Softball 2023 Season-In-Review
6/20/2023 12:10:00 PM | Softball
The Youngstown State softball team recently concluded another success campaign in 2023. The Penguins won at least 25 games for the seventh straight full season after posting a 27-27 overall record and a 12-10 Horizon League mark.
Youngstown State, which won at least 12 Horizon League games for the seventh consecutive year, finished the season winning seven of its last 10 games and made a valiant run in the Horizon League Tournament.
Head Coach Brian Campbell, who has a school-record 354 victories, reached another coaching milestone by earning his 350th win at Youngstown State with a 9-1 win over Northern Kentucky on May 5. Campbell has now won 153 Horizon League games during his tenure at Youngstown State.
For the 12th straight season and the 13th time in 14 years (not including the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season), Youngstown State placed at least one player on the All-Horizon League Team.
This season, junior Sara Fessler earned All-Horizon League First-Team honors and posted a player-of-the-year type season batting .369 with 12 doubles, five home runs, 17 RBIs, and 41 runs scored. She also slugged .541 and had an on-base percentage of .492. Fessler ranked in the top five in 10 different statistical categories and led the league in runs and on-base percentage.
In league play, Fessler batted .400 with 18 runs scored, four doubles, three home runs, and a 1.109 OPS.
Junior Sophie Howell was named All-Horizon League Second-Team after going 17-12 with a 2.48 earned-run average and 173 strikeouts. Howell's 17 victories rank tied for fifth on the YSU single-season chart while her 173 strikeouts are the sixth-most in a single season.
Howell led the Horizon League in strikeouts, ranked second in wins, innings pitched with 200.2, and 19 complete games, and ranked third in earned-run average. She was also named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team with a 3-2 record, 22 strikeouts and a 1.06 ERA in 33 innings pitched.
In her first full season as a starter, junior Elyssa Imler posted an impressive season at shortstop batting .290 overall and .300 against Horizon League foes, and was named All-Horizon League Second-Team. She also scored 26 runs with 10 doubles, a home run and drove in 19 runs while stealing 11 bases.
Fifth-year senior Megan Turner, who batted .323 in league play, tied for the Horizon League lead with six home runs and drove in 26 runs while seniors Conchetta Rinaldi and Avrey Schumacher tied for sixth with 27 runs batted in. Schumacher also batted .339 against Horizon League opponents.
Sophomore Taylor Truran was named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team after posting a team-best .417 batting average with a double and three runs batted in. Truran finished the season with a .300 overall batting average and a batted .356 against the Horizon League.
