The First Pitch
The Youngstown State softball team (17-12, 5-1 HL) is prepped for a three-game Horizon League showdown that features the top two teams in the league standings when it visit Robert Morris (16-8, 4-2 HL), April 3-4, at the North Athletic Complex in Moon Township, Pa. The Penguins and Colonials play a single game on Friday, April 3, at 1 p.m. and square off in a doubleheader on April 4 beginning at 1 p.m.

Last Time Out
The Penguins earned a crucial three-game Horizon League swept over Northern Kentucky March 27-28. Youngstown State tied a program record for most runs in a Horizon League game with a series opening 17-3 win on March 27. The Penguins swept a doubleheader from the Norse, 9-5, 7-5, on March 28.

Up Next
Youngstown State plays a pair of mid-week non-conference doubleheaders hosting Niagara, Tuesday, April 7 at 2 p.m. and St. Bonaventure, Wednesday, April 8, at 3 p.m.

About Robert Morris
Robert Morris enters the series with an overall record of 16-8 and a 4-2 mark in Horizon League  action, and the Colonials are a game back from the Penguins in the league standings. Aglaia Rudd leads the Colonials with a .577 batting average while Courtney Poulich is batting .480 with 14 home runs and 43 runs batted in. Madison Brown leads the staff with a 2.66 ERA and has five wins while Kaitlyn Molitoris leads the staff with six victories.

The Robert Morris Series
Youngstown State and Robert Morris have squared off 87 times previously and the Penguins own a 51-36 advantage in the all-time series. Last season, the Colonials won the season series, but Youngstown State has won 12 of the last 18 games dating back to 2021. 

Penguins' Bats Alive
Overall, Youngstown State is batting .330 as a team and has eight players hitting .315 or better. Senior Emma Gilkerson leads the team with a .380 batting average and eight home runs and has driven in 25 runs. Junior Lydia Wilkerson boasts a .378 average and 21 RBIs while senior Kennedy Dean is batting .369 with nine doubles, four homers and 30 runs batted in. Junior Selah Moyer leads the team with 32 RBIs and carries a .364 average.

Penguins Sweep HL Weekly Awards
For the second time this season, Youngstown State softball players have swept the Under Armour Horizon League Softball Weekly Awards, the conference announced on March 30. Senior Emma Gilkerson was named the Under Armour Horizon League Player of the Week and, for the third time this season, freshman Kennedy Kimball was tabbed the Under Armour Horizon League Pitcher of the Week. Kimball and Tai Turner swept the league awards on March 2, and Kimball earned the pitcher-of-the-week award on March 23. This marks Gilkerson's first career weekly award. Gilkerson led the Penguins to a 4-1 record, including a sweep of Northern Kentucky. She batted .529 (9-for-17) with six runs scored, a double, two home runs and nine runs batted in. She posted four multi-hit games and had a pair of four-RBI games, both against NKU. She crushed a grand slam in the Penguins' 17-3 win over the Norse. Against Horizon League opponents, Gilkerson owns a .526 batting average with three home runs, 11 RBIs and a 1.609 OPS. Kimball went 2-0 with a 2.10 ERA last week, She picked up a pair of victories against league foe Northern Kentucky. She pitched a complete-game four-hitter with three strikeouts and did not allow an earned run in the Penguins' 17-3 win over the Norse.  Kimball leads the Horizon League with a 4-0 record, a 1.31 earned-run average, and a .185 opponent's batting average in league action.

Campbell Reaches career win 700
Head Coach Brian Campbell, the winningest coach in program history with 418 wins, picked up the 700th victory of his coaching career in the Penguins' 4-3 win over Le Moyne on March 7 and now has 706 wins. Campbell is a three-time Horizon League Coach of the Year winning the award in 2012, 2021, and 2024. He led the Penguins to a 20-4 Horizon League record and tied the program single-season wins record with 36 in 2024. In 2021, Campbell led the Penguins to the first regular-season conference championship in program history with a 36-15 overall record and a 28-8 mark in league play. He has led the Penguins to six 30-win seasons and is the only coach in school history to win at least 30 games in consecutive seasons - 2021, 2022 and 2016, 2017.

Home Sweet Home
Since the Penguins began playing their home games at the YSU Softball Field in 2014, they have found a lot of success in their home ballpark. Youngstown State is 138-76 in 214 games in its on-campus facility for a .645 winning percentage. YSU secured its 100th victory at the complex with a 5-2 victory over Green Bay on April 23, 2022.  Youngstown State has a 93-47 mark (.664) in Horizon League regular-season games played at the YSU Softball Field. Since 2021, the Penguins are 53-21 in conference regular-season contests played on their turf.

Kimball in Control
Freshman Kennedy Kimball has been off to an impressive start during her rookie campaign. The Windham, Maine native leads the Horizon League with a 4-0 record and a 1.31 earned-run average. She has won her last four starts and has allowed just four earned runs with 13 strikeouts in her last 21.1 innings pitched. Overall, she is 6-4 with a 2.15 ERA and 48 strikeouts.

Penguin Run Producers
Youngstown State has three of the top seven run producers in the Horizon League as of April 2. Junior Selah Moyer ranks second in the league with 32 RBIs while Kennedy Dean is fifth with 30 RBIs and Emma Gilkerson is seventh with 25 runs batted in.