Thursday, April 20
Rochester, MI
1 p.m.
Youngstown State University
at
Oakland
Penguins Conclude Road Stretch with Three-Game HL Series at Oakland
4/19/2023 1:33:00 PM | Baseball
Youngstown State at Oakland
| Opponent | Date | Location | Live Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Thursday April 20 | 1 PM ET |
Oakland Baseball Field Rochester, Mich. |
Live Stats |
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Thursday April 20 | 4:30 PM ET |
Oakland Baseball Field Rochester, Mich. |
Live Stats |
|
Friday April 21 | 2 PM ET |
Oakland Baseball Field Rochester, Mich. |
Live Stats |
Series Preview
- The Youngstown State baseball team (7-29, 3-11 Horizon League) will open a three-game Horizon League series against Oakland (14-22, 7-8 Horizon League) with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday at the Oakland Baseball Field in Rochester, Mich. The Penguins and Golden Grizzlies will conclude the series with a single game on Friday at 2 p.m.
- Live stats will be available for all three games through links on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on Twitter for live updates.
- Freshman left-hander Braden Gebhardt is slated to start the series opener on Thursday, freshman left-hander Cam Marshalwitz will take the ball in game two on Thursday and senior right-hander Travis Perry is scheduled to start the series finale on Friday.
- Youngstown State and Oakland met three times at Eastwood Field back in March with the Golden Grizzlies taking the final two games of the series. YSU earned an 18-3 home-opening victory on March 16 before Oakland took both games of a doubleheader the following day.
- The Penguins have dropped five straight games after falling 10-8 at Penn State on Tuesday. YSU's most recent victory was a 9-4 triumph at Pitt on April 10 that marked YSU's third win over a Power Five opponent this season. It was also YSU's third straight win at Charles L. Cost Field and its fifth victory over the Panthers in the last eight meetings.
- The Penguins split a four-game series at Baylor on March 3-5. YSU's 7-5 victory on March 3 marked its first win over a Big 12 opponent since 2013. The Penguins now have five wins over Power Five opponents in the last two seasons and nine during Dan Bertolini's tenure as head coach.
- In YSU's 15-14 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on April 1, Steven D'Eusanio went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and tied the single-game school record with three doubles. He became just the second Penguin since 2010 to double three times in a game. The Willoughby, Ohio, native is the first Penguin to double three times in a game since Blaze Glenn on March 21, 2021.
- The Penguins won their 2023 home and Horizon League opener with an 18-3 victory over Oakland at Eastwood Field on March 16. YSU set new season highs with 18 runs and 21 hits while winning its league opener for the third straight season. The Guins recorded at least 18 runs and 21 hits for the first time since posting 22 runs and 21 hits in a 22-6 victory over St. Bonaventure on March 21, 2021. YSU has won its Horizon League opener in three straight seasons for the first time in program history.
- 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.
- Youngstown State ranks second in the Horizon League with 330 hits and 77 doubles while ranking third with a .265 batting average, seven triples and 487 total bases. Senior right-hander Travis Perry leads the Horizon League with a .231 opponent batting average while ranking sixth with 41 strikeouts, seventh with a 4.46 ERA and ninth with three wins and 42.1 innings pitched. Junior right-hander Nick Perez ranks eighth in the league with a team-high 44.1 innings pitched.
- Senior infielder Steven D'Eusanio leads the Horizon League and ranks 10th nationally with 16 doubles. D'Eusanio has hit safely in 17 of his last 22 games after putting together a 12-game hitting streak from March 11 to April 2. He has also reached base safely in 22 consecutive contests.
- Junior infielder Trey Law leads the Horizon League and ranks 15th nationally with 59 hits. He also ranks second in the league with a .373 batting average and 12 doubles and ninth with 28 runs scored and a .441 on-base percentage. Law has now hit safely in 29 of his last 33 games. He hit safely in a career-best nine straight games from Feb. 19 to March 5 before putting together an eight-game hitting streak from March 10-24. Law is batting .353 with 24 hits over 14 games in Horizon League play.
