The Youngstown State baseball team (14-37, 11-16 HL) will conclude the 2025 regular season with a three-game Horizon League series at Northern Kentucky (27-23, 15-12 HL) beginning on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. The Penguins and Norse will proceed to play on both Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m. from the Bill Aker Baseball Complex in Highland Heights, Ky.

Thursday's series opener will be streamed live on ESPN+ while live audio will be available for all three games at YSNLive.com and live stats will be available through links on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on X for live updates.

Youngstown State at Northern Kentucky

Opponent	Date	Location	Video	Audio	Live Stats
	Thursday May 15 | 3 PM ET	Bill Aker Baseball Complex Highland Heights, Ky.	ESPN+	YSNLive.com	Live Stats
	Friday May 16 | 1 PM ET	Bill Aker Baseball Complex Highland Heights, Ky.	None	YSNLive.com	Live Stats
	Saturday May 17 | 1 PM ET	Bill Aker Baseball Complex Highland Heights, Ky.	None	YSNLive.com	Live Stats

A Glimpse at the Guins

• Senior right-hander Jacob Gehring will take the mound in the series opener on Thursday while junior left-hander Sloan Ulrich will start game two of the series on Friday. Redshirt junior right-hander Brandon Mikos is scheduled to start on the hill for the Penguins in the series and regular season finale on Saturday.
• The Penguins are coming off an 8-6 non-conference setback against Akron on Tuesday at Canal Park. The Zips scored the final five runs of the game to rally for the midweek victory. YSU has won three of its last four Horizon League series after winning two of three games against Oakland at Eastwood Field last weekend.
• Thursday's series opener will mark the fourth meeting of the 2025 season between Youngstown State and Northern Kentucky. The Penguins dropped two of three games to the Norse earlier this season at Eastwood Field in mid-April. NKU earned wins of 3-2 and 14-3 over the first two games, respectively, before YSU bounced back with an 18-8 win in the series finale.
• YSU has set a new single-season school records with 278 walks and 62 home runs as a team through 51 games. The Penguins rank second in the Horizon League and 33rd nationally in base on balls while also ranking second in the league in home runs. The Guins surpassed the previous school mark for walks of 272 that was set in 2018 and the previous record for home runs of 60 that was set in 2010. The 2025 season marks just the third campaign in program history in which multiple Penguins have hit at least 10 home runs. YSU also had multiple players hit double-digit home runs in 2010 and 2018.
• Through games played on May 13, senior outfielder and Washington transfer Kyle Fossum leads the Horizon League in hits (75), home runs (20) and total bases (152) while ranking second in batting average (.385), slugging percentage (.779), on-base percentage (.498), OPS (1.277), runs scored (57) and RBIs (54). The Seattle, Wash., native also ranks fourth in the league with 17 doubles and fifth with 41 walks. Fossum holds national rankings of sixth in home runs, seventh in total bases, 11th in slugging percentage and 36th in hits.
• Fossum is batting .432 and slugging .901 with 48 hits, 13 doubles, 13 home runs and 32 RBIs over 27 games in Horizon League play. In Horizon League games only, he leads all players in batting average, hits, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS, runs scored, doubles, home runs and RBIs. Fossum has twice been named the Horizon League Batter of the Week during the 2025 season. He leads the Penguins with 25 multi-hit games and 17 multi-RBI performances.
• Fossum became YSU's single-season home run king with his 18th home run of the 2025 season on the first pitch of the series opener at Purdue Fort Wayne on April 25. Fossum surpassed the previous single-season school record of 17 home runs, which was set by Andrew Kendrick in 2017. Fossum hit his league-leading 20th home run of the season in YSU's 4-1 win over Oakland on Sunday. Fossum surpassed another school record against Wright State on May 2 when he recorded his 138th total base of the season. He broke the previous mark of 137 total bases, which was set by Mark Thomas back in 1999. Fossum is currently third on YSU's single-season list with 54 RBIs, needing six more to break Jacke Healey's mark of 59 in 2010.
• Redshirt senior infielder Tommy Rover is batting .333 and slugging .600 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs over 41 games played. The Brentwood, Calif., native ranks fourth in the Horizon League in on-base percentage (.482) and OPS (1.082), sixth in slugging percentage and home runs and seventh in runs scored (42). Rover is slashing .359/.518/.689 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs over 27 games played in Horizon League action. He ranks second in the Horizon League and has set a new single-season school record having been hit by a pitch 18 times in 2025. He surpassed the previous mark of 15, which was set by Dustin Thomas in 2006. The switch-hitting infielder hit a home run from each side of the plate while driving in three runs against Akron on Tuesday.
• Redshirt junior right-hander Brandon Mikos did not allow an earned run while matching career highs with seven strikeouts and seven innings pitched to help lead YSU to a 4-1 victory over Oakland in the series finale on May 11. The Canfield, Ohio, native has now won four of his last five decisions with wins over NKU, Milwaukee, Purdue Fort Wayne and Oakland. Mikos was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week on March 12. He pitched a career-high seven innings and struck out five batters in YSU's 7-5 victory at Milwaukee on April 19. Mikos owns a 5-2 record and a 6.96 ERA with career highs of 41 strikeouts and 53 innings pitched over 13 appearances and 10 starts. He ranks third in the Horizon League in wins while ranking seventh in ERA and eighth in innings pitched.
• Senior right-hander Jacob Gehring ranks fifth in the Horizon League in innings pitched (61.1), sixth in strikeouts (56) and sixth in ERA (6.60). The Canfield, Ohio, native struck out a career-high nine batters over six innings against Purdue Fort Wayne on March 21. He registered 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 at Oakland on April 4.
• Redshirt senior right-hander and Kansas transfer JJ Tylicki ranks fourth in the Horizon League with a team-high 59 strikeouts. The Shawnee, Kan., native matched his season and career high with nine strikeouts while allowing just one hit over 5.1 strong innings of relief in the second game of a doubleheader against Wright State on May 2.
• Senior infielder Cole Smith is batting .299 and slugging .497 with five home runs and 36 RBIs over 50 games played. The Dothan, Ala., native and UT Martin transfer leads the Horizon League with 20 doubles while ranking fifth with 41 walks and ninth with a .438 on-base percentage. Smith is batting .357 and slugging .582 with 10 doubles, four home runs and 25 RBIs over 27 games played in Horizon League action. He has reached base safely in 18 consecutive contests heading into the weekend.
• Junior outfielder and Nicholls transfer Brayden Kuriger is batting .282 and slugging .479 with eight doubles, three triples, six home runs, 38 RBIs and a team-high 11 stolen bases through 45 games played and 43 starts. The Gonzales, La., native ranks tied for second in the Horizon League with a team-high three triples. He is slashing .333/.416/.500 with four doubles, two triples, two home runs and 25 RBIs over 23 games played in Horizon League action.
• Freshman infielder Jay Wrona is batting .308 with seven doubles, one triple, 13 RBIs, 24 walks and 23 runs scored over 36 games played and 31 starts. The New Castle, Pa., native set the single-game school record with five walks in YSU's 20-14 win at Milwaukee on April 18. Wrona had reached base safely in 30 straight games before the impressive streak came to end on May 4. He ranks 10th in the Horizon League with a .435 on-base percentage.
• 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 years old, Charpie is the third-youngest Division I head baseball coach in the country in 2025.

