Dayton, Ohio – The fourth-seeded Youngstown State baseball team saw its 2026 season come to an end after a 10-2 loss to fifth-seeded Oakland on Wednesday night in an opening round elimination game in the 2026 Horizon League Baseball Championship at Nischwitz Stadium.
Oakland, which improved to 12-40 overall with Wednesday's win, advances to face top-seeded Wright State on Thursday afternoon. Youngstown State concludes the 2026 season with an overall record of 15-39.
The Golden Grizzlies scored three times in the top of the first inning before adding a single run in the third to build a 4-0 edge. YSU got on the scoreboard with a single run of its own in the bottom of the fourth before Oakland countered with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth and one in the sixth to take a 7-1 advantage. The Golden Grizzlies tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth and one in the ninth while Luke Rossi hit a solo home run for YSU in the bottom of the ninth for the final margin.
Oakland starter Ben Green did not allow an earned run while limiting YSU to just three hits and fanning a career-high nine batters over a career-high seven innings on the mound to earn the win. Jaxson Easterling came in to work a scoreless eighth inning while Ryan Donley permitted one run in the ninth.
YSU starter and 2026 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Braden Gebhardt suffered the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks over 4.1 innings. With his first punchout of the game in the top of the second inning, the senior left-hander became just the fifth pitcher in YSU history and first since Matt Brosky in 2022 to reach 100 or more strikeouts in a season. Gebhardt concludes his accomplished YSU career ranking sixth in program history with 240 career strikeouts, and his 104 strikeouts in 2026 rank as the fourth most in a season in school history.
Luke Zmolik was responsible for three runs on five hits over 3.1 innings of relief while Aidan English was tagged with one unearned run in 1.1 innings out of the bullpen.
Rossi hit his third home run of the season and drove in two runs while Nathan Beckley and Nic Goodwin each doubled for the Penguins offensively.
The Golden Grizzlies went in front quickly with three runs in the top of the first inning. Leadoff batter Ben Clark was hit by a pitch, Kyle Revere singled and both runners advanced 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by Sam Griffith. Lucas Day brought Clark home with a sacrifice fly, Carter Hain followed with an RBI single, and Tony Konopiots drove in a run with a two-out infield single.
Oakland pushed across a single unearned in the top of the third inning to increase its lead to 4-0. Hain reached on an error, advanced to second on a bunt single by Aidan Schuck and scored on Aidan Orr's RBI single.
The Penguins scored their first run of the game in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Brady Shannon drew a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on Rossi's RBI groundout.
The Golden Grizzlies responded by scoring twice in the top of the fifth inning to take a 6-1 advantage. Hain hit a leadoff double and scored on Orr's one-out triple while Konopiots plated Orr with a sacrifice fly. Oakland went on to add one run in sixth as Griffith reached with a one-out infield single and Day followed with an RBI double.
The Golden Grizzlies recorded two runs in the top of the eighth and one in the ninth to produce the final tally. Hain was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded while Griffith walked and scored on a sacrifice fly from Schuck in the eighth. Oakland scored the game's final run in the top of the ninth when Clark reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly from Revere.
Clark, Revere, Hain and Orr each finished with two hits to pace the Golden Grizzlies offensively.
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