Penguins Host Toledo Tuesday to Begin Four-Game Homestand

Tuesday, April 9

Niles, Ohio

5 p.m.

Youngstown State University

Toledo

Photo by: Robert Hayes

Penguins Host Toledo Tuesday to Begin Four-Game Homestand

4/8/2024 12:00:00 PM | Baseball

The Youngstown State baseball team (4-26, 2-10 Horizon League) will begin a four-game homestand at Eastwood Field on Tuesday when it hosts Toledo (16-16, 10-5 MAC) in a non-conference contest at 5 p.m.

Live audio will be available at 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 vs. Toledo

Opponent	Date	Location	Audio	Live Stats
	Tuesday April 9 \| 5 PM ET	Eastwood Field Niles, Ohio	YSNLive.com	Live Stats

Game Preview

Freshman right-hander Colin Casteel will make his fourth start of the season on Tuesday. The Butler, Pa., native has logged 20 innings pitched over seven appearances and three starts.
The Penguins will be facing the Rockets for the second time this season. Toledo earned a 19-6 victory in the first meeting at Scott Park on March 26 for its third straight win in the series.
Youngstown State was swept a in three-game Horizon League series at Wright State this past weekend. The Raiders won a high-scoring 15-12 decision in the series opener on Friday before picking up an 8-7 comeback victory on Saturday and an 11-1 win in the series finale on Sunday.
YSU picked up a 4-3 non-conference victory at Akron on Wednesday. Freshman outfielder Alejandro Covas went 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs while five YSU pitchers limited the Zips to just one hit over the final five innings. Nolan Kubilus tossed two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win while Chris Domke worked a scoreless ninth to collect his third save of the season. Domke is tied for the Horizon League lead with three saves.
Junior right-hander Jacob Gehring tossed seven strong innings to earn the win in YSU's 3-2 victory over Oakland on March 22. The Canfield, Ohio, native allowed just two runs on five hits while striking out five batters in his second victory in as many starts. Gehring posted career highs with eight innings pitched and six strikeouts in a 4-2 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on March 15.
Gehring currently ranks eighth in the Horizon League with two wins, ninth with 37.2 innings pitched and 10th with a .293 opponent batting average. The Canfield, Ohio, native also leads YSU with 27 strikeouts through the first 30 games of the 2024 season.
Redshirt senior shortstop Trey Law is batting .342 while leading the Penguins with 40 hits, 23 runs scored and a .409 on-base percentage. The Camp Hill, Pa., native matched his career high with four hits in a win at Pitt on March 13 by going 4-for-5 with four runs scored. Law has hit safely in eight of his last nine games entering Tuesday's contest. He is currently tied for sixth in the Horizon League with 40 total hits.
Freshman outfielder Alejandro Covas is batting .330 while leading the Horizon League with five triples. The Peninsula, Ohio, native also leads YSU and ranks seventh in the league with 10 stolen bases. Covas set a new career high with three hits in the series finale with Purdue Fort Wayne on March 17. Covas went 3-for-4 and tied the single-game school record with two triples to become the 11th player in program history and the first since 2021 to triple twice in a game. He is batting .354 and slugging .542 in Horizon League play. Covas has hit safely in eight of his last nine games entering Tuesday's contest.
Junior infielder Brett Stanley is batting .353 and slugging .588 over 10 games played and nine starts in Horizon League play. He leads the Penguins with 10 RBIs in conference action. Stanley has hit safely in 10 of his last 14 games heading into action on Tuesday.
With its 4-2 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on March 15, YSU has now won four straight Horizon League openers for the first time in program history. The Penguins also won their home opener for the second consecutive campaign.
With its 7-6 win at Pitt on March 13, Youngstown State has now earned six victories over Power Five opponents in the last three seasons. That victory also marked YSU's seventh win over an ACC opponent during Dan Bertolini's tenure as head coach. The Penguins now have a win over the Panthers in each of the last five seasons that the two programs have faced off. YSU has also won four straight meetings with Pitt at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh.

Promotions & Fan Information

Eastwood Field
2024 YSU Baseball Promotions Schedule
Tickets for Tuesday's game are $2 and will be available at the front gate, which will open approximately one hour prior to first pitch.
Tuesday's contest will also be a "Trading Card Tuesday" with fans receiving an exclusive YSU Baseball trading card set.

Previewing Toledo

A Win on Tuesday Would…

Give YSU its fifth victory of the 2024 season.
Snap a three-game losing streak.
Allow the Penguins to split the season series with the Rockets.
Give YSU its second straight non-conference victory.
Be the 359th in head coach Dan Bertolini's career and his 130th at Youngstown State.

