The Youngstown State baseball team (3-22, 1-5 HL) will step back into non-league play on Tuesday with a midweek road contest against the Akron Zips (12-14, 5-7 MAC). First pitch at Skeeles Field in Akron is scheduled for 2 p.m.

SCHEDULE UPDATE: Tuesday's matchup with the Zips, which was originally scheduled to be played at 717 Credit Union Field at Eastwood in Niles, has been moved to Skeeles Field in Akron due to construction delays at YSU's home facility. The second scheduled meeting of the season between YSU and Akron on April 14 will now be played at 717 Credit Union Field at Eastwood.

Live video for Tuesday's game between YSU and Akron will be available via the Zips Digital Network while live stats will be available through links posted on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on X for live updates.

Youngstown State at Akron

Opponent	Date	Location	Video	Live Stats
	Tuesday March 31 | 2 PM	Skeeles Field Akron, Ohio	Zips Digital Network	Live Stats

A Glimpse at the Guins

• Redshirt sophomore right-hander Aidan Dorsch is scheduled to make his first start as a Penguin on Tuesday at Akron. The Eureka, Calif., native has made four appearances this season, all of which have come out of the bullpen.
• Youngstown State has dropped seven straight decisions after being swept in a three-game Horizon League series at Northern Kentucky this past weekend. The Norse took the series opener 7-6 in 10 innings on Friday before earning a 5-4 walk-off win in another 10-inning affair on Saturday. NKU closed the series with a 5-4 victory in the finale on Sunday. YSU's most recent victory was a 3-2 series-opening win at Georgetown on March 20.
• The Penguins earned a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over Oakland in their Horizon League opener on March 13 at Pullman Park in Butler, Pa. The Golden Grizzlies evened the series with a 12-6 win on March 14 before picking up the series win with a 4-3 victory in the finale on March 15. YSU earned its first victory of the 2026 season with a 2-1 win in the series opener at Longwood on Feb 27.
• Senior left-hander Braden Gebhardt was named to the College Baseball Foundation 2026 National Pitcher of the Year Watch List earlier this month. The Howland, Ohio, native was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week three times in as many weeks to begin the 2026 season. Gebhardt earned his third consecutive weekly league honor after posting a career-high 12 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings on the mound in YSU's 2-1 series-opening win at Longwood on Feb. 27.
• Most recently, Gebhardt allowed one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts over six innings in a no-decision in the series opener at NKU on Friday. He did not allow an earned run while scattering three hits and fanning seven batters over six innings to earn his first win of the season in YSU's 3-2 series-opening victory at Georgetown on March 20. The senior allowed his first earned run of the 2026 season during his 30th inning of work in his fifth start against Oakland on March 13.
• Through games completed on March 29, Gebhardt led the Horizon League while ranking 13th nationally with 57 strikeouts. He also paced the league in ERA (1.23), opponent batting average (.168) and innings pitched (44.0) heading into the week. Gebhardt ranks ninth nationally in ERA while leading the league in WHIP (0.86) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.32). He is seven strikeouts away from becoming the ninth pitcher in program history to record at least 200 career strikeouts.
