Penguins Begin Three-Game Series at College of Charleston on Friday

Friday, February 23

Charleston, SC

4 p.m.

Youngstown State University

College of Charleston

Photo by: Dave Dermer

Penguins Begin Three-Game Series at College of Charleston on Friday

2/21/2024 11:00:00 AM | Baseball

Game Notes

The Youngstown State baseball team (0-3) will begin a three-game non-conference series against College of Charleston (4-0) on Friday at 4 p.m. at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. The Penguins and Cougars will proceed to play on Saturday at 2 p.m. before closing the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

All three games of the series will be broadcast live on FloSports, and live stats will be available through links on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on X for live updates.

Youngstown State at College of Charleston

Date	Location	Video	Live Stats
Friday Feb. 23 \| 4 PM	Patriots Point Mt. Pleasant, S.C.	FloSports	Live Stats
Saturday Feb. 24 \| 2 PM	Patriots Point Mt. Pleasant, S.C.	FloSports	Live Stats
Sunday Feb. 25 \| 1 PM	Patriots Point Mt. Pleasant, S.C.	FloSports	Live Stats

Weekend Preview

Junior right-hander Jacob Gehring will start the series opener on Friday while sophomore left-hander Sloan Ulrich will take the ball in game two of the series on Saturday. Sophomore left-hander Braden Gebhardt is scheduled to make his first start of the season in the series finale on Sunday.
The Penguins and Cougars will meet on the diamond for the first time since Feb. 23, 2020. College of Charleston swept a three-game series at Patriots Point on Feb. 21-23 during the shortened 2020 campaign in the most recent meetings. The Cougars have won 13 of the 14 all-time meetings between the programs in a series that dates back to the 1999 season. College of Charleston has won the last 13 meetings since YSU earned an 9-8 win in the first-ever meeting on March 26, 1999.
Youngstown State was swept by Texas State in a three-game series on opening weekend. The Bobcats won the series opener 20-2 on Friday before earning wins of 6-1 and 11-1 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Junior transfer Teddy Ruffner hit the first home run of his career in the season opener at Texas State on Friday while freshman right-hander Colin Casteel tossed 5.1 strong innings of relief in his collegiate debut.
Freshman outfielder Alejandro Covas went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and a walk in his collegiate debut on Saturday while junior right-hander Nolan Kubilus tossed three scoreless innings of relief in his YSU debut. In addition to Casteel, freshmen Chris Domke, Niall Todd and Gavin Wilms each made the first pitching appearance of their collegiate careers on opening weekend.
Redshirt senior shortstop Trey Law and sophomore infielder Matt Thompson were each named to Perfect Game's Horizon League Preseason All-Conference Team in the website's 2024 conference preview.
Law was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team and the ABCA/Rawlings East All-Region Second Team last season after batting .362 and slugging .452 with 80 hits, 17 doubles, one home run and 29 RBIs. He also recorded 50 runs scored, 24 walks, 100 total bases, a .437 on-base percentage and 10 stolen bases while starting 52 games at shortstop.
Thompson, who was named the 2023 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, batted .316 and slugged .439 with 54 hits, 10 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 28 RBIs while playing in 47 games and making 46 starts at second base during his debut collegiate campaign.
Freshman outfielder Derrick Tarpley Jr. was selected as the Preseason Horizon League Freshman of the Year by D1Baseball.com in the website's 2024 conference preview. The Brownsville, Pa., native was drafted by the Oakland Athletics with the 526th overall pick in the 18th round of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft.
Three Penguins were listed among D1Baseball.com's top MLB Draft prospects in the Horizon League. Senior outfielder RJ Sherwood was ranked as the No. 7 prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft while Gehring was ranked No. 9. Thompson was ranked as the No. 2 prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft. In addition, freshman right-hander Gavin Wilms joined Tarpley Jr. on the website's list of the top-10 Impact Freshmen in the conference.
Six different Penguins were listed among Perfect Game's Top MLB Draft Prospects in the Horizon League in the website's 2024 conference preview. Gehring was ranked the league's No. 9 prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft. He was joined on the website's top-25 prospects for 2024 by Law (No. 21), Sherwood (No. 23) and junior catcher Ian Francis (No. 25). Thompson was listed as Perfect Game's top 2025 prospect while Tarpley Jr. was ranked as the league's No. 2 prospect for 2026.
Youngstown State was picked fifth in the 2024 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Poll after a vote of the league's head coaches. Wright State was picked as the preseason favorite after winning the 2023 Horizon League regular season and tournament titles. The Penguins were picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League by D1Baseball.com.

Previewing College of Charleston

A Win on Friday Would…

Give YSU its first victory of the 2024 season.
Improve YSU's record to 1-3.
Give the Penguins their first win against the Cougars since March 26, 1999.
Be the 355th in head coach Dan Bertolini's career and his 126th at Youngstown State.

