Baseball Returns Home to Host Oakland for Three-Game Horizon League Series

Thursday, March 16

Niles, Ohio

5 p.m.

Youngstown State University

Oakland

Photo by: Robert Hayes

Baseball Returns Home to Host Oakland for Three-Game Horizon League Series

3/15/2023 10:00:00 AM | Baseball

Game Notes

Youngstown State vs. Oakland

Date	Location	Audio	Live Stats
Thursday March 16 \| 5 PM ET	Eastwood Field Niles, Ohio	YSNLive.com	Live Stats
Friday March 17 \| 3 PM ET	Eastwood Field Niles, Ohio	YSNLive.com	Live Stats
Saturday March 18 \| 1 PM ET	Eastwood Field Niles, Ohio	YSNLive.com	Live Stats

Series Preview

The Youngstown State baseball team (3-13) will open a three-game Horizon League series against Oakland (5-9) on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET at Eastwood Field. The Penguins and Golden Grizzlies will proceed to play on Friday at 3 p.m. ET before concluding the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Thursday's contest against Oakland will be YSU's 2023 home and Horizon League opener.
Live audio will be available for all three games of the series at YSNLive.com. Live stats will be available through links on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on Twitter for live updates.
Fifth-year senior right-hander Travis Perry will take the mound for Youngstown State in the series opener against Oakland on Thursday, junior right-hander Nick Perez is scheduled to start on Friday and Saturday's starter is to be announced.
Youngstown State has dropped five straight games after being swept in a three-game series at Kansas State this past weekend. The Penguins split a four-game series at Baylor on March 3-5. YSU's 7-5 victory over the Bears on March 3 marked its first win over a Big 12 opponent since 2013. The Penguins now have four wins over Power Five opponents in the last two seasons and eight during Dan Bertolini's tenure as head coach.
Redshirt junior shortstop Trey Law was named Horizon League Co-Batter of the Week on Feb. 28 after batting .556 and slugging .611 with 10 hits in 18 at bats over four games played at Memphis on Feb. 24-26. In addition, senior right-hander Travis Perry was named Horizon League Pitcher of the Week after leading YSU to a 6-2 victory in the series opener at Memphis on Feb. 24. Perry allowed one run on two hits with a career-high 10 strikeouts over six innings.
YSU ranks second in the Horizon League with a .251 batting average, 134 hits, 31 doubles and 197 total bases. The Penguins also rank third in the league with 77 runs scored, 71 RBIs and a .370 slugging percentage. In addition, YSU's pitching staff ranks third in the Horizon League with 110 strikeouts.
Senior right-hander Travis Perry ranks second in the Horizon League with 21 strikeouts and a .214 opponent batting average while ranking fourth with 19.1 innings pitched. He also ranks seventh in the circuit with a 5.59 ERA.
Senior infielder Steven D'Eusanio leads the Horizon League and ranks fourth nationally with nine doubles while ranking sixth in the league with 17 hits and two home runs. Junior infielder Trey Law ranks second in the league with 22 hits, fifth with a .355 batting average, sixth with eight walks and seventh with a .452 on-base-percentage.
Senior infielder Braeden O'Shaughnessy ranks sixth in the Horizon League with 17 hits and two home runs while ranking eighth with 11 runs scored. Senior first baseman Padraig O'Shaughnessy ranks second in the league with six doubles, fourth with 14 RBIs and sixth with 17 hits.
Senior outfielder Andre Good ranks sixth in the Horizon League with two home runs. Junior right-hander Nick Perez ranks sixth in the Horizon League with 17 strikeouts and 18 innings pitched.
YSU was picked fourth in the 2023 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll. Wright State was tabbed as the preseason favorite while Oakland was picked second and Milwaukee was selected third. Northern Kentucky came in at fifth while Purdue Fort Wayne was slotted sixth. The Penguins were picked to finish third by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and fifth by D1Baseball.com.

Fan Information & Promotions

Eastwood Field
All tickets for YSU baseball home games are $5 and can be purchased at the front gate, which will open approximately one hour prior to first pitch.
Thursday's home opener will feature a YSU schedule magnet giveaway courtesy of Mercy Health.
Friday's contest will feature $2 Hot Dog Wally hot dogs and $1 pop at the concession stand.
Saturday's series finale will be feature a YSU team poster giveaway and $4 16-ounce beer at the concession stand.

YSU vs. Oakland

A Win on Thursday Would...