• Gebhardt, who earned the first weekly Horizon League honor of his career following opening weekend, did not allow an earned run while limiting Oregon to two hits over seven strong innings on the mound in YSU's 3-0 loss to the Ducks on Feb. 20 at PK Park in Eugene, Ore. He also recorded 11 strikeouts over six innings in a stellar Opening Day effort in a 2-1 loss at Auburn in the 2026 season opener on Feb. 13. In the first start of his senior season, Gebhardt was responsible for one unearned run on two hits with 11 strikeouts over six innings on the mound. He posted the most strikeouts in a game by a YSU pitcher since Collin Floyd fanned 12 batters against Milwaukee on April 9, 2021.
• Senior right-hander Jack Messmore ranks fourth in the Horizon League in innings pitched (32.2), fifth in ERA (5.23) and sixth in strikeouts (23). The first-year transfer from New Mexico scattered six hits and struck out five batters over 6.1 scoreless innings in game one of a doubleheader at Auburn on Feb. 14 in his YSU debut. Messmore recorded a season-high six strikeouts in his fifth start of the season against Oakland on March 14. Most recently, the senior allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts over six strong innings on the mound in his seventh start of the season at NKU on Saturday.
• Redshirt junior utility player Nathan Beckley saw his nine-game hitting streak come to an end in the series finale at NKU on Sunday. The Aliso Viejo, Calif., native is batting .269 and slugging .462 while leading the Penguins in doubles (5), triples (2), walks (13) and total bases (36). Beckley ranks second in the Horizon League with two triples while also ranking sixth with 13 walks, 10th with a .462 slugging percentage and 10th with an .856 OPS.
• Redshirt junior outfielder Brady Shannon ranks tied for second in the Horizon League with a team-leading six home runs while also ranking seventh in the league with a .500 slugging percentage. The Youngstown, Ohio, native leads YSU with six homers, 13 runs scored and 12 RBIs. Shannon went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and four RBIs in the series opener at NKU on Friday.
• Freshman infielder Alex Jang is batting .288 and slugging .450 while leading YSU in hits (23) and total bases (36) heading into the week of action. The Las Vegas, Nev., native hit safely in five straight games from March 21-27. Jang recorded a career-high three hits including his first-career home run and a double in the series finale at Longwood on March 1. He matched his career high with three hits at Eastern Michigan on March 24 before going 2-for-5 with a two-run home run at Pitt on March 25.
• Youngstown State's pitching staff ranked atop the Horizon League with 191 strikeouts through games played on March 29. The Penguins rank second in the league with a 5.67 team ERA and a .274 opponent batting average. YSU pitchers had also allowed the second-fewest total runs (174), earned runs (131) and hits (225) in the league heading into the week.
• YSU recorded eight stolen bases as a team in a 6-5 league-opening victory over Oakland at Pullman Park on March 13. The eight steals were the program's most since the Penguins tied the single-game school record with nine steals against Toledo on April 10, 2019. The series opener with the Golden Grizzlies marked just the fifth time in school history that YSU swiped at least eight bases in a game. The Penguins currently rank second in the Horizon League with 36 stolen bases as a team in 47 total attempts.
• Youngstown State is under the direction of second-year head coach Trevor Charpie. In Charpie's first season guiding the program in 2025, the Penguins finished with a 15-42 overall record and an 11-19 mark in Horizon League play to finish fourth in the league standings. There are 38 players on YSU's roster in 2026, and 17 of them were with the program last year. The Penguins returned 15 letterwinners from last year's team and have 21 newcomers to the roster.

