Dayton, Ohio — Youngstown State's Cinderella run in the Horizon League Baseball Championship came to an end on Saturday as the Penguins had to settle for a runner-up finish at the tournament at Nischwitz Field.
The sixth-seeded Penguins were playing their sixth game in four days while second-seeded Northern Kentucky was playing its third in three days, and the Norse's comparative rest on the mound played a big role in Saturday's 23-5 final score in the championship game.
Clay Brock made his 15th start of the season and pitched 7.2 innings to lead the Norse to their first Horizon League Championship and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. He had pitched 70 innings entering Saturday, and YSU's six pitchers had thrown a combined 58 innings.
Youngstown State, the sixth seed in the field, fought off elimination three times to become the first team outside of the top four seeds to make the championship game since YSU's 2014 squad won the title. The Penguins outslugged third-seeded Oakland 13-10 in the opening round on Wednesday, and one bad inning against top-seeded Wright State on Thursday resulted in a 12-2 loss and sent them into the loser's bracket. YSU then eliminated fifth-seeded Purdue Fort Wayne 12-10 Thursday night, and it beat fourth-seeded Milwaukee 3-2 and Wright State 6-3 in win-or-go-home contests on Friday to advance to the championship game.
Saturday was YSU's third appearance in the Horizon League Championship game, and it finished as the runners-up for the first time in program history.
The Penguins had a 2-1 lead after catcher Ian Francis tied the tournament record by clubbing his fourth home run of the week in the top of the fourth. His two-run blast came with Alejandro Covas aboard.
Lane Rhodes, making his first start in more than a month and his first start against a conference opponent in 2024, gave the Penguins a chance by holding the Norse to three runs before his exit in the bottom of the fourth. Rhodes allowed an infield single to start the inning, but he retired the next two hitters as NKU had a runner on third with two outs. The next seven Norse batters reached, and Treyvin Moss's go-ahead single to left was just beyond Trey Law's leaping attempt at shortstop. NKU scored five runs after Rhodes exited to take an 8-2 lead.
NKU went on to score six runs in the fifth and eight runs in the seventh to take a 22-2 lead as YSU continued to go deep into its bullpen.
The Penguins scored twice in the eighth as RJ Sherwood hit a leadoff homer and Matt Thompson brought in Covas with a two-out single. NKU's final run came in the bottom of the eighth off of infielder Joe Suarez, who made his first pitching appearance as a Penguin.
Suarez hit a one-out single in the ninth, and he scored two batters later when Law doubled to center in his final trip to the plate as a Penguin. It was Law's 188th career hit, 166 of which came in his last two seasons.
Thompson finished with a game-high three hits as Youngstown State finished with eight as a team. NKU finished with 14 hits, and the Norse drew 12 walks.
Law, Francis, Sherwood and Nick Perez were all named to the All-Tournament Team for their contributions in YSU's run to the final round. In addition to tying the tournament record with four home runs, Francis batted .450 and slugged 1.150 while posting 11 RBIs. Law hit .357 and finished with 10 hits, and Sherwood batted .261 with two homers, a triple and five RBIs. Perez pitched in three of YSU's four victories and finished with a win and two saves. The senior right-hander did not allow a run in 6.1 innings.
