Youngstown State senior left-hander Braden Gebhardt has been selected to the ABCA/Rawlings East All-Region Second Team for his performance during the 2026 season, the American Baseball Coaches Association announced on Tuesday.
The 2026 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. I All-Region Teams were announced in all eight regions on Tuesday. The teams are voted on by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association, and the process is led by the ABCA NCAA Div. I All-America Committee.
Youngstown State has now had an all-region honoree in back-to-back seasons after Kyle Fossum earned first-team honors in 2025.
Gebhardt became the sixth player in YSU history and the first since Matt Brosky in 2022 to be named Horizon League Pitcher of the Year in 2026. The Howland, Ohio, native collected all-league recognition for the first time his accomplished career while becoming the fourth YSU pitcher since 2009 to garner First-Team All-Horizon League honors.
Gebhardt enjoyed one of the most successful seasons on the mound in YSU history as a senior in 2026. The southpaw posted a 5-4 record, a 3.19 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 87.1 innings pitched while matching the single-season school record with 15 starts on the mound. Gebhardt was named the Horizon League's Pitcher of the Week a record six times during the 2026 season, and he was named as one of 43 semifinalists for the 2026 College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year Award on April 22. The senior led the Horizon League in strikeouts, ERA and innings pitched.
With his fifth weekly HL honor of the 2026 season 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. With this sixth weekly award of the campaign, Gebhardt became just the third pitcher in Horizon League history to win the award at least six times in a career. He was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week three times in as many weeks to begin the 2026 season. Gebhardt allowed his first earned run of the 2026 season during his 30th inning of work in his fifth start against Oakland on March 13.
Gebhardt's 104 strikeouts in 2026 currently rank as the fourth most in a season in YSU history, and he became the fifth Penguin ever to record 100 or more strikeouts in a season. The left-hander finished with a 4-1 record and a 4.02 ERA in 47 innings over eight starts in Horizon League play. Gebhardt became the ninth pitcher in YSU history to reach 200 career strikeouts during the 2026 season, and he finished his career ranking sixth in school history with 240 career strikeouts. He also concluded his career ranking 11th in program history with 246.1 career innings pitched.
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