First Pitch

The Youngstown State softball team begins its next phase of the 2023 season this week as it welcomes Purdue Fort Wayne to the YSU Softball Field in the Covelli Sports Complex for the Penguins' first Horizon League and home games of the campaign.

The Penguins and Mastodons will play a doubleheader, Tuedsday, March 21, beginning at 3 p.m. Live stats will be available through YSUsports.com.

Last Time Out

Last week, Youngstown State played eight games in a five-day stretch as the university was on spring break. The Penguins won three of their first four contests by sweeping a doubleheader against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and splitting a twinbill at Memphis. However, YSU dropped all four encounters at the Racer Classing, falling twice to both Illinois State and Murray State.

Up Next

Youngstown State is slated to play five more games this week with a midweek home doubleheader against Morehead State and three games at Detroit Mercy over the weekend. The Penguins and Eagles will begin their twinbill at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22, and the three-game set at Detroit Mercy will consist of a doubleheader on Saturday, March 25, and a single game on Sunday, March 26.

Scouting Purdue Fort Wayne

• Purdue Fort Wayne enters this week with a 5-15 overall record and an 0-8 mark in true road contests. The Mastodons are slated to play a home game against Butler on Wednesday before they make the trip to Youngstown.
• The 'Dons were last in action at the Hoosier Classic on March 4-5 and went 1-3 in Bloomington, Ind. Purdue Fort Wayne was outscored 18-1 in three games against Wisconsin and Indiana, but it topped Green Bay 2-1 in what counted as a non-conference contest.
• Purdue Fort Wayne ranks sixth in the Horizon League with a .211 batting average and a 4.42 ERA. Individually, Grace Hollopeter leads Purdue Fort Wayne offensively with a .328 batting average and four home runs.

All-Time Against PFW

• Youngstown State holds a 7-3 all-time record against Purdue Fort Wayne in a series dating back to 2002. The Penguins are 6-1 against the Mastodons since the teams became Horizon League foes in 2021.
• Last season, the Penguins swept the Mastodons in Fort Wayne, 12-4, 9-3 and 6-1. Elle Buffenbarger, who is now an assistant coach for YSU, became the program's career wins leader in Fort Wayne last season when she earned a pair of victories. Her record-breaking victory came in her second career no-hitter.

Home Sweet Home

• Since the Penguins began playing their home games at the YSU Softball Field in 2014, they have found a lot of success in their home ballpark. Youngstown State is 104-59 in 163 games in its on-campus facility for a .638 winning percentage. YSU secured its 100th victory at the complex with a 5-2 victory over Green Bay on April 23, 2022.
• The Penguins have reached double digits in wins in seven of the eight seasons that they've played at the YSU Softball Complex (no home games were played in 2020). YSU's best season at home came in 2021 when it went 23-8 for a .742 winning percentage. The Penguins have had a winning record in seven of their eight seasons playing on campus.
• Youngstown State was 15-8 at the YSU Softball Complex in 2022, including 11-4 against Horizon League opponents during the regular season.
• The Penguins have earned a victory on each Opening Day at the YSU Softball Complex since 2014. YSU is 5-3 in their first home games since 2014, but it bounced back to split doubleheaders on the three instances in which it dropped the opener.
• Youngstown State has a 72-36 mark (.667) in Horizon League regular-season games played at the YSU Softball Field. The Penguins are 29-10 in conference regular-season contests played on their turf over the last two seasons.

Horizon League Openers

• Youngstown State is 11-9 all-time in Horizon League openers, and the Penguins have been much better in their conference lidlifters in recent seasons.
• Starting with 2015, YSU has won six of the last seven Horizon League openers, including three straight. Last season, the Penguins won their first four conference contests and swept Detroit Mercy in a three-game series on March 10-11 at the YSU Softball Complex.
• YSU is 7-6 in conference openers under Head Coach Brian Campbell.

