Friday, May 12
Highland Heights, KY
11 a.m.
Youngstown State University
at
Northern Kentucky
Photo by: Josh Gales
Penguins Look to Continue Winning Ways at Northern Kentucky
5/11/2023 1:30:00 PM | Baseball
Youngstown State at Northern Kentucky
| Opponent | Date | Location | Video | Live Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Friday May 12 | 11 AM ET |
Bill Aker Baseball Complex Highland Heights, Ky. |
ESPN+ | Live Stats |
|
Saturday May 13 | 1 PM ET |
Bill Aker Baseball Complex Highland Heights, Ky |
ESPN+ | Live Stats |
|
Sunday May 14 | 12 PM ET |
Bill Aker Baseball Complex Highland Heights, Ky |
ESPN+ | Live Stats |
Weekend Preview
- The Youngstown State baseball team (15-32, 9-14 Horizon League) will open a three-game Horizon League series against Northern Kentucky (27-20, 15-9 Horizon League) on Friday at 11 a.m. ET at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex in Highland Heights, Ky. The Penguins and Norse will proceed to play on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
- All three games of the series will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Live stats will be available through links on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on Twitter for live updates.
- Senior right-hander Travis Perry is slated to start the series opener on Friday, freshman left-hander Braden Gebhardt will take the ball in game two on Saturday and freshman left-hander Cam Marshalwitz will start the series finale on Sunday.
- The Penguins have won eight straight games after a 5-1 non-conference victory over Bowling Green at Eastwood Field on Tuesday. YSU has won eight straight games for the first time since the 2005 season. The Guins have not won nine consecutive contests since winning 11 straight during the 1989 campaign.
- YSU's eight-game winning streak was tied for the third-longest winning streak in the nation through games played on Tuesday. Only Southern Miss (10) and Oral Roberts (9) had longer active winning streaks. YSU was one of five teams in the country to have won at least eight straight contests.
- Youngstown State earned its second straight Horizon League series sweep with three wins at Purdue Fort Wayne this past weekend. The Penguins took the series opener 9-4 on Friday before earning a series-clinching 12-3 triumph on Saturday. YSU completed the sweep with a 14-10 victory in the series finale on Sunday.
- YSU was swept by Northern Kentucky in a three-game Horizon League series at Eastwood Field on April 6-8. The Norse took the series opener 13-5 before winning the series with an 11-0 victory in game two. NKU won the series finale by a final score of 11-5.
- YSU earned a 9-4 victory 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.
- Senior third baseman Braeden O'Shaughnessy was named Horizon League Batter of the Week on Tuesday. He batted .462 and slugged 1.000 with six hits including four doubles and a home run in 13 at bats while leading the Penguins to the three-game series sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne. O'Shaughnessy also recorded nine RBIs, four runs scored, 13 total bases and a .533 on-base percentage.
- 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 .274 batting average, 446 hits and 107 doubles while ranking third with 299 runs scored, 271 RBIs, 686 total bases, a .421 slugging percentage and a .363 on-base percentage.
- Senior right-hander Travis Perry ranks third in the Horizon League with a .245 opponent batting average, fourth with five wins, fifth with a 4.22 ERA, eighth with 53 strikeouts and ninth with 59.2 innings pitched. Junior right-hander Nick Perez ranks 10th in the league with 59.1 innings pitched.
- Senior infielder Steven D'Eusanio leads the Horizon League and ranks 12th nationally with 20 doubles while also ranking eighth in the league with 54 hits and 40 RBIs. D'Eusanio's 20 doubles are tied for the fourth most in a season in program history. He is the first Penguin to record at least 20 doubles in a season since Tom Clayton had 20 in 2007. D'Eusanio has hit safely in 25 of his last 33 games after putting together a 12-game hitting streak from March 11 to April 2. He is batting .309 and slugging .457 with 29 hits and 28 RBIs over 23 games in Horizon League play.
- Junior infielder Trey Law leads the Horizon League with 70 hits while also ranking second with a .368 batting average, sixth with 14 doubles and a .434 on-base percentage and seventh with 40 runs scored. Law has now hit safely in 37 of his last 41 games. He hit safely in nine straight games from Feb. 19 to March 5 before putting together an eight-game hitting streak from March 10-24. Law has now hit safely in a career-best 10 straight contests entering Friday's series opener. Law is batting .333 with 32 hits over 21 games in Horizon League play.
- Senior first baseman Padraig O'Shaughnessy ranks second in the Horizon League with 34 walks, fifth with 46 RBIs and ninth with eight home runs. He also leads the league and ranks 19th nationally with six sacrifice flies. O'Shaughnessy's six sacrifice flies are tied for the second most in a season in program history. Senior infielder Braeden O'Shaughnessy ranks fourth in the league with 58 hits, eighth with 13 doubles, ninth with a .309 batting average and 10th with 38 runs scored. He is batting .367 and slugging .612 with 36 hits and 25 RBIs over 23 games in Horizon League play.
- Senior outfielder Turner Grau leads the league with four triples while ranking fourth with a team-high 13 stolen bases and 10th with 24 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.
YSU at Northern Kentucky
A Win on Friday Would...
- Give YSU its 16th victory of the 2023 season.
- Give YSU its ninth straight victory.
- Give YSU its first nine-game winning streak since the 1989 season.
- Give YSU its seventh straight win in HL play.
- Improve YSU's Horizon League record to 10-14.
- Be the 351st in head coach Dan Bertolini's career and his 122nd at Youngstown State.
Scouting The Norse
- Northern Kentucky is 27-20 overall and 15-9 in Horizon League play after a 7-6 non-conference victory against Butler on Tuesday that snapped a four-game losing skid. NKU is three games back of Wright State in second place in the Horizon League standings after being swept by the Raiders in a three-game series last weekend.
- Senior infielder Noah Fisher is batting .347 and slugging .701 with 13 doubles, 14 home runs, 58 RBIs and 44 walks. Junior infielder Liam McFadden-Ackman is batting .320 and slugging .621 with 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 53 RBIs. The Norse lead the Horizon League with a .293 team batting average.
- Sophomore right-hander Kaden Echeman has a 5-1 record, a 3.79 ERA and a team-high 70 strikeouts in 61.2 innings pitched over 12 starts. Junior left-hander Ben Gerl has a 4-3 record, a 4.91 ERA and 61 strikeouts in a team-high 66 innings pitched over 12 starts. Senior right-hander Casey Maniglia has a 2-1 record, four saves, a 2.76 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 16.1 innings pitched over 17 relief appearances.
Series History
- Overall: Northern Kentucky leads 25-11
- Home: 4-14 // Away: 6-11 // Neutral: 1-0
- Bertolini: 10-20
- Current Win Streak: 3 by Northern Kentucky
- Last meeting: April 8, 2023 (L 5-11)
- First meeting: May 20, 1977 (L 3-4)
- Northern Kentucky swept a three-game series at Eastwood Field earlier this season in the most recent meetings. YSU had won two of the last three meetings entering this season.
- YSU's last win over NKU was an 11-7 victory in the 2022 Horizon League Tournament.
- All but one of the 36 all-time meetings between YSU and NKU have come since 2016 when the Norse joined the Horizon League.
Up Next
The Penguins will play their final non-conference game of the regular season against Akron at Canal Park on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. YSU will finish the regular season with a three-game Horizon League series against Wright State at Eastwood Field on May 18-20.
Players Mentioned
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/ BaseballTuesday, February 11
Tuesday, February 11
