The Youngstown State baseball team (0-6) will begin a three-game non-conference series at Louisville (4-4) on Friday at 3 p.m. at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville, Ky. The Penguins and Cardinals will proceed to play on Saturday at 1 p.m. before closing the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Friday's series opener will mark the first meeting on the diamond between YSU and Louisville since 2018. All three games of the series will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra and YSNLive.com while live stats will be available through links on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on X for live updates.
Youngstown State at Louisville
Weekend Preview
- Junior right-hander Jacob Gehring will take the mound in the series opener on Friday while sophomore left-hander Sloan Ulrich is set start game two of the series on Saturday. Sophomore left-hander Braden Gebhardt is scheduled to take the ball in the series finale on Sunday.
- The Penguins and Cardinals will meet on the diamond for the first time since Feb. 25, 2018. Louisville swept a three-game series at Jim Patterson Stadium on Feb. 23-25 during the 2018 campaign in the first three meetings between the programs.
- Youngstown State is still in search of its first victory of the season after being swept in a three-game series at College of Charleston this past weekend. The Cougars rallied to win the series opener 2-1 before earning victories of 14-5 and 13-0 in the final two games of the series.
- Freshman outfielder Alejandro Covas is batting .353 and slugging .412 with six hits and two stolen bases through the first five games of his collegiate career. Redshirt senior shortstop Trey Law is batting .304 with a team-high seven hits through the first six games of the 2024 season. Law matched his career high with four hits while driving in two runs on Saturday at College of Charleston.
- 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.
- Six different Penguins were listed among Perfect Game's Top MLB Draft Prospects in the Horizon League. 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), senior outfielder RJ Sherwood (No. 23) and junior catcher Ian Francis (No. 25). Thompson was listed as Perfect Game's top 2025 prospect while freshman outfielder Derrick Tarpley Jr. was ranked as the league's No. 2 prospect for 2026.
- 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.
- Youngstown State was picked fifth in the 2024 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Poll after a vote of the league's head coaches. The Penguins were picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League by D1Baseball.com.
Previewing Louisville
A Win on Friday Would...
- Give YSU its first victory of the 2024 season.
- Improve YSU's record to 1-6.
- Give the Penguins their first win against the Cardinals in four all-time meetings.
- Give the Penguins their sixth win over a Power Five opponent in the last three seasons.
- Give YSU its 10th victory over a Power Five opponent and seventh win over an ACC opponent during Dan Bertolini's tenure.
- Be the 355th in head coach Dan Bertolini's career and his 126th at Youngstown State.
Scouting The Cardinals
- Louisville enters the weekend on a four-game winning streak at 4-4 overall after a 12-3 home victory over Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday. Out of their four losses, the Cardinals have dropped three one-run decisions.
- Senior outfielder JT Benson is batting .550 and slugging .800 with 11 hits and eight RBIs over seven games played. Freshman outfielder Lucas Moore is batting .440 and slugging .520 while leading the team with seven stolen bases and 13 runs scored over eight games and seven starts.
- Senior left-hander and Wright State transfer Sebastian Gongora owns a 4.09 ERA while leading the Cardinals 11 strikeouts and 11 innings pitched over two starts. Senior left-hander Evan Webster has a 1.13 ERA and nine strikeouts in eight innings pitched over two starts.
- Louisville posted a 31-24 overall record with an 10-20 mark in ACC play in 2023. The Cardinals were picked fifth out of seven teams in the Atlantic Division in the 2024 ACC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll.
Series History
- Overall: Louisville leads 3-0
- Bertolini: 0-3 // Home 0-0 // Away: 0-3
- Current Win Streak: 3 by Louisville
- First Meeting: Feb. 23, 2018 (L 0-11)
- Louisville swept a three-game series at Jim Patterson Stadium on Feb. 23-25 during the 2018 season in the first-ever meetings between the programs. The Cardinals earn wins of 11-0, 8-1 and 12-2 in the first three meetings.
Recapping Last Week
Game 1 at College of Charleston – Friday, Feb. 23 // L 1-2
- College of Charleston scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to rally for a 2-1 victory over Youngstown State in the series opener on Friday at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
- The Penguins went ahead 1-0 on Teddy Ruffner's second home run of the season in the top of the second inning. The Cougars produced a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and held on for the series-opening win.
- YSU starter Jacob Gehring suffered the loss after allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and four walks over 4.2 innings in his second outing as a Penguin. The junior right-hander retired the side in the order in the first inning as he blanked the Cougars over the first four frames.
- Freshman left-hander Niall Todd allowed two hits while recording the final out of the fifth inning in his second career appearance. Nolan Kubilus pitched a scoreless sixth with a pair of punch outs, freshman right-hander Chris Domke worked a scoreless seventh and Casey Marshalwitz came on to toss a scoreless eighth.
- Freshman right fielder Alejandro Covas went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and two stolen bases to lead YSU offensively.
Game 2 at College of Charleston – Saturday, Feb. 24 // L 5-14
- College of Charleston used an 11-run sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie and pull away for a 14-5 victory over Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point.
- The Cougars scored single runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings to build a 3-0 lead before the Penguins evened the score with three runs in the top of the sixth. College of Charleston responded by scoring 11 runs on five hits in the bottom of the sixth to pull away for the series victory. YSU added a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to produce the final margin.
- Trey Law matched his career high with four hits by going 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI singles and a stolen base. Derrick Tarpley Jr. went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a stolen base while Alejandro Covas was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. Matt Thompson also had a two-hit day as YSU outhit College of Charleston 13-8 while leaving a total of 13 runners on base. The Penguins posted season highs with five runs and 13 hits in Saturday's setback.
- YSU starter Sloan Ulrich surrendered three runs on three hits and four walks with two strikeouts over four innings in a no-decision. Aidan English took the loss after allowing two runs on a pair of walks in the decisive bottom of the sixth inning. English was one of four Penguin relievers to allow multiple runs in the sixth, and he was one of nine YSU pitchers to appear in the game.
Game 3 at College of Charleston – Sunday, Feb. 25 // L 0-13
- College of Charleston struck for two big innings offensively and had two pitchers combine for a one-hit performance in a 13-0 victory over Youngstown State in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point.
- CofC starter Connor Campbell did allow a base runner until Matt Thompson sent a two-out single to right field in the top of the eighth inning. Campbell allowed one hit and struck out three batters over 7.2 scoreless innings to earn the win.
- YSU starter Braden Gebhardt suffered the loss after allowing five runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks over 2.1 innings in his first start of the season. Nick Perez was responsible for six runs on five hits and four walks in 1.2 innings before Casey Marshalwitz surrendered two runs on three hits in one inning. Lane Rhodes allowed one hit over two scoreless innings while Cam Marshalwitz tossed a scoreless eighth inning in his first appearance of the campaign.
Up Next
The Penguins are scheduled play a midweek contest at Ohio on Tuesday at 4 p.m. before playing a four-game series at Georgia Tech on March 8-10.
