Indianapolis, Ind. -- Youngstown State senior outfielder Kyle Fossum was named the Horizon League Player of the Year as one of four Penguins to collect postseason honors when the league office announced its postseason award winners and all-league teams on Tuesday.
Fossum was also voted as a member of the All-Horizon League First Team while senior right-hander Jacob Gehring and senior second baseman Cole Smith were selected to the All-Horizon League Second Team. In addition, freshman infielder Jay Wrona was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.
The Penguins had at least one player named to the All-Horizon League First Team for the fifth consecutive season. The Penguins have also had at least one player selected to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team in eight of the last nine seasons that postseason awards have been handed out.
Fossum becomes just the second player in YSU history and the first since Tom Clayton in 2010 to be named Horizon League Player of the Year. The Seattle, Wash., native is the first YSU outfielder to garner first-team all-league honors since Trey Bridis in 2018.
Fossum has put together one of the most prolific seasons at the plate in Youngstown State history. The senior leads the Horizon League in hits (79), home runs (22), slugging percentage (.787) and total bases (163) while ranking second in batting average (.382), OPS (1.281) and runs scored (60). He also ranks third in the league with a .494 on-base percentage, fifth with 18 doubles and 58 RBIs and sixth with 42 walks. Fossum holds national rankings of third in home runs, fifth in slugging percentage, sixth in total bases and 35th in hits. He batted .423 and slugged .902 with 52 hits, 14 doubles, 15 home runs and 36 RBIs over 30 games in Horizon League play. In Horizon League games only, he led all players in batting average, hits, runs scored and doubles. Fossum was twice named the Horizon League Batter of the Week during the 2025 season.
With two home runs in the series opener at Northern Kentucky on Thursday, Fossum matched the Horizon League's single-season home run record. He became just the third player in HL history to record 22 home runs in a campaign, joining Cleveland State's Jeff Haase in 2000 and NKU's Liam McFadden-Ackman in 2024. Fossum became YSU's single-season home run king with his 18th home run of the season 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 surpassed another school record against Wright State on May 2 when he recorded his 138th total base of the season. He broke the previous single-season mark of 137 total bases, which was set by Mark Thomas back in 1999. Fossum is currently second on YSU's single-season list with 58 RBIs, needing two more to break Jacke Healey's mark of 59 in 2010. He is also second on YSU's single-season list with 60 runs scored, needing four more to surpass Healey's record of 63 in 2010.
Gehring was named Second-Team All-Horizon League to earn postseason honors for the second straight season. After collecting first-team honors as a junior in 2024, the senior right-hander returned to make 12 starts on the mound for the Penguins in 2025. Gehring ranks sixth in the Horizon League in innings pitched (61.1), seventh 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.
Smith earns second-team all-league recognition in his debut season as a Penguin. The Dothan, Ala., native and UT Martin transfer is batting .292 and slugging .497 with six home runs and 37 RBIs over 53 games played. Smith leads the Horizon League with 20 doubles while ranking seventh with 41 walks. He batted .340 and slugged .575 with 10 doubles, five home runs and 26 RBIs over 30 games played in Horizon League action.
Wrona was selected to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team after batting .315 with seven doubles, one triple, 13 RBIs, 27 walks and 24 runs scored over 39 games played and 33 starts in his debut collegiate campaign. The New Castle, Pa., native set a new 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 in the series finale with Wright State on May 4.
Youngstown State will open play in the 2025 Horizon League Baseball Championship against Oakland on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and YSNLive.com.