Scouting The Rockets

Toledo has a 16-16 overall record and a 10-5 mark in Mid-American Conference play after winning two of three games at Central Michigan this past weekend.
Junior outfielder Garret Pike is batting .333 and slugging .636 while leading the Rockets with 11 home runs and 29 RBIs. Redshirt freshman outfielder Luke Walton is batting .316 and slugging .653 with 10 doubles, seven home runs and 24 RBIs. Toledo leads the MAC with 52 home runs as a team heading into Tuesday's contest.
Senior right-hander Yianni Skeriotis will start for Toledo on Tuesday. He owns an 0-1 record and a 3.65 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 12.1 innings pitched over eight appearances and one start. Freshman left-hander Jacob Tabor has a 2-0 record and five saves with a 4.42 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched over 13 relief appearances.
Toledo was picked sixth out of 11 teams in the 2024 MAC Baseball Head Coaches Preseason Poll after posting a 26-29 overall record and an 14-16 mark in MAC play in 2023.

Series History

Overall: Youngstown State leads 18-12
Bertolini: 2-3 // H: 9-7 // A: 8-4 // N: 1-1
Current Win Streak: 3 by Toledo
Last Meeting: March 26, 2024 (L, 6-19)
First Meeting: May 11, 1993 (W, 7-4)
The Rockets earned a 19-6 victory on March 26 at Scott Park in Toledo in the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season.
Toledo swept a pair of meetings with YSU during the 2023 season after the Penguins had won the previous two matchups. The Rockets earned a 7-2 win at Scott Park on March 28 last season before picking up an 18-9 victory at Eastwood Field on April 11.
Prior to last season's meetings, YSU earned a 5-3 victory at Eastwood Field on April 10, 2019. YSU had won two straight in the series after also winning 17-16 at Scott Park on May 8, 2018.

Recapping Wright State

At Wright State – Friday, April 5 // L 12-15

Youngstown State scored the final eight runs of the game, but its comeback bid came up short in a 15-12 loss to Wright State in the Horizon League series opener on Friday afternoon at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
The Penguins scored four runs in the top of the second inning to take a 4-1 lead before the Raiders scored multiple runs in four straight frames to build a 15-4 advantage. YSU struck for four runs in the seventh, two in the eighth and two in the ninth to pull within 15-12, but Wright State was able to hang on for the series-opening win.
Alejandro Covas went 3-for-4 with his first-career home run and three RBIs while Brett Stanley went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and a two-run double. Trey Law went 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs while Chase Franken hit his first-career home run and scored a pair of runs.
Ian Francis recorded a double and a triple while Matt Thompson had two singles and scored twice. Eli Brown added an RBI single, a walk and a run scored as YSU was outhit 16-14 in the high-scoring affair.
YSU starter Jacob Gehring suffered the loss after allowing 10 runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts over 4.1 innings. Gavin Wilms was responsible for three runs on four hits in one inning of relief while Cam Marshalwitz permitted a pair of runs in 1.2 innings of work. Mitchell Seymour retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth inning.

At Wright State – Saturday, April 6 // L 7-8

Wright State scored the final five runs of the game to overcome a 7-3 deficit and defeat Youngstown State 8-7 on Saturday afternoon in the second game of a three-game Horizon League series at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
The Penguins scored three times in the top of the fourth to break a 2-2 tie before the Raiders scored a single run in the home half of the inning. YSU struck for two runs in the sixth to build a 7-3 advantage before Wright State scored five unanswered runs over its final three at bats to rally for the series-clinching win.
The Penguins carried a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. Julian Greenwell drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sammy Sass and scored on an RBI triple from Jay Luikart. Ben Vore brought home Luikart with a sacrifice fly to give the Raiders the walk-off victory.
Chase Franken went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run while Eli Brown hit a two-run blast and drove in three runs. Aiden Dunlap went 2-for-3 with a double and scored three runs while Trey Law and Alejandro Covas each notched two hits and an RBI.
YSU starter Brandon Mikos allowed three runs on four hits over four innings while Braden Gebhardt was responsible for three runs on four hits over 3.1 innings of relief. Chris Domke suffered the loss after surrendering two runs on one hit in one inning out of the bullpen.

At Wright State – Sunday, April 7 // L 1-11 (7 innings)

Youngstown State fell to Wright State by a final score of 11-1 in the Horizon League series finale on Sunday afternoon at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
The Raiders scored a single run in the bottom of the fourth to jump ahead, and they went on to add two runs each in the fifth and sixth to build a 5-0 advantage. YSU recorded a single tally in the top of the seventh before Wright State struck for six runs in the bottom half to pull away for the seven-inning victory and complete the three-game series sweep.
Trey Pancake hit a double and Brett Stanley singled while Alejandro Covas walked and scored a run for the Penguins.
YSU starter Sloan Ulrich suffered the loss after allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts over 4.2 innings. Nick Perez and Brandin Anderson each surrendered one run in two thirds of an inning while Casey Marshalwitz was responsible for four runs. Nolan Kubilus permitted two runs on two hits in the seventh inning.

Up Next

Youngstown State will continue its homestand at Eastwood Field with a three-game Horizon League series against Milwaukee beginning on Friday at 5 p.m. The Penguins and Panthers will proceed to play on Saturday at 3 p.m. before closing the series on Sunday at noon.