The First Pitch
• The Youngstown State softball team closes out the 2023 regular season when it visits Northern Kentucky for a three-game Horizon League series, May 5-6.
• First pitch against the Norse on Friday is slated for 4 p.m. while Saturday's doubleheader is has a 1 p.m. start time. All three games will be played at the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field in Highland Heights, Ky.

Last Time Out
• Last week, the Penguins won the season series against Cleveland State. After falling, 3-1, in the series opener, the Penguins rallied to defeat the Vikings, 8-4, and 6-2, in games two and three.

About Northern Kentucky
• Northern Kentucky enters the weekend with an overall record of 18-27 and a 12-7 mark in the Horizon League.
• The Norse have won seven straight Horizon League games after starting 5-7.
• Ella LeMonier leads the Norse with a .345 batting average with 25 runs scored, five doubles and four triples.
• Lauryn Hicks leads the Northern Kentucky staff with a 7-7 record and a 2.36 earned-run average with three shutouts and 95 strikeouts in 86 innings pitched.

Fessler Feasting
• Youngstown State junior Sara Fessler has had a player-of-the-year type of season.
• She ranks in the top nine in 10 different statistical categories and in the top five in nine.
• Fessler leads the Horizon League with a .380 batting average, 33 runs scored, 27 walks, and an on-base percentage of .509.
• She ranks fourth with 49 hits, 11 doubles, and a .1.044 OPS, fifth with 14 stolen bases, a .535 slugging percentage, and tied for ninth with three home runs.

Bats Improved in League Play
• Youngstown State's offensive production has certainly increased during Horizon League play. 
• The Penguins are batting .294 with 27 doubles, 12 home runs, and 77 runs batted in against league foes.
• Six players batting above .300 in league play while two are above .400.
• Sara Fessler boasts a .414 average against the league while Taylor Truran has jumped up to .400. Megan Turner is batting .333, Avrey Schumacher is at .321, Elyssa Imler has a .314 average, and Hailey Niederkohr is batting .302
• Turner has six home runs with 18 RBIs, a .743 slugging percentage, and an OPS of 1.109 in league contests.

Howell Climbing K's Chart
• Junior Sophie Howell is quickly climbing the Youngstown State all-time strikeout chart.
• She currently ranks eighth with 291 career strikeouts and needs 10 more to become the eighth pitcher in program history to record at least 300 career strikeouts.
• Howell has a career-best 139 strikeouts this season, which ranks third in the Horizon League and eighth on the YSU single-season list.
• She also leads the league with 51 strikeouts looking, ranks second in the league with 12 wins and 148.1 innings pitched, and ranks seventh with a 2.88 earned-run average.
• Howell has not allowed an earned run in 17 consecutive innings pitched.

Campbell Nearing 350 at YSU
• Head Coach Brian Campbell, the winningest coach in program history with 349 wins, needs just one more to obtain his 350 win at Youngstown State.
• Campbell, who has 634 career victories, was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2021.
• In 2021, Campbell led the Penguins to the first regular-season conference championship in program history with a 36-15 overall record and a 28-8 mark in league play.
• He has led the Penguins to five 30-win seasons and is the only coach in school history to win at least 30 games in consecutive seasons - 2021, 2022 and 2016, 2017.
• Since the start of the 2021 season, Youngstown State has an overall record of 88-58 for a .603 winning percentage.

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 116-63 in 179 games in its on-campus facility for a .648 winning percentage. YSU secured its 100th victory at the complex with a 5-2 victory over Green Bay on April 23, 2022.
• The Penguins, who are 12-4 at home in 2023, have reached double digits in wins in eight of the nine 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. This season, YSU is 4-2 against league foes at the YSU Softball Complex.
• 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 74-36 mark (.673) in Horizon League regular-season games played at the YSU Softball Field. The Penguins are 31-10 in conference regular-season contests played on their turf over the last two-plus seasons.

Howell, Turner Sweep Horizon League Weekly Awards
• Junior Sophie Howell and senior Megan Turner were named the Horizon League Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, on March 28.
• That week, the Penguins went 6-1 overall and 4-1 in Horizon League play thanks in part to the duo. 
• Howell went 3-0 with a 1.54 earned-run average, 23 strikeouts in 22.2 innings pitched. She also fired three complete games. 
• Turner batted .471 (8-for-17) with six runs scored, two doubles, five home runs and 11 RBIs. She also slugged 1.471 and had an OBP of .500.

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.

2023 #HLSB Preseason Poll
Pl.       Team – Pts. (First-place votes)
1.         Oakland (8) – 77
2.         RMU (1) – 68
3.         Cleveland State – 61
4.         Green Bay – 51
5.         Youngstown State – 50
6.         Northern Kentucky – 43
7.         IUPUI – 22
8.         Purdue Fort Wayne – 20
9.         Detroit Mercy – 13