Penguins Look to #PackEastwood Friday to Open HL Series with NKU

The Youngstown State baseball team (7-24, 4-8 HL) will open a three-game Horizon League series with Northern Kentucky (16-15, 6-6 HL) at Eastwood Field on Friday at 6 p.m. The Penguins and Norse will proceed to play on Saturday at 3 p.m. and on Sunday at 1 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.

Friday's series opener features a special "Pack Eastwood" promotion presented by Key Kutterz and 21 WFMJ with free admission and YSU rally towels for the first 150 fans. There will also be a YSU key chain giveaway courtesy of Key Kutterz.

Youngstown State vs. Northern Kentucky

Date	Location	Audio	Live Stats
Friday April 11 \| 6 PM ET	Eastwood Field Niles, Ohio	YSNLive.com	Live Stats
Saturday April 12 \| 3 PM ET	Eastwood Field Niles, Ohio	YSNLive.com	Live Stats
Sunday April 13 \| 1 PM ET	Eastwood Field Niles, Ohio	YSNLive.com	Live Stats

A Glimpse at the Guins

Senior right-hander Jacob Gehring will take the mound in the series opener while redshirt senior right-hander JJ Tylicki will start game two of the series on Saturday. Redshirt junior right-hander Brandon Mikos is scheduled to start for the Penguins in the series finale on Sunday.
The Penguins have lost each of their last two games after a 17-5 loss to Bowling Green at Eastwood Field on Wednesday. YSU had won three straight games before falling 15-5 in the Horizon League series finale at Oakland on Sunday.
Through games played on April 9, senior outfielder and Washington transfer Kyle Fossum leads the Horizon League in batting average (.432), slugging percentage (.898), on-base percentage (.531), OPS (1.429), hits (51) and home runs (14). The Seattle, Wash., native also ranks second in the league with 13 doubles and 33 runs scored, third with 36 RBIs and fifth with 22 walks. Fossum also owns national rankings of third in slugging percentage, fifth in total bases (106), seventh in home runs per game (0.45), ninth in home runs, 12th in batting average and 29th in hits. The senior is slashing .520/.607/1.120 with nine doubles, seven home runs and 15 RBIs over 12 games in Horizon League play. He was named the Horizon League Batter of the Week on March 25.
Fossum has become just the second player in program history to hit at least 14 home runs in a season, joining Andrew Kendrick, who set the single-season school record with 17 homers in 2017. He has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games while reaching base safely in 23 consecutive contests.
Redshirt senior infielder Tommy Rover has hit safely in 10 straight games to improve his batting average to .329 over 21 games played. The Brentwood, Calif., native is batting .341 and slugging .780 with five home runs and 13 RBIs over 12 games in Horizon League action. Rover ranks third the Horizon League with a .505 on-base percentage, fifth with a 1.080 OPS and sixth with a .575 slugging percentage. He has also now reached base safely in 19 consecutive contests.
Redshirt sophomore outfielder/first baseman Brady Shannon has now hit multiple home runs in a game twice through the first eight weeks of the 2025 season. The Youngstown, Ohio, native and dual-sport athlete at YSU went yard twice in the second game of a doubleheader at UTSA on March 1 for his first two home runs in a Penguin uniform. Shannon is also a quarterback on the YSU football team.
Shannon also hit a pair of solo home runs in YSU's 10-7 victory over Milwaukee on March 15. He is batting .277 and slugging .525 with 14 RBIs over 28 games played and 25 starts. Shannon ranks second in the Horizon League with two triples, eighth with six home runs and ninth with a team-high eight stolen bases.
Senior right-hander Jacob Gehring leads the Horizon League with 45 innings pitched. The Canfield, Ohio, native also ranks fourth in the league with 38 strikeouts. Gehring struck out a career-high nine batters over six innings against Purdue Fort Wayne on March 21. He allowed three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts while matching his season high with seven innings pitched to earn his first win of the season in YSU's 4-3 victory in the series opener at Oakland on Friday.
Redshirt senior right-hander JJ Tylicki ranks second in the Horizon League with a team-high 40 strikeouts while ranking eighth with 32.2 innings pitched. The Shawnee, Kan., native picked up his first win of the season in YSU's 7-4 victory in game two of a doubleheader at Oakland on Friday.
Freshman infielder Jay Wrona has hit safely in nine straight games while reaching base safely in 16 consecutive contests. Wrona is batting .370 and slugging .463 over 19 games played and 15 starts. The New Castle, Pa., native delivered the go-ahead RBI single in YSU's 4-3 win at Oakland on Friday.
YSU is under the direction of first-year head coach Trevor Charpie. The Anaheim Hills, Calif., native was named the 10th head coach in program history in June after serving as an assistant for the Penguins in 2024. At 31, Charpie is the third-youngest Division I head coach in the country in 2025.

