The fourth-seeded Youngstown State baseball team (15-38, 12-12 HL) will play the fifth-seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies (11-40, 5-19 HL) in an opening round elimination game in the 2026 Horizon League Baseball Championship on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.

Wednesday's contest and all games throughout the 2026 Horizon League Baseball Championship will be streamed live on ESPN+ while live stats will be available through links posted on YSUsports.com. Fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on X for live updates.

Youngstown State vs. Oakland

Opponent	Date	Location	Video	Live Stats
	Wednesday May 20 | 5 PM ET	Nischwitz Stadium Dayton, Ohio	ESPN+	Live Stats

A Glimpse at the Guins

• Senior left-hander Braden Gebhardt will take the ball for the Penguins on Wednesday. The Howland, Ohio, native is set to match the single-season school record with this 15th start of the 2026 season. Gebhardt owns a 5-3 record and a 2.82 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 83 innings pitched over 14 starts on the mound.
• Youngstown State enters tournament play on a three-game winning streak after sweeping a three-game Horizon League series at regular season champion Wright State last week to conclude its regular season schedule. The Penguins won the series opener 5-2 on Thursday before sweeping a doubleheader on Friday with victories of 8-6 in 10 innings and 8-2, respectively. YSU has won two straight HL series and nine of its last 12 league contests overall heading into tournament play.
• The Penguins have won 11 of the last 18 encounters with the Golden Grizzlies overall after sweeping a three-game Horizon League series at Oakland in the most recent meetings on April 17-18. YSU finished with a 4-2 record against Oakland during the regular season. The Penguins suffered a pair of losses to the Golden Grizzlies in the 2025 Horizon League Baseball Championship, including a 22-18 loss in 10 innings which eliminated YSU from last year's tournament.
• Senior left-hander Braden Gebhardt was named as one of 43 semifinalists for the College Baseball Foundation 2026 National Pitcher of the Year Award on April 22. He was also named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week for the fifth time in 2026 on May 11. Gebhardt became the first pitcher in Horizon League history to win the league's Pitcher of the Week award five times in a single season. He is just the second pitcher to win the award on four or more occasions in season, and he became the sixth pitcher to win the award at least five times in a career. Gebhardt was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week three times in as many weeks to begin the 2026 season.
• Through games completed on May 17, Gebhardt leads the Horizon League while ranking 31st nationally with 99 strikeouts and 11th in the country with 14 games started. He also paces the league in ERA (2.82), innings pitched (83.0), WHIP (1.16) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.73). Gebhardt's 99 strikeouts currently rank as the fifth most in a single season in program history. With one more punchout, he would become the first Penguin since Matt Brosky in 2022 to record 100 or more strikeouts in a season. The senior southpaw became just the ninth pitcher in YSU history to reach 200 career strikeouts in the series opener with Wright State on April 10. Gebhardt currently ranks sixth in program history with 235 career strikeouts, and he ranks 11th in school history with 242.0 career innings pitched.
• Redshirt junior outfielder Brady Shannon leads the Horizon League with 15 home runs while also ranking seventh in the league with a .564 slugging percentage. The Youngstown, Ohio, native leads YSU with 15 homers, 38 runs scored, 35 RBIs and 97 total bases. Shannon went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and four RBIs in the series opener at NKU on March 27. He hit a go-ahead three-run blast in the top of the eighth inning in YSU's 5-2 series-opening victory at Wright State on Thursday for his 15th homer of the season.
• Shannon currently ranks tied for tied for fourth in YSU history with 25 career home runs as a Penguin. The redshirt junior has also become the first player in program history to hit at least 10 homers in two different seasons. Shannon's 15 home runs in 2026 currently rank as the third most in a single season in school history. The redshirt junior batted .318 and slugged .705 with 10 home runs and 25 RBIs over 24 games in Horizon League play.
• Redshirt senior infielder Garrett Cutting saw his 12-game hitting streak come to an end in game one of Friday's doubleheader at Wright State. Over his last 14 games, Cutting is batting .352 and slugging .722 with five doubles, five home runs, 13 RBIs and 10 runs scored.
