all three games at YSNLive.com and live stats will be available through links on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on Twitter for live updates.
- Junior right-hander Matt Brosky will start the series opener on Friday while senior right-hander Travis Perry will take the ball in game two on Saturday. Senior right-hander Chad Coles is slated to start the series finale on Sunday.
- The Penguins will be facing the Raiders for the first time since taking three of four games at Eastwood Field last March. YSU went 3-5 against Wright State last season.
- YSU has dropped two straight games after a 3-1 loss at Niagara on Tuesday. The Penguins had won four straight decisions prior to a 17-4 setback in the second game of a Horizon League doubleheader at Milwaukee on Sunday.
- The Penguins have two road wins over Power Five opponents this season. YSU defeated ACC member Pitt 5-2 on March 16 before beating Big Ten member Penn State 2-1 on March 22. The win against Penn State marked YSU's first win over a Big Ten opponent since 1996. The Penguins also took Big Ten member Ohio State to extra innings on April 5 before falling 5-4.
- Junior infielder Braeden O'Shaughnessy leads the Penguins with a .358 batting average, 57 hits, 10 doubles, seven home runs, 33 RBIs, a .566 slugging percentage and 90 total bases.
- Junior right-hander Matt Brosky tossed his second complete game of the season in a seven-inning 2-1 victory over Oakland on April 22. Brosky leads the Horizon League with 64 strikeouts and 62.1 innings pitched while opponents are hitting just .232 against him. He has lowered his ERA to 3.18 after it had reached 3.54 on April 10. He has allowed two earned runs or less in six of his 10 starts.
- Senior first baseman Padraig O'Shaughnessy leads the Horizon League and ranks 10th in the nation with 39 walks. O'Shaughnessy's 39 walks already rank as the third most in a season in program history, and they are the most by a Penguin since Blaze Glenn walked 39 times in 2019.
- Junior left-hander Nathan Ball paces the league with eight saves while senior catcher Dylan Swarmer has caught a league-best 19 runners attempting to steal. Ball's eight saves are tied for the third most in a season in program history.
- Senior third baseman Steven D'Eusanio has raised his average above .300 for the first time since the end of February. In the last six games, he has 14 hits in 26 at bats and is hitting at a .313 clip. He was 6-for-6 against Milwaukee on April 15, tying a school record for hits in a game.
- Senior right-hander Chad Coles ranks second in program history with 91 career appearances. Coles is just the second player is program history to record at least 90 appearances, joining his former teammate Joel Hake, who holds the YSU record with 115 career appearances.
Youngstown State at Wright State
A Win on Friday Would…- Snap a two-game losing streak.
- Be YSU's second straight win over Wright State.
- Improve YSU's overall record to 16-26.
- Improve YSU's Horizon League record to 9-8.
- Give the Penguins five wins in their last seven games.
- Be the 330th in head coach Dan Bertolini's career and his 101st at Youngstown State.
- Overall: Wright State leads 84-39
- Bertolini: 6-19 // Home: 17-39 // Away: 19-44
- Current Win Streak: 1 by Youngstown State
- The Penguins went 3-5 against the Raiders last season. Wright State swept a four-game series in Dayton before YSU took three of four games at Eastwood Field.
- Youngstown State and Wright State met every season from 2002 to 2019 before the conference slate was wiped out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Wright State took two of three games in each series between the two teams during the 2019 season.
- YSU's 10-8 win at Wright State on March 30, 2019, snapped a 10-game losing streak in the series.
- First meeting: May 19, 1977
- Wright State has an 18-19 overall record and an 11-4 mark in Horizon League play after winning each of its last three games. The Raiders swept a Horizon League doubleheader against Northern Kentucky on Saturday before earning an 11-10 win at UIC on Sunday. Wright State is in first place in the conference standings.
- Sophomore outfielder Alec Sayre is batting .345 and slugging .552 with 12 doubles, six home runs and 33 RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Julian Greenwell is batting .331 and slugging .573 with 11 doubles, five home runs and 32 RBIs. Junior infielder Gehrig Anglin has a team-high 11 home runs while senior first baseman Zane Harris leads the Raiders with 35 RBIs.
- Sophomore right-hander Jake Shirk has a 4.92 ERA and a 4-4 record with 42 strikeouts in a team-high 53 innings pitched over 10 starts. Freshman left-hander Sebastian Gongora leads the Raiders with 52 strikeouts in 46 innings over 10 appearances and nine starts. Sophomore right-hander Garret Simpson has made a team-high 18 appearances out of the bullpen.
- Wright State went 35-13 overall and 28-4 in Horizon League play last season on its way to winning the Horizon League regular season and tournament championships. The Raiders were picked first in the 2022 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Poll.
Recapping Niagara
- Youngstown State dropped a 3-1 decision to Niagara on a chilly Tuesday afternoon at Bobo Field.
- The contest was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when Niagara scratched out a one-out run. Nick Castellena doubled to open the inning and moved up to third on a ground out. Brady Desjardins hit a grounder to Padraig O'Shaughnessy at first base. O'Shaughnessy threw home to catcher Ian Francis, but as he spun awkwardly to make the tag, the ball fell out of his glove and Castellena was called safe.
- In the top of the sixth inning, YSU tied the contest up manufacturing a run of its own. O'Shaughnessy walked to open the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lucas Nasonti. A Seth Lucero groundout moved O'Shaughnessy up to third. With two outs, Braeden O'Shaughnessy hit a ground ball to third base, but throw bounced away from first baseman Josh Marchese allowing the Penguins to tie the contest.
- In the home half of the inning, Benny Serrano opened the inning with a double, but Nick Perez settled in and retired the next two batters. Reliever Kenny Misik came on to face left-handed hitting Cole O'Connor with two outs. Serrano moved up 90 feet on a steal of third and then O'Connor followed with a single just past a diving O'Shaughnessy to score the go-ahead run.
- In the eighth, Niagara added an insurance run when with runners at second and third and no one out, Lucero tried to snag a short fly ball to left by Dawson Bailey, but the ball bounced off his glove allowing Castellena to score.
- The Guins had the potential tying run at second base in the seventh and eighth innings, but failed to score.
- Perez had a strong season-high 5.2-inning outing but was the tough-luck loser falling to 1-3 on the season. He struck out seven as five Penguin pitchers combined to strike out 11 Purple Eagles in the contest.
For news and updates throughout the season, follow @YSUBaseball on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
IF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
1B
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballTuesday, February 11
Tuesday, February 11