Previewing Northern Kentucky

A Win on Thursday Would...

• Improve YSU to 15-37 overall and 12-16 in Horizon League play.
• Give the Guins three wins in their last four games overall and three straight wins in HL play.
• Give YSU its second straight victory over NKU.

Scouting The Norse

• Northern Kentucky enters the final weekend of the regular season at 27-23 overall and 15-12 in Horizon League play after droping a 6-1 non-conference decision at Kentucky on Tuesday. The Norse lost two of three games at league-leading Wright State last weekend to fall to third in the HL standings.
• Junior outfielder Logen Devenport is batting .423 and slugging .786 with 71 hits, 19 doubles, 14 home runs, 54 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Sophomore infielder Gabe Miranda is batting .337 and slugging .595 with 13 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs and a team-high 60 RBIs.
• Senior right-hander Kaden Echeman owns a 2-3 record and a 3.64 ERA while leading NKU with 73 strikeouts in 47 innings pitched over 10 appearances and eight starts. Senior left-hander Conner Linn has 55 strikeouts in a team-high 57.2 innings pitched over 13 starts while senior right-hander Aaron Massie has four wins and four saves in a team-high 20 relief appearances.

Series History

• Overall: Northern Kentucky leads 34-15
• Charpie: 1-2 // H: 5-19 // A: 9-14 // N: 1-1
• Current Win Streak: 1 by Youngstown State
• Last Meeting: April 13, 2025 (W, 18-8)
• First Meeting: May 20, 1977 (L, 3-4)
• YSU lost two of three games to NKU earlier this season in mid-April at Eastwood Field. The Norse won the first two games 3-2 and 14-3, respectively, before the Guins salvaged the series finale with an 18-8 victory.
• YSU went 1-6 against NKU during the 2024 season. The Norse swept a three-game series at Eastwood Field before taking two of three matchups in Highland Heights. The Norse defeated the Penguins 23-5 in the title game of the 2024 Horizon League Baseball Championship at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
• All but one of the 49 all-time meetings between YSU and NKU have come since the Norse joined the Horizon League in 2016.

Recapping Last Game

at Akron (Canal Park) – Tuesday, May 13 // L, 6-8

• Akron scored the final five runs of the game to rally for an 8-6 victory over Youngstown State on Tuesday at Canal Park.
• The Penguins held a 6-3 lead before the Zips scored five runs over their last three at bats to rally back for the midweek non-conference win.
• Switch-hitter Tommy Rover went 2-for-4 with three RBIs while homering from each side of the plate to lead YSU offensively. Garrett Cutting also went yard while Cole Smith delivered an RBI double as the Guins were outhit by the Zips 13-5.
• YSU starter Nolan Kubilus allowed three runs on four hits with three strikeouts over three innings. Phil Brennaman and Tyler Heflin were each responsible for a run in relief while Harun Pelja suffered the loss after surrendering three runs on three hits in his lone inning out of the bullpen.

Up Next

The Penguins will next turn their attention to the 2025 Horizon League Baseball Championship, which will take place May 21-24 at Wright State's Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio. The Horizon League will announce its championship bracket this weekend at the conclusion of all regular season contests.