• Redshirt junior utility player Nathan Beckley has now hit safely in six straight games and in 27 of his last 36 contests. The Aliso Viejo, Calif., native also put together a nine-game hitting streak earlier this season from March 14-28. Beckley is batting .286 and slugging .458 while leading the Penguins in hits (48), doubles (16), triples (2) and walks (26). He ranks fourth in the Horizon League in doubles and triples while also ranking ninth in the league in walks. Over 24 Horizon League games in 2026, Beckley batted .337 and slugged .523 with 11 doubles, 20 RBIs and 21 runs scored.
• Freshman infielder Alex Jang is batting .290 and slugging .432 over 43 games played and 39 starts. The Las Vegas, Nev., native has missed the last seven games due to injury. He has hit safely in eight of his last 11 games and in 21 of his last 31 contests. 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 also went 3-for-5 with his first career triple in the series opener at Milwaukee on April 3. Jang leads the Penguins with 15 multi-hit games on the season.
• Senior right-hander Jack Messmore ranks second in the Horizon League in innings pitched (72.1), seventh in ERA (5.85) and eighth in strikeouts (46). The Niceville, Fla., native has matched his teammate Gebhardt with a team and league best 14 starts on the mound to rank 11th nationally in games started. 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 earned his second win of the season after setting new season highs with seven strikeouts and seven innings pitched in YSU's 4-3 win over Milwaukee on May 9.
• Messmore hit a home run in his first plate appearance of the season while serving as the designated hitter in the series opener with Wright State on April 10. The senior also went 3-for-4 at the plate with a home run and a career-high five RBIs as the designated hitter in YSU's 13-11 series-opening win over Milwaukee on May 8. Messmore has five hits including two home runs in 10 at bats at the plate during the 2026 season.
• Freshman infielder Misael Uriepero has hit safely in 15 of his last 22 games while being the only Penguin to play in and start all 53 games to this point in the 2026 season. The Caracas, Venezuela, native matched his career high with three hits by going 3-for-5 with an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base in YSU's 11-10 victory at Toledo on April 21. He also went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored in YSU's victory over Milwaukee on May 8.
• Fifth-year senior outfielder Kendal Spencer, who started each of YSU's first 17 games before missing 28 consecutive games due to injury, returned to the starting lineup on Thursday at Wright State. In his first start since March 15, Spencer went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three stolen bases in YSU's 5-2 series-opening victory over the Raiders. He also went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and two steals in YSU's 8-6 win at Wright State in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday. Spencer, a two-time All-Region selection at Division II Savannah State, saw his first game action since March 15 when he appeared as a pinch runner in the series finale with NKU on May 3. The Tampa, Fla., native leads the Penguins with 13 stolen bases in just 23 games played this season.
• Junior catcher Ryan Schummer has hit safely in seven of his last eight games while also homering in three straight games from May 6-9. The West Lafayette, Ind., native hit a three-run home run vs. Eastern Michigan on May 6 before going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs in YSU's 13-11 series-opening win over Milwaukee on May 8. Schummer went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs in YSU's 4-3 victory over MKE on May 9. He belted his eighth home run of the 2026 season in game one of Friday's doubleheader at Wright State.
• The Penguins have been hit hard by injuries to key position players throughout the 2026 season. Fifth-year senior outfielder Kendal Spencer started each of YSU's first 17 games before missing 28 consecutive games due to injury. Sophomore infielder Jay Wrona, who was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team in 2025, played in just six games before being shut down due to injury. Senior outfielder Brayden Kuriger, who was named to the 2025 Horizon League All-Tournament Team, missed 21 contests after starting each of YSU's first 29 games in the outfield. Sophomore catcher Caleb Hadley played in 10 games before also being lost for the season due to injury. Redshirt junior infielder Luke Rossi has missed 16 games due to injury, and redshirt freshman infielder Nick Miscavage has missed a total of 40 games throughout the campaign.
• 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.