Give YSU its fourth victory of the 2023 season.
Snap a five-game losing streak.
Give YSU its seventh straight win over Oakland at Eastwood Field.
Allow YSU to win its home opener for the second time in the last three seasons.
Allow YSU to win its Horizon League opener for the third straight season.
Be the 339th in head coach Dan Bertolini's career and his 110th at Youngstown State.

Scouting The Golden Grizzlies

Oakland is 5-9 on the season after winning two of three games at Southern Indiana this past weekend. The Golden Grizzlies have also earned Power Five victories over Kansas and Michigan.
Senior infielder Thomas Green is batting .296 and slugging .537 while leading the Golden Grizzlies with 16 hits, three home runs and nine RBIs. Senior first baseman Gabe Lux is batting .289 with 13 hits while leading Oakland with five doubles and nine walks.
Senior right-hander Bryce Konitzer boasts a 1-0 record, a 2.00 ERA, nine strikeouts and a .194 opponent batting average in nine innings pitched over three starts. Junior right-hander Brandon Decker has a 2-1 record, a 3.50 ERA and a team-high 17 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched over a team-high eight appearances.
Oakland posted a 31-27 overall record and an 18-11 mark in Horizon League play in 2022. The Golden Grizzlies were picked second in the 2023 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Poll after finishing as the runner-up at the 2022 Horizon League Tournament.

Series History

Overall: YSU leads 25-22
Bertolini: 12-12 // Home: 17-10 // Away: 7-9 // Neutral: 1-3
Current Win Streak: 2 by Oakland
First meeting: May 8, 1999 (W 12-5)
The Penguins and Golden Grizzlies met each year from 1999-2001 when both teams were members of the Mid-Continent Conference. The series resumed in 2014 when Oakland joined the Horizon League.
Oakland won four of seven meetings during the 2022 season. The Golden Grizzlies defeated the Penguins twice in the 2022 Horizon League Tournament, ending YSU's season with a 4-2 win in the most recent meeting.
The Penguins have won six straight games over Oakland at Eastwood Field. YSU swept a four-game series in 2021 before taking both games of a doubleheader last April.

Recapping Kansas State

at Kansas State - Friday, March 11 // L 4-20

Youngstown State dropped a 20-4 decision to Kansas State in the series opener on Friday at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.
The Wildcats scored in each of the first five frames and pulled away with an 11-run seventh inning.
Turner Grau went 2-for-5 with three RBIs while Trey Law was 2-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and two stolen bases. Matt Thompson and Andre Good also had two hits apiece for the Penguins.
YSU starter Travis Perry suffered the loss after allowing five runs on four hits and six walks over three innings of work.

at Kansas State - Saturday, March 11 // L 6-9

Youngstown State battled but came up short in a 9-6 loss at Kansas State on Saturday at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.
The Wildcats scored four of the final five runs of the game to break a 5-5 tie and pull away for their second straight win in the three-game weekend series.
Eli Brown had a career-high three hits as he went 3-for-4 with an RBI single to lead YSU offensively. Turner Grau and Andre Good each had two hits while Eddie Saucedo went 1-for-4 with two RBIs. The Penguins outhit the Wildcats 12-7 for the contest.
YSU starter Nick Perez allowed five runs on three hits and five walks with four strikeouts over four innings in a no-decision. Trey Pancake suffered the loss after allowing four runs, three of them earned, on four hits over 2.2 innings of relief. Kenny Misik, Brandin Anderson and Patrick Gumto combined to toss 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.

at Kansas State - Sunday, March 12 // L 2-16

Youngstown State fell 16-2 in seven innings to Kansas State in the series finale on Sunday at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.
The Wildcats struck for one run in the second inning and 10 runs in the third on their way to completing the three-game series sweep.
Steven D'Eusanio went 2-for-3 with a double while Matt Thompson doubled and drove in a run.
YSU starter Aidan English suffered the loss after allowing seven runs on four hits and five walks over two innings in his first career start. Casey Marshalwitz was tagged with four unearned runs in one inning of work while Will Shaffer was responsible for five runs on six hits over 2.2 innings. Cam Marshalwitz struck out the only batter he faced in the sixth inning.

Up Next

Youngstown State will travel to Bowling Green for a midweek contest on Wednesday, March 22 at 3 p.m. before beginning a three-game Horizon League series at Milwaukee on Friday, March 24 at 3 p.m.