Game Preview

A Win on Tuesday Would…

• Give the Penguins their fourth victory of the 2026 season.
• Snap a seven-game losing streak.
• Snap a two-game losing skid in the series with Akron.
• Give Trevor Charpie his 19th career coaching victory.

Scouting Akron

• Akron enters the week with a 12-14 overall record and a 5-7 mark in Mid-American Conference play after dropping two of three conference home games against Toledo this past weekend.
• Sophomore outfielder Brody Chrisman is batting .326 and slugging .547 with nine doubles and four home runs while leading the Zips with 24 RBIs, 22 runs scored and 15 stolen bases. Akron leads the MAC with 61 stolen bases as a team while ranking ninth in the MAC with a .256 team batting average.
• Junior reliever Floyd McKenna is tied for the team lead with 22 strikeouts and two saves while posting a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings pitched over a team-high 12 appearances. The Zips rank seventh in the MAC with a 6.97 team ERA.
• Akron was picked 10th out of 12 teams in the 2026 MAC Baseball Preseason Poll after finishing the 2025 season with a 20-34 overall record and a 9-21 mark in MAC play.

Series History

• Overall: Akron leads 94-61
• Charpie: 0-2 // H: 40-30 // A: 21-60 // N: 0-4
• Current Win Streak: 2 by Akron
• Last Meeting: May 13, 2025 (L, 6-8)
• First Meeting: May 6, 1950 (L, 5-6)
• Youngstown State has dropped each of its last two meetings with Akron after an 8-6 loss to the Zips at Canal Park in Akron on May 13, 2025. Akron picked up an 11-2 win over YSU in the first meeting during the 2025 season at Skeels Field in Akron in February.
• Youngstown State swept a pair of meetings during the 2024 season, earning a 4-3 victory in Akron before winning another one-run decision with a 10-9 walk-off victory at 717 Credit Union Field at Eastwood.
• The Penguins and Zips have played 155 times in a series that dates back to 1950.

Recapping Northern Kentucky

at Northern Kentucky – Friday, March 27 // L, 6-7 (10 Innings)

• Brady Shannon went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and four runs batted in, but Youngstown State suffered a 7-6 setback in 10 innings to Northern Kentucky on Friday afternoon at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.
• Freshman Misael Uriepero went 3-for-5 with a double and a drove in a run in while Luke Rossi was 2-for-5.
• YSU starter Braden Gebhardt allowed one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts over six innings in a no-decision. Tyler Heflin permitted two runs on two hits in one inning as the first of four YSU relievers to appear in the contest. Sloan Ulrich was responsible for three runs while Mikey Rodriques suffered the loss by surrendering the winning run in the 10th.
• Shannon accounted for the Penguins first three runs with a two-run homer to center in the top of the first and a run-scoring single in the third to put the Penguins up 3-0. Shannon's second home run of the game, a solo shot to left field, extended the Penguins' lead to 6-1 in the top of the fifth.
• The Norse scored twice in the seventh and three times in the eighth to tie the game at 6-6, and Alex Brazer's walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th plated Mark Nowak with the game-winning run.

at Northern Kentucky – Saturday, March 28 // L, 4-5 (10 Innings)

• Northern Kentucky scored the final five runs of the game to rally for a 5-4 walk-off win in 10 innings over Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.
• The Penguins scored three times in the second inning and once in the third to jump ahead 4-0 before the Norse got on the scoreboard with a single run in the bottom of the fourth. NKU used a three-run ninth inning to force extras before scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 10th to take a 2-0 series lead.
• Luke Rossi went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI while Nathan Beckley finished 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and two walks. Garrett Cutting added two hits for the Penguins while Brady Shannon singled, walked and scored a run.
• Jack Messmore allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks over six strong innings on the mound in his seventh start of the season. Bryce Palms and Sumner Estes each tossed a scoreless inning of relief before Banks Cox allowed runs on three walks in the ninth. Luke Zmolik, who recorded three strikeouts over 1.1 innings, took the loss after surrendering the winning run in the 10th.

at Northern Kentucky – Saturday, March 28 // L, 4-5

• Youngstown State suffered a 5-4 loss to Northern Kentucky on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game Horizon League series at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.
• The Penguins scored twice in the top of the first inning before the Norse responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the third. NKU went ahead 3-2 in the sixth before YSU evened the score at 3-3 with a single run in the top of the seventh. The Norse regained a 5-3 lead by scoring twice in the bottom half of the seventh and held on to complete the three-game series sweep.
• Garrett Cutting went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and an RBI while Misael Uriepero singled, walked and scored a run for the Penguins offensively. YSU and NKU finished even in the hit column with six apiece.
• YSU starter Brandon Mikos allowed three runs on four hits with a season-high six strikeouts and four walks over 5.1 innings pitched in a no-decision. Jake Ferretti recorded two outs as the first of three relievers for appear for the Penguins. Griffin Almond was responsible for two runs while recording one out in the seventh, and Brevin Smith had two strikeouts in 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Up Next

Youngstown State is scheduled to begin a three-game Horizon League series at Milwaukee on Thursday. First pitch for Thursday's series opener at Franklin Field is slated for 4 p.m. ET.