The Youngstown State baseball team (1-10) will continue its early season road stretch on Friday when it begins a three-game series with Southern Indiana (9-4) at the USI Baseball Field in Evansville, Ind.

The Penguins and Screaming Eagles will open the series on Friday at 7 p.m. ET before proceeding to play on Saturday at 5 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m.

SCHEDULE UPDATE: First pitch for Friday's series opener has been pushed back by two hours to 7 p.m. ET due to field conditions.

Live stats will be available through links posted on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on X for live updates.

Youngstown State at Southern Indiana

Opponent	Date	Location	Live Stats
	Friday March 6 | 7 PM ET	USI Baseball Field Evansville, Ind.	Live Stats
	Saturday March 7 | 5 PM ET	USI Baseball Field Evansville, Ind.	Live Stats
	Sunday March 8 | 2 PM ET	USI Baseball Field Evansville, Ind.	Live Stats

A Glimpse at the Guins

• Senior left-hander Braden Gebhardt will start on the mound for the Penguins in the series opener on Friday while senior right-hander Jack Messmore is scheduled to take the ball in game two on Saturday. Junior right-hander Mikey Rodriques is slated to start in the series finale on Sunday.
• Youngstown State has dropped three straight decisions coming into Friday's series opener at Southern Indiana. The Penguins had their scheduled midweek contest at Pitt on Tuesday canceled due to inclement weather. The Penguins earned their first victory of the 2026 season with a 2-1 win in the series opener at Longwood on Feb 27. The Lancers won both games of a doubleheader on Feb. 28 by scores of 9-3 and 6-3 before closing the series with a 6-4 victory the series finale on March 1.
• Senior left-hander Braden Gebhardt was named the Under Armour Horizon League Pitcher of the Week for the third time in as many weeks to begin the 2026 season on Monday. Gebhardt had 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. The senior scattered five hits while walking just two batters and matching the longest outing of his career for the second straight week. The Howland, Ohio, native registered multiple punchouts in four different innings, and he struck out the side in both the fourth and the seventh. Gebhardt, who has yet to give up an earned run on nine hits allowed over three starts this season, has struck out 28 batters while walking just seven in 20 innings pitched.
• Freshman infielder Alex Jang is batting .364 while being tied for the team lead with eight hits through eight games played and four starts in 2026. The Las Vegas, Nev., native went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and a double in the series finale at Longwood on March 1. Jang hit his first-career home run in the top of the fourth inning to give YSU a 4-2 lead.
• The Penguins and Screaming Eagles will meet on the diamond for the first time in Friday's series opener. YSU will play its first game against a current member of the Ohio Valley Conference since 2019. The Guins' last win over a current OVC member came during the 2013 season.
• 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.
• Freshman infielder Misael Uriepero was selected as D1Baseball.com's Preseason Horizon League Freshman of the Year as the No. 1 ranked player on the website's list of Impact Freshmen in the conference ahead of the 2026 season. The Caracas, Venezuela, native was also ranked as the website's No. 3 MLB Draft prospect in the Horizon League for 2027. In addition, Uriepero was picked as the Horizon League's Preseason Freshman of the Year by Perfect Game. The freshman has been in the starting lineup in each of YSU's first 11 games of the 2026 season.
• Redshirt junior utility player Nathan Beckley, senior outfielder Brayden Kuriger and redshirt junior infielder Luke Rossi were each named to Perfect Game's Horizon League Preseason All-Conference Team ahead of the 2026 season.
• The Penguins were picked fourth in the 2026 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Poll after a vote of the league's head coaches. D1Baseball.com also picked Youngstown State to finish fourth in the Horizon League standings in 2026.

Series Preview

A Win on Friday Would…

• Give the Penguins their second victory of the 2026 season.
• Snap a three-game losing streak.
• Give YSU its first win over Southern Indiana.
• Give the Guins their first victory over a current member of the OVC since the 2013 season.
• Give Trevor Charpie his 17th career coaching victory.

Scouting Southern Indiana

• Southern Indiana owns a 9-4 record after a 12-5 home victory over Illinois State on Tuesday. The Screaming Eagles have won three of their last four games after taking two of three contests at North Alabama last weekend. USI split a four-game series at Cal State Bakersfield on opening weekend before sweeping a four-game series with Horizon League member Oakland to open its home schedule.
• USI returns three All-OVC performers from last season in graduate outfielder Khi Holiday (first team), senior infielder Hunter Miller (second team) and senior infielder Clayton Slack (second team). Senior left-hander Jake Porter and junior right-hander Abdriel Figueroa were each named OVC Players to Watch in 2026.
• Slack leads Southern Indiana and the OVC with a .510 batting average. He also ranks first nationally in total hits (26) and 10th in batting average. Holiday leads USI, the OVC, and ranks second in the country with 22 runs scored this season. Southern Indiana leads the OVC and ranks 10th in the NCAA with 10.1 runs per game this season (131). The Screaming Eagles also rank first in the OVC and 17th in the nation with a .332 team batting average.
• USI's pitching staff boasts a 5.31 overall team ERA this season through 12 games. Junior right-handers Trey O'Neil and Abdriel Figueroa lead the Screaming Eagles in the win column with two victories each. O'Neil has a 1.17 ERA in six appearances and 7.2 innings of work out of the bullpen.
• The Screaming Eagles finished 27-29 overall in 2025 and 15-12 in the OVC. The 15 wins in the OVC were a three-year conference high for USI, while the 27 wins overall matched a program best at the Division I level. The Eagles earned a third trip to the OVC Championship in 2025 during their third season of transitioning to NCAA Division I. USI will be eligible for the NCAA postseason in 2026.