YSU's Horizon League Tournament History

• Youngstown State owns a 25-34 overall record in Horizon League Tournament games dating back to the 2002 season. The Penguins are 2-7 all-time playing as the No. 4 seed and 11-18 in tournament games played at Wright State's Nischwitz Stadium.
• YSU went 1-2 in the 2025 Horizon League Baseball Championship. The Guins lost a 13-2 decision to Oakland in the opening round last season before earning a 13-8 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in an elimination game later the same day. Youngstown State was eliminated the following day after falling to Oakland 22-18 in 10 innings.
• Youngstown State is 2-4 all-time versus Oakland in the Horizon League Tournament. The Penguins won the HL Tournament in 2004 and 2014 to advance to the NCAA Regionals.

Game Preview

A Win on Wednesday Would…

• Improve YSU to 16-38 overall and advance the Penguins into the double elimination portion of the tournament on Thursday.
• Give the Guins their fourth consecutive win.
• Give YSU its fourth straight win in the series with Oakland.
• Give the Penguins 10 wins in their last 13 games against HL opponents.
• Give Trevor Charpie his 31st career coaching victory.

Scouting Oakland

• Oakland enters tournament play with an 11-40 overall record and a 5-19 mark in Horizon League play after being swept in a three-game HL series at Milwaukee last week. The Golden Grizzlies had lost 16 straight decisions before picking up a 13-10 home win over Akron in non-league action on Tuesday.
• Junior catcher Ben Clark is batting .354 and slugging .524 while leading Oakland with 67 hits, 18 doubles and 42 runs scored. Fifth-year senior infielder Kyle Revere is batting .296 and slugging .473 while leading the Golden Grizzlies with eight home runs, 32 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Oakland ranks fourth in the Horizon League with a .270 team batting average.
• Freshman right-hander Ben Green owns a 1-6 record and a 5.88 ERA while leading the Golden Grizzlies with 36 strikeouts and 49 innings pitched over 12 appearances and 10 starts on the mound. Senior right-hander Jaxson Easterlin has made a team-high 23 appearances, all of which have come out of the bullpen. Oakland ranks last in the Horizon League with a 9.98 team ERA.

Series History

• Overall: Youngstown State leads 38-36
• Charpie: 8-6 // H: 24-18 // A: 12-13 // N: 2-5
• Current Win Streak: 3 by Youngstown State
• Last Meeting: April 18, 2026 (W, 6-4)
• First Meeting: May 8, 1999 (W, 12-5)
• The Penguins have won each of the last three meetings with the Golden Grizzlies after sweeping a three-game Horizon League series at Oakland earlier this season on April 17-18. YSU swept a doubleheader on April 17 with victories of 13-12 and 16-2 in seven innings, respectively, before completing the sweep with a 6-4 win the series finale on April 18.
• The Penguins dropped two of three games to the Golden Grizzlies earlier this season in the first series between the teams on March 13-15 at Pullman Park in Butler, Pa. The Penguins earned a 6-5 comeback victory in the Horizon League opener for both teams on March 13 before falling by final scores of 12-6 and 4-3 over the final two games of the series.
• The Penguins have won 11 of the last 18 encounters overall after winning four of six meetings during the 2025 regular season. YSU dropped a pair of contests against Oakland in the 2025 Horizon League Baseball Championship at Wright State's Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio. The fourth-seeded Penguins suffered a 13-2 loss to the fifth-seeded Golden Grizzlies in the opening round before being eliminated with a 22-18 loss in 10 innings in a tournament elimination game the following day.

Up Next

If the Penguins defeat Oakland in Wednesday's opening round elimination game, YSU would move into the double elimination portion of the tournament to face top-seeded Wright State on Thursday at 3 p.m.