The Youngstown State baseball team (11-37, 8-16 HL) will close out its 2024 home schedule at Eastwood Field with a three-game Horizon League series against Wright State (27-20, 16-8 HL) beginning on Friday at 11 a.m. The Penguins and Raiders will proceed to play on Saturday at 3 p.m. before closing the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Live audio for all three games 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. Wright State
A Glimpse at the Guins
- Junior right-hander Jacob Gehring will take the ball in the series opener on Friday while junior right-hander Brandon Mikos is scheduled to start on Saturday. Sophomore left-hander Sloan Ulrich is slated to start the series finale on Sunday.
- YSU has dropped four straight decisions following a 13-9 setback at Ohio State on Wednesday. The Penguins scored the final six runs of the game to make a late push but came up short in their final non-conference game of the regular season.
- Junior right-hander Jacob Gehring has been named the Horizon League's Pitcher of the Week each of the last two weeks. Most recently, the Canfield, Ohio, native scattered three hits with a career-high seven strikeouts over six scoreless innings to earn his fourth win in YSU's 10-0 series-opening victory at NKU on Friday. Gehring ranks fifth in the Horizon League with four wins and 61.1 innings pitched while freshman right-hander Chris Domke is tied for third in the league with four saves.
- Redshirt senior shortstop Trey Law is batting .347 while leading the Penguins with 67 hits, 10 doubles and 36 runs scored. The Camp Hill, Pa., native ranks fifth in the Horizon League with 67 hits and ninth with a .347 batting average. Law also leads the Penguins with 21 multi-hit games. He is batting .327 and slugging .446 with a team-high 33 hits over 24 games in Horizon League action.
- Freshman outfielder Alejandro Covas is batting .331 and slugging .526 while leading the Horizon League and ranking third nationally with eight triples. The Peninsula, Ohio, native set a new single-season school record with his eighth triple of the season in YSU's 10-4 win over Oakland on April 26. He surpassed the previous record of seven that had been achieved three times previously. Covas has reached base safely in 33 consecutive games entering play this weekend.
- Covas is batting .337 and slugging .620 with five triples, five home runs and 18 RBIs over 24 games in Horizon League play. Covas tied the single-game school record with two triples against Purdue Fort Wayne on March 17.
- Junior infielder Brett Stanley leads the Horizon League with seven sacrifice bunts while ranking tied for 10th with a team-high 12 stolen bases. Stanley is batting .318 and slugging .506 with a team-high 23 RBIs over 22 games played in Horizon League action. He has hit safely in six straight games entering play this weekend.
- Eli Brown's walk-off home run in YSU's 7-6 win over Oakland on April 27 marked the first walk-off blast by a Penguin since Kyle Benyo hit one against Bowling Green on April 19, 2017.
- Youngstown State ranks 13th in the nation with 18 triples as a team. YSU's 18 triples are also tied for the fourth-most in a season in program history. The Penguins set the single-season school record with 27 triples in 2021.
- Fifth-year senior right-hander Casey Marshalwitz leads YSU with 21 pitching appearances, all of which have come out of the bullpen. The Gibsonia, Pa., native currently ranks tied for third in program history with 85 career appearances.
- The Penguins have been without Preseason Horizon League Freshman of the Year Derrick Tarpley Jr., who has missed the last 32 games with a lower-body injury. The freshman outfielder, who was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 2024 MLB Draft, is batting .328 and slugging .517 with five doubles, two home runs and 11 RBIs over 16 games played.
Promotions & Fan Information
- Eastwood Field
- 2024 YSU Baseball Promotions Schedule
- Friday's series opener will be the Akron Children's Hospital of Mahoning Valley School Day Game with hundreds of area students in attendance.
- Saturday's game will feature $4 16-ounce beer at the concession stand and a YSU Cooling Towel Giveaway.
- Sunday's series finale will be "Senior Day" as YSU's senior class will be honored during a special ceremony prior to first pitch. Fans at Sunday's contest will also receive a coupon for a free chili dog from the Hot Dog Shoppe and Jib Jab Hot Dog if YSU scores five runs or more.
Previewing Wright State
A Win on Friday Would...
- Give YSU its 12th victory of the 2024 season.
- Improve YSU's Horizon League record to 9-16.
- Snap a four-game losing skid.
- Snap a three-game losing streak against Wright State.
- Be the 366th victory in Dan Bertolini's career and his 137th at Youngstown State.
Scouting The Raiders
- Wright State is 27-20 overall and 16-8 in Horizon League play after a 22-4 non-conference loss at Pitt on Wednesday. The Raiders won two of three games at Oakland last weekend in their most-recent Horizon League action. Wright State holds a one-game edge on Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League standings.
- Senior first baseman Julian Greenwell is batting .411 and slugging .712 with 18 doubles, eight home runs and 43 RBIs. Senior catcher Sammy Sass is batting .389 and slugging .692 with 18 doubles, 12 home runs and 56 RBIs. Outfielders Boston Smith and Ben Vore each have a team-high 18 home runs, and Vore has a team-best 65 RBIs. The Raiders lead the Horizon League in batting average, hits, home runs and RBIs.
- Senior right-hander Jake Shirk owns a 3-3 record and a 6.75 ERA while leading Wright State with 43 strikeouts and 60 innings pitched. Junior left-hander Garrett Peters has a 3-0 record, three saves and a 4.60 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched over 21 relief appearances.
Series History
- Overall: Wright State leads 96-41
- Bertolini: 8-31 // H: 19-42 // A: 19-53 // N: 3-1
- Current Win Streak: 3 by Wright State
- Last Meeting: April 7, 2024 (L, 1-11)
- First Meeting: April 30, 1986 (L, 2-14)
- Wright State swept a three-game series in Dayton back in early April in the first meetings between the two teams in 2024. The Raiders won a high-scoring series opener 15-12 before claiming the series with an 8-7 win the next day. Wright State won the series finale 11-1 in seven innings.
- Youngstown State and Wright State met every season from 2002 to 2019 before the conference slate was wiped out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Up Next
The Penguins will conclude their 2024 regular season schedule with a three-game Horizon League series at Milwaukee on May 16-18.