Series History

• Friday's series opener will mark the first meeting on the diamond between Youngstown State and Southern Indiana.
• YSU's last game against a current member of the Ohio Valley Conference was an 8-4 loss at Tennessee Tech on March 2, 2019, to conclude a three-game series. The last time the Penguins defeated a current OVC member was a 10-7 victory in the second game of a doubleheader at Morehead State on March 5, 2013.
• Youngstown State baseball's program was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference from 1983-88. The Penguins joined the OVC the year after becoming a Division I program in 1982.

Recapping Last Week

at Longwood – Friday, Feb. 27 // W, 2-1

• Braden Gebhardt had a career-high 12 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings on the mound, and Youngstown State scored two ninth inning runs to rally for a 2-1 victory over Longwood on Friday in the series opener at Bobby Bolding Stadium.
• The Lancers broke a scoreless tie with a single run in the bottom of the eighth inning before the Penguins answered with two runs on three hits in the top half of the ninth to move in front. Sloan Ulrich proceeded to retire the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure YSU's first victory of the 2026 season.
• Brady Shannon reached on an error in the top of the ninth and raced home from first on Teddy Ruffner's pinch-hit RBI double to tie the score at one run apiece. Following a base hit from Luke Rossi, Kendal Spencer plated Ruffner from second with an RBI single that gave YSU the decisive 2-1 advantage.
• Gebhardt matched the longest outing of his career for the second straight week in Friday's series opener while recording a strikeout in six different frames. The Howland, Ohio, native registered multiple punchouts in four different innings, and he struck out the side in both the fourth and the seventh.
• Brayden Kuriger finished with two of YSU's seven hits as the Penguins edged the Lancers in the hit column, 7-6.
• Luke Zmolik was responsible for one run while recording two outs in the bottom of the eighth as YSU's first reliever out of the bullpen. Ulrich was awarded with the victory after coming on to record the final four outs for the Penguins.

at Longwood – Saturday, Feb. 28 (Game 1) // L, 3-9

• Longwood used a five-run seventh inning to pull away for a 9-3 victory over Youngstown State in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
• The Lancers scored the first three runs of the game before the Penguins plated their first run in the top of the sixth to pull within 3-1. Longwood struck for five runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to build an eight-run edge before YSU scored twice in the ninth.
• Caleb Hadley doubled and scored a run as one of seven different Penguins to record a hit in the contest. Rossi and Misael Uriepero each singled and drove in a run while Nick Miscavage singled and scored once.
• YSU starter Jack Messmore suffered the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits over 4.1 innings while Aidan English was responsible for one run with three strikeouts over two innings of relief. Jake Ferretti surrendered four runs on two hits and two walks in the seventh before Sumner Estes permitted one run over his 1.1 innings of work.

at Longwood – Saturday, Feb. 28 (Game 2) // L, 3-6

• Longwood scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie and went on to defeat Youngstown State 6-3 in game two of Saturday's doubleheader at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
• The Lancers jumped in front with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning before the Penguins answered with a three-run top half of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Longwood tied the score with a single run in the fifth before moving ahead with three tallies in the eighth. Reliever JR Fordham retired the Guins in order in the ninth to give the Lancers the doubleheader sweep and a 2-1 series edge.
• Rossi hit a two-run blast for his first home run as a Penguin while James Carlson doubled and scored a run. Ruffner singled and scored a run while Miscavage singled and drove in a run for YSU offensively.
• Mikey Rodriques allowed two runs on one hit with a career-high six strikeouts over two innings in his first career start on the mound. Brevin Smith was responsible for one run on three hits with four punchouts over 2.2 innings as the first of four relievers to appear for Youngstown State. Tyler Heflin struck out four batters over 2.1 scoreless innings of relief while Griffin Almond surrendered three runs in the eighth to suffer the loss.

at Longwood – Sunday, March 1 // L, 4-6

• Chyran Humphries and Alex Jang each hit home runs for the Penguins, but Longwood scored the final four runs of the game to overcome a two-run deficit and defeat Youngstown State 6-4 in the series finale on Sunday at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
• The Lancers jumped ahead 2-0 before the Penguins scored the next four runs of the contest to take a 4-2 lead. Longwood scored once in fourth and twice in the sixth to regain the advantage while adding a single tally in the seventh for the final margin.
• Jang went 3-for-4 with a double and his first career home run while Humphries hit his first homer as a Penguin. Rossi recorded an RBI double while Kuriger and Spencer added two hits apiece.
• YSU starter Brandon Mikos was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on six hits with four strikeouts over 5.1 innings on the mound. Zmolik was responsible for one unearned run while pitching 1.1 innings as one of four relievers for appear for the Penguins.

Up Next

Youngstown State is currently scheduled to host Central Michigan in its home opener on Wednesday at 5 p.m. to begin a four-game homestand at 717 Credit Union Field at Eastwood.