Promotions & Fan Information

Eastwood Field
2025 YSU Baseball Promotional Schedule
Friday's series opener features a special "Pack Eastwood" promotion presented by Key Kutterz and 21 WFMJ with free admission and YSU rally towels for the first 150 fans. There will also be a YSU key chain giveaway courtesy of Key Kutterz.
Saturday's game will be a "Varsity Club Youngstown Saturday" at Eastwood Field with fans receiving a $5 off app coupon if YSU scores five runs or more.
Sunday's series finale is a special Autism Awareness Game in collaboration with The Rich Center for Autism as the Penguins will wear special jersey tops.

Previewing Northern Kentucky

A Win on Friday Would...

Improve YSU to 8-24 overall and 5-8 in HL play.
Improve YSU's home record to 5-5.
Snap a three-game losing streak in the series with Northern Kentucky.

Scouting The Norse

Northern Kentucky is 16-15 overall and 6-6 in Horizon League play following a 9-6 non-conference setback at Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday. The Norse dropped two of three home games against Wright State last weekend in their most recent Horizon League action.
NKU was picked second in the 2025 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Poll after going 35-24 overall and 19-11 in Horizon League play last season. The Norse are the defending Horizon League Tournament champions.
Redshirt sophomore infielder Gabe Miranda is batting .389 and slugging .708 while leading NKU with 44 hits and a league-high 39 RBIs. Junior outfielder Logen Devenport is batting .383 and slugging .729 with a team-high nine home runs and 33 RBIs.
Senior right-hander Kaden Echeman owns a 1-3 record and a 4.45 ERA with a team-high 44 strikeouts in 30.1 innings pitched over six starts. Senior left-hander Conner Linn boasts a 2-3 record and a 5.15 ERA with 35 strikeouts in a team-high 36.2 innings over eight starts.

Series History

Overall: Northern Kentucky leads 32-14
Charpie: 0-0 // H: 4-17 // A: 9-14 // N: 1-1
Current Win Streak: 3 by Northern Kentucky
Last Meeting: May 25, 2024 (L, 5-23)
First Meeting: May 20, 1977 (L, 3-4)
YSU went 1-6 against NKU during the 2024 season. The Norse swept a three-game series at Eastwood Field in late March before taking two of three contests in Highland Heights in early May. NKU defeated YSU 23-5 in the title game of the 2024 Horizon League Baseball Championship.
All but one of the 46 all-time meetings on the diamond between Youngstown State and Northern Kentucky have come since the Norse joined the Horizon League in 2016.

Recapping Last Game

vs. Bowling Green – Wednesday, April 9 // L, 5-17 (7 innings)

Youngstown State suffered a 17-5 non-conference setback to Bowling Green on Wednesday at Eastwood Field.
The Falcons went ahead quickly with two runs in the top of the first before posting seven runs in the top of the third to gain control of the game. BGSU added five runs in the fourth to build a 14-0 edge before YSU scored all five of its runs in the home half of the sixth. The Falcons tacked on three runs in the top of the seventh for the final margin.
Tommy Rover, Brady Shannon and Nic Goodwin recorded two hits apiece while Teddy Ruffner delivered a two-run double for the Guins, who outhit the Falcons 12-10.
YSU starter Harun Pelja took the loss after allowing two runs on a single hit in two innings on the mound. Lane Rhodes tossed 1.1 scoreless innings while Nate Ross pitched a scoreless inning of relief as two of six relievers to appear for the Penguins.

Up Next

The Penguins will begin a nine-game road stretch on Tuesday with a non-conference contest at Mercyhurst at 2 p.m. YSU will return to Horizon League play with a three-game series at Milwaukee on April 17-19.