Scouting The Cougars

College of Charleston enters this weekend's series with a 4-0 record after sweeping a four-game series with Marshall at Patriots Point on opening weekend. The Cougars won the season opener 15-3 on Friday before earning victories of 5-0, 2-1 and 8-5 in the final three games of the series.
Junior right-hander and infielder Cole Mathis was selected to the Preseason All-CAA Team after being named a NCBWA Second-Team All American in 2023. Mathis was also named to the 2023 All-CAA Second Team after appearing in 56 games with 55 starts last season. He paced the Cougars in batting average (.330), doubles (20), slugging (.575), walks (41) and runs scored (48) at the plate while also posting a 5-1 record and a 3.45 ERA in 60 innings over 14 appearances on the mound.
Senior infielder Luke Wood and graduate student Trotter Harlan were named Honorable Mention Preseason All-CAA ahead of the 2024 season. Wood was named Second-Team All-CAA last season after batting .302 and slugging .517 with nine home runs and 48 RBIs over 54 games and 52 starts. Harlan was also named Second-Team All-CAA last season after batting .289 with 15 doubles, 10 home runs, 51 RBIs and 17 stolen bases over 57 starts.
College of Charleston posted a 36-22 overall record with an 18-12 mark in Colonial Athletic Conference play in 2023. The Cougars saw their 2023 season come to an end in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament. CofC was picked to finish fourth in the 2024 CAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

Series History

Overall: College of Charleston leads 13-1
Bertolini: 0-3 // Home 0-0 // Away: 1-13
Current Win Streak: 13 by College of Charleston
First Meeting: March 26, 1999 (W 9-8)
Youngstown State is 1-13 all-time against College of Charleston, and Friday will mark the first meeting between the programs since Feb. 23, 2020.
In the most recent meetings during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, the Cougars won by final scores of 5-4, 14-4 and 7-3.
Following the first meeting in 1999, the Penguins and Cougars played three times in both 2011 and 2002 after facing off two times in both 2001 and 2000.

Recapping Last Week

Game 1 at Texas State – Friday, Feb. 16 // L 2-20

Youngstown State fell to Texas State by a final score of 20-2 in the 2024 season opener for both teams on Friday evening at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas.
Junior outfielder Teddy Ruffner hit his first-career home run and finished with two RBIs in his first game as a Penguin. Freshman right-hander Colin Casteel provided YSU a strong effort out of the bullpen, tossing three straight scoreless frames during his 5.1 innings on the mound.
The Bobcats scored 17 runs over their first three at bats to jump ahead in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. YSU posted single runs in the sixth and the eighth while Texas State scored once in the seventh and twice in the eighth.
Ruffner finished 1-for-3 at the plate with a solo home run and two RBIs while freshman Derrick Tarpley Jr. recorded the first hit of his collegiate career with an infield single.
Casteel allowed four runs, three of which were earned, on three hits with two strikeouts in his first-career appearance. The Butler, Pa., native retired the side in order in the fourth and faced the minimum in the fifth while holding the Bobcats scoreless for three consecutive frames.
YSU starter Jacob Gehring suffered the loss after allowing seven runs on five hits in one inning of work. Aidan English was responsible seven runs, five of them earned, on four hits in two thirds of an inning. Freshman right-hander Gavin Wilms surrendered two runs on three hits with a pair of strikeouts in one inning of relief. The Salem, Ohio, native struck out the first batter he faced in his collegiate debut.

Game 2 at Texas State – Saturday, Feb. 17 // L 1-6

Youngstown State dropped a 6-1 decision at Texas State on Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas.
The Penguins jumped in front 1-0 in the top of the fifth before the Bobcats answered with six runs in the home half of the inning in route to their second consecutive victory.
Freshman outfielder Alejandro Covas went 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of singles and a walk in his collegiate debut while Trey Law singled and drove in a run. RJ Sherwood singled in his only plate appearance and transfer Brett Stanely doubled for his first hit as a Penguin.
YSU starter Sloan Ulrich was responsible for three runs on one hit and five walks with two strikeouts over 4.2 innings in a losing effort in his first appearance for the Guins. The only hit the sophomore left-hander surrendered was a leadoff single in the first inning as he blanked the Bobcats over the first four frames.
Nick Perez allowed three runs on three hits in relief before Nolan Kubilus came on to toss three scoreless innings in his first outing in a Penguin uniform. Kubilus retired the side in order in both the sixth and eighth innings.

Game 3 at Texas State – Sunday, Feb. 18 // L 1-11

Youngstown State fell 11-1 to Texas State in the opening-weekend series finale on Sunday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas.
The Penguins took an early 1-0 edge in the top of the first inning before the Bobcats responded with four runs in the home half of the frame to move in front. Texas State added to its lead in five of its final six at bats while completing the series sweep in the seven-inning affair.
Trey Law doubled and scored a run, Ian Francis recorded a single and Derrick Tarpley Jr. notched the first RBI of his collegiate career.
YSU starter Lane Rhodes suffered the loss after allowing four runs on three walks in his first outing since suffering a season-ending injury on opening weekend in 2023. Braden Gebhardt was responsible for three runs on three hits and five walks of 3.2 innings of relief.
Casey Marshalwitz allowed two runs on one hit and one walk over 1.2 innings before freshmen Niall Todd and Chris Domke each recorded a pair of outs in the first action of their collegiate careers. Domke surrendered two runs on two hits while collecting his first-career strikeout.

Up Next

The Penguins are scheduled to play their first midweek contest of the 2024 season on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Pitt. First pitch at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh is slated for 3 p.m.