The Youngstown State baseball team (3-23, 1-5 HL) travels to Wisconsin this week for a three-game Horizon League series at Milwaukee (5-21, 2-4 HL) beginning on Friday afternoon.

The Penguins and Panthers are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at noon ET before closing the series with a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

All three games of the series will be broadcast live on ESPN+ while live stats will be available throughout the series through links posted on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on X for live updates.

Youngstown State at Milwaukee

Opponent	Date	Location	Video	Live Stats
	Friday April 3 | 12 PM ET	Franklin Field Franklin, Wis.	ESPN+	Live Stats
	Friday April 3 | 3:30 PM ET	Franklin Field Franklin, Wis.	ESPN+	Live Stats
	Saturday April 4 | 1 PM ET	Franklin Field Franklin, Wis.	ESPN+	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 of Friday's doubleheader. Redshirt senior right-hander Brandon Mikos is slated to make his fifth start of the season in the series finale on Saturday.
• Youngstown State has dropped eight straight decisions following an 11-10 loss at Akron in non-league play on Tuesday. The Penguins set new seasons highs as a team with 10 runs and 14 hits, but the Zips earned the midweek win on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. YSU was swept in a three-game Horizon League series at Northern Kentucky last weekend in its most recent league competition.
• 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. Youngstown State 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 in March. 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 March 27. 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 31, 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 weekend. 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 March 28.
• Redshirt junior utility player Nathan Beckley has now hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games after putting together a nine-game hitting streak from March 14-28. The Aliso Viejo, Calif., native is batting .289 and slugging .482 while leading the Penguins in doubles (6), triples (2), walks (14) and total bases (40). Beckley ranks second in the Horizon League with two triples while also ranking sixth with 14 walks, eighth with an .892 OPS, eighth with six doubles and ninth with a .482 slugging percentage. He has also reached base safely in 11 consecutive contests.
• 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 .487 slugging percentage. The Youngstown, Ohio, native leads YSU with six homers, 14 runs scored and 14 RBIs. Shannon went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and four RBIs in the series opener at NKU on March 27.
• Freshman infielder Alex Jang is batting .291 and slugging .453 while leading YSU with 25 hits and eight multi-hit performances heading into the weekend. The Las Vegas, Nev., native has now hit safely in eight of his last 11 games while putting together a five-game hitting streak 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. Jang ranks tied for eighth in the Horizon League with six stolen bases, and he has reached base safely in eight straight games.
• Senior outfielder Brayden Kuriger has now hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games. The senior went 3-for-5 with a double, triple and two RBIs at Eastern Michigan on March 24 before hitting his second home run of the season at Pitt on March 25. Kuriger went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs, a walk, two runs scored and two stolen bases at Akron on Tuesday.
• Youngstown State's pitching staff ranked atop the Horizon League with 193 strikeouts through games played on March 31. The Penguins rank second in the league with a 5.88 team ERA and a .282 opponent batting average. YSU pitchers had also allowed the second-fewest total runs (185), earned runs (141) and hits (242) in the league heading into this weekend's series at Milwaukee.
• 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 39 stolen bases as a team in 51 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.

Series Preview

A Win in Game One on Friday Would…

• Give the Penguins their fourth victory of the 2026 season.
• Snap an eight-game losing streak.
• Give YSU its third straight win over Milwaukee.
• Give Trevor Charpie his 19th career coaching victory.

Scouting Milwaukee

• Milwaukee has lost six of its last seven games to enter this weekend's series with a 5-21 overall record and a 2-4 mark in Horizon League play. The Panthers dropped a 12-5 decision at UIC in non-league action on Tuesday. Milwaukee was swept in a three-game series at Wright State on March 20-22 in its most recent Horizon League contests.
• Junior outfielder Dylan O'Connell is batting .349 and slugging .686 while leading the Panthers with nine doubles, six home runs, 24 RBIs and 23 runs scored. O'Connell leads the Horizon League in slugging percentage while ranking second in the league in batting average, home runs and doubles. Sophomore outfielder Bradyn Horn currently leads the Horizon League with a .351 batting average.
• Milwaukee leads the Horizon League with 26 home runs and 43 stolen bases while ranking second in the league with a .256 team batting average. The Panthers also rank second in the conference in runs scored, hits, slugging, walks and on-base percentage.
• Graduate right-hander Gavin Theis has a 1-2 record and a 5.00 ERA with 23 strikeouts and a team-high 27 innings pitched over five starts on the mound. Junior left-hander Riley Peterson leads Milwaukee with 30 strikeouts in 22.1 innings pitched over seven appearances and six starts. Junior right-hander Cullen Riel has made a team leading 11 appearances, all of which have come out of the bullpen. Milwaukee ranks last in the Horizon League with an 8.99 team ERA.

Series History

• Overall: Milwaukee leads 77-52
• Charpie: 3-3 // H: 29-34 // A: 16-31 // N: 7-12
• Current Win Streak: 2 by Youngstown State
• Last Meeting: April 19, 2025 (W, 7-5)
• First Meeting: May 20, 1977 (L, 3-4)
• The Penguins have won three of the last four meetings with Milwaukee in an all-time series dating back to May 20, 1977.
• YSU won two of three games at Milwaukee last April in the most recent meetings between the two programs. Milwaukee won two of three games at 717 Credit Union Field at Eastwood in mid-March in the first series between the two teams during the 2025 season.

Recapping Last Game

at Akron – Tuesday, March 31 // L, 10-11

• Akron hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Youngstown State 11-10 in a high-scoring non-league contest on Tuesday afternoon at Skeeles Field.
• The Penguins were ahead 2-0 after the first inning and 7-3 after scoring five runs in the top of the third. The Zips answered with a five-run bottom of the third to take an 8-7 lead before YSU countered with two runs in the top of the fourth to regain a 9-8 edge.
• The score remained the same until Akron pushed across a pair of runs in the seventh move back in front 10-9. The Guins plated a single run in the top of the ninth to even the score before Brennan Morgan's RBI single in the bottom half of the inning lifted the Zips to the walk-off victory.
• Nathan Beckley went 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI double, a walk and a run scored while Brayden Kuriger finished 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs, a walk, two runs scored and two stolen bases. Alex Jang recorded two hits including a double, two RBIs and a stolen base while Luke Rossi singled, doubled, drove in a run and scored twice. Ryan Schummer added two hits as the Penguins posted new season highs as a team with 10 runs and 14 hits offensively.
• YSU starter Aidan Dorsch allowed two runs on two hits in his lone inning on the mound before Aidan English was responsible for one run in one inning as the first six YSU relievers to appear in the contest. Sloan Ulrich surrendered five runs in the third before Kale Wemer and Griffin Almond each came on to toss two scoreless innings of relief. Lane Rhodes permitted two runs in two innings of work while Mikey Rodriques suffered the loss after allowing the winning run in the ninth.

Up Next

Youngstown State is currently scheduled to host four games next week at 717 Credit Union Field at Eastwood in Niles, Ohio. The Penguins are slated to host Pitt in a non-league contest on Tuesday at 5 p.m. before beginning a three-game Horizon League series with Wright State on April 10 at 3 p.m.