Fessler, Howell Sweep Horizon League Weekly Awards

• Juniors Sara Fessler and Sophie Howell were named the Horizon League Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, on March 8.
• Over six games where the Penguins posted a 4-2 record, Fessler batted .438 (7-for-16) with seven runs scored, three doubles and three runs batted in. Howell went 3-0 with a 0.70 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 20 innings. Highlighting her week, Howell tied a career high with 11 strikeouts in a 7-2 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Horizon League Team Rankings

• As Horizon League play begins, Youngstown State has demonstrated statistically that it can be a conference contender again in 2023.
• The Penguins lead the Horizon League with a 3.18 ERA, which is 0.75 better than second-place Green Bay and 1.07 better than third-place Oakland. Youngstown State also paces the conference with 127 strikeouts in 130 innings on the mound.
• Offensively, Youngstown State leads the Horizon League with 3.70 runs per game while ranking fourth in batting average and third in on-base percentage. The Penguins have excelled at small ball with 16 sacrifice flies and 15 sacrifice bunts in 20 games. YSU has 10 more sacrifice flies than second-place Oakland, and the Golden Grizzlies are the only other Horizon League club with more than two. YSU's 15 sacrifice bunts are three more than second-place Cleveland State. Youngstown State also has 21 stolen bases, which is second behind Robert Morris.

Don't Mess With Fess

Junior Sara Fessler continues to be impressive for the Penguins in her first season at the Division I level. The transfer from Division II Ursuline College leads the Horizon League with a .412 batting average, a .531 on-base percentage, a .588 slugging percentage, 0.88 runs per game and 0.35 doubles per game. She is 21-for-51 at the plate with 15 runs scored, six doubles and 13 walks in 17 contests. She was a First-Team All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference pick last season when she batted .442 and posted an OPS of 1.203 for the Arrows.

Rinaldi RBI Ready

Senior Conchetta Rinaldi was Youngstown State's top RBI producer last season and ranked third in the Horizon League with 32. This season, she ranks second in the conference with 15 RBIs through 20 games, and she is batting .274 while slugging .403. She is also tied for the league lead with four sacrifice flies. Rinaldi has driven in a run in 10 different games, and she plated three runs in YSU's 13-9 win at Memphis on March 8.

Impressive Trio in the Circle

Youngstown State has a talented and deep rotation in the circle. As conference play begins, three Penguins rank among the top nine pitchers in the Horizon League in ERA.

Junior Devan Ryan tops the group with a 2.19 ERA in her first season at the Division I level. A transfer from Indian River State College where she was named the 2022 Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year, Ryan has a -5 record and has struck out 35 batters in 48 innings. Ryan went 10-4 with 10 saves and a 1.59 ERA last year for the Pioneers.

Junior Sophie Howell leads the Horizon League with 62 strikeouts, and she has matched Ryan in the wins column with three. Howell picked up a pair of wins in relief in the doubleheader sweep of Providence and Saint Louis on March 5, and she went on to be named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week on March 8. Last season in the circle, Howell picked up seven wins and recorded a 2.28 earned-run average, which ranked third in the Horizon League. She also ranked ninth in the league with 98 strikeouts.

Sophomore Bree Kohler ranks fifth in the Horizon League with a 3.18 ERA over 22 innings. She has made eight appearances, six of which have been in relief, and she has posted victories over Saint Louis and Memphis. She has an impressive 23 strikeouts in her 22 innings. Last season she struck out 52 batters in 53.1 innings while posting a 3-5 record. Her ERA was 3.81 in 11 innings.

Penguins Picked Fifth

Youngstown State was predicted to finish fifth in the Horizon League after a preseason vote of the league's head coaches. The Penguins, who received 50 points, are coming off their second straight 30-win campaign after going 32-24 overall and 17-9 in the Horizon League.

Oakland earned 77 points and eight first-place votes to earn the top spot in voting done by the League's head coaches while Robert Morris (68 points) was voted second in the poll. Cleveland State (61) and Green Bay (51) were picked ahead of YSU (50), and Northern Kentucky (43), IUPUI (22), Purdue Fort Wayne (20) and Detroit Mercy (13) rounded out the poll.