The Horizon League has announced its 2022 baseball championship bracket, and the fifth-seeded Youngstown State baseball team will face fourth-seeded Purdue Fort Wayne in game one of the tournament on Wednesday at noon at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
Wednesday's first-round contest will be an elimination game.
The Penguins (19-34, 12-16 Horizon League) will be facing the Mastodons (18-35, 13-15 Horizon League) for the fourth time this season. YSU won two out of three games between the teams back on March 18-20. The Penguins earned a 4-0 victory at Mastodon Field on March 18 before the remainder of the series was moved to Defiance High School in Defiance, Ohio. The Mastodons picked up an 8-7 win in game one of a doubleheader on March 20 before the Penguins took game two 12-6.
Third-seeded UIC (22-24, 14-11 Horizon League) will face sixth-seeded Northern Kentucky (18-33, 11-17 Horizon League) in game two of the tournament on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The contest between the Flames and Norse will also be an elimination game.
Wright State (27-25, 20-9 Horizon League) will host the tournament after winning the regular season title and earning the No. 1 seed. The Raiders will face the lowest remaining seed after Wednesday's elimination games in game three of the tournament on Thursday at 11 a.m.
Second-seeded Oakland (29-25, 18-11 Horizon League) will face the highest remaining seed after Wednesday in game four of the tournament on Thursday at 3 p.m. The losers of games three and four will face off in an elimination game on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The winners of games three and four will meet in the winner's bracket final on Friday at noon. The loser of that game will face the winner of Thursday night's elimination game on Friday at 4 p.m. in game seven of the tournament.
The two remaining teams will advance to play on championship Saturday. Game eight will be played on Saturday at noon with game nine taking place at 4 p.m. if necessary.
All games of the 2022 Horizon League Baseball Championship will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Live audio for YSU's games will be available at YSNLive.com.