- Senior first baseman Padraig O'Shaughnessy ranks fourth in the Horizon League with 25 walks, fifth with six home runs and 35 RBIs and seventh with 10 doubles. He also leads the league with five sacrifice flies. O'Shaughnessy has now hit safely in seven straight games entering Thursday's series opener. Senior infielder Braeden O'Shaughnessy ranks seventh in the league with 41 hits while ranking 10th with 26 runs scored. He has hit safely in each of his last eight games while reaching base safely in 15 consecutive contests.
- Senior outfielder Turner Grau leads the Horizon League and ranks 18th nationally with four triples. He also ranks fourth in the league with a team-high 13 stolen bases and seventh with 22 walks. Grau has set a new YSU career record for triples with 12. With four triples this season, he has surpassed the previous mark of nine that had been held by Chris Durkin (1989-91) and Mark Thomas (1997-99). Grau also tied the single-season school record with seven triples as a sophomore in 2021.
- Freshman right-hander Brandin Anderson and junior left-hander Kenny Misik each rank second in the Horizon League and 29th nationally with 19 pitching appearances.
YSU at Oakland
A Win in Game One on Thursday Would…
- Give YSU its eighth victory of the 2023 season.
- Snap a five-game losing streak.
- Snap a two-game losing streak to Oakland.
- Improve YSU's Horizon League record to 4-11.
- Be the 343rd in head coach Dan Bertolini's career and his 114th at Youngstown State.
Scouting The Golden Grizzlies
- Oakland is 14-22 overall and 7-8 in Horizon League play after falling 16-4 to Bowling Green in a non-conference contest on Tuesday. The Golden Grizzlies, who have dropped five straight games, were swept in a three-game Horizon League series at Northern Kentucky this past weekend. Oakland is scheduled to host Eastern Michigan on Wednesday before entertaining YSU.
- Senior outfielder Ian Cleary is batting .345 and slugging .527 with a team-high 38 hits, 11 doubles, three home runs and a team-high 25 RBIs. Clearly ranks in the top 10 in the Horizon League in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS, doubles and RBIs. Senior utility player Jared Miller is batting .290 and slugging .452 with nine doubles, two home runs and 23 RBIs.
- Senior left-hander Travis Densmore has a 3-4 record and a 6.86 ERA while leading the Golden Grizzlies with 38 strikeouts and 39.1 innings pitched over nine starts. Sophomore right-hander Hunter Pidek has a 1-1 record, a 3.86 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 37.1 innings pitched over eight appearances and seven starts. Junior right-hander Brandon Decker has a 4-1 record, a 5.84 ERA, two saves and 36 strikeouts in 37 innings over a team-high 15 relief 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 26-24
- Bertolini: 13-14 // Home: 18-12 // Away: 7-9 // Neutral: 1-3
- Current Win Streak: 2 by Oakland
- Last Meeting: March 17, 2023 (L 2-5)
- 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 has won four of the last five encounters after taking two of three games at Eastwood Field earlier this season. YSU earned an 18-3 home-opening victory on March 16 before the Golden Grizzlies took both games of a doubleheader the following day.
- 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 on May 27, 2022.
Recapping Penn State
At Penn State – Tuesday, April 18 // L 8-10
- Penn State scored four runs over its final two at bats to overcome an 8-6 deficit and defeat the Youngstown State baseball team 10-8 on Tuesday evening at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in University Park, Pa.
- The Penguins led 6-3 after two innings before the Nittany Lions plated three runs in the third to tie the game at 6-6. YSU scored single runs in the fifth and sixth frames to move in front 8-6 before Penn State struck for two runs in the seventh to even the score again. With the game tied 8-8, the Nittany Lions scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull away in the back-and-forth midweek affair.
- Trey Law went 3-for-4 with an RBI double and two runs scored the pace the Penguins offensively. Padraig O'Shaughnessy went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored while Clay Wiesen had two hits and scored twice.
- YSU starter Kenny Misik allowed six runs on five hits and five walks over 2.2 innings. Patrick Gumto pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief before Zach Stayduhar retired the side in order in the fifth. Nick Perez was responsible for two runs, one of them earned, on five hits in two innings of work. Will Shaffer suffered the loss after allowing two runs in two thirds of an inning.
Up Next
The Penguins will begin a four-game homestand on Tuesday with a non-conference contest against Akron at 5 p.m. YSU will then host Milwaukee for a three-game Horizon League series at Eastwood Field on April 28-30.
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/ BaseballTuesday, February 11
Tuesday, February 11
