Penguins Continue Road Swing with Horizon League Series at Purdue Fort Wayne - Youngstown State University (2024)

The Youngstown State baseball team (5-30, 3-12 HL) will continue its four-game road swing on Friday when it opens a three-game Horizon Legue series at Purdue Fort Wayne (13-23, 7-8 HL) at 3 p.m. The Penguins and Mastodons will proceed to play on Saturday at 2 p.m. before concluding the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Live stats will be available through links on YSUsports.com, and fans can also follow @YSUBaseball on X for live updates.

Youngstown State at Purdue Fort Wayne

Opponent	Date	Location	Live Stats
	Friday April 19 | 3 PM ET	Mastodon Field Fort Wayne, Ind.	Live Stats
	Saturday April 20| 2 PM ET	Mastodon Field Fort Wayne, Ind.	Live Stats
	Sunday April 21 | 1 PM ET	Mastodon Field Fort Wayne, Ind.	Live Stats

A Glimpse at the Guins

• Junior right-hander Jacob Gehring will take the ball in the series opener on Friday while junior right-hander Brandon Mikos is slated to start on Saturday. Sophom*ore left-hander Sloan Ulrich is scheduled to take the mound in the series finale on Sunday.
• Friday's series opener will mark the fourth meeting of the season between Youngstown State and Purdue Fort Wayne. The Penguins earned a 4-2 victory in the Horizon League opener both teams at Eastwood Field on March 15 before the Mastodons won the final two games of the series.
• YSU is coming off a 12-9 setback at Bowling Green on Tuesday. The Penguins made a late push with six runs over their final two at bats but came up short in the non-conference midweek contest. Alejandro Covas posted a career-high four hits, going 4-for-6 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Teddy Ruffner went 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored while RJ Sherwood was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, two RBIs and three runs scored.
• Youngstown State earned an 11-8 victory in the Horizon League series finale with Milwaukee on Sunday at Eastwood Field. Matt Thompson hit a key grand slam during a six-run sixth inning that propelled the Penguins to their fifth victory of the season. Trey Law had a game-high three hits from the leadoff spot in the lineup, and Brett Stanley finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs from the second spot. The top four batters each scored twice for the Penguins, who had an impressive response after being swept by the Panthers in a doubleheader on Saturday.
• Redshirt senior shortstop Trey Law is batting .353 while leading the Penguins with 49 hits, eight doubles and a .420 on-base percentage. The Camp Hill, Pa., native currently tied for fifth in the Horizon League with 49 hits. Law has hit safely in five straight games and in 13 of his last 14 contests. He is batting .323 with a team-high 20 hits over 15 games in Horizon League play.
• Freshman outfielder Alejandro Covas is batting .333 and slugging .468 while leading the Horizon League and ranking second nationally with six triples. The Peninsula, Ohio, native has become just the fourth player in program history to record at least six triples in a season. Covas' six triples are the most by a freshman in YSU history and rank tied for the second most in a season in school history overall.
• Covas went 3-for-4 and tied the single-game school record with two triples in the series finale with Purdue Fort Wayne on March 17. He became the 11th player in school history and the first since 2021 to triple twice in a game. Covas is batting .339 and slugging .536 over 15 games played in Horizon League action. He has hit safely in 11 of his last 14 games entering Friday's series opener. Covas has also reached base safely in 20 consecutive games.
• Junior infielder Brett Stanley is batting .333 and slugging .533 with a team-high 14 RBIs over 13 games played and 12 starts in Horizon League play. The Washington Township, Mich., native has hit safely in 14 of his last 19 games heading into Friday's contest at Purdue Fort Wayne.
• Junior right-hander Jacob Gehring leads the Penguins with two wins, 31 strikeouts and 41.2 innings pitched over a team-high nine starts through the first 35 games of the 2024 season. The Canfield, Ohio, native also ranks ninth in the Horizon League with 41.2 innings pitched. Freshman right-hander Chris Domke ranks tied for second in the league with three saves.
• Fifth-year senior right-hander Casey Marshalwitz leads YSU with 16 pitching appearances, all of which have come out of the bullpen. The Gibsonia, Pa., native currently ranks seventh in program history with 80 career appearances. Marshalwitz earned his second win of the season in YSU's 11-8 victory over Milwaukee on Sunday by throwing three innings of relief and allowing one run on two hits while striking out three batters.
• With its 4-2 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on March 15, YSU has now won four straight Horizon League openers for the first time in program history. The Penguins also won their home opener for the second consecutive campaign.
• With its 7-6 win at Pitt on March 13, Youngstown State has now earned six victories over Power Five opponents in the last three seasons. That victory also marked YSU's seventh win over an ACC opponent during Dan Bertolini's tenure as head coach. The Penguins now have a win over the Panthers in each of the last five seasons that the two programs have faced off. YSU has also won four straight meetings with Pitt at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh.

Previewing Purdue Fort Wayne

A Win on Friday Would…

• Give YSU its sixth victory of the 2024 season.
• Give YSU two wins in its last three games.
• Improve YSU's Horizon League record to 4-12.
• Allow the Penguins to even the season series with the Mastodons.
• Be the 360th in head coach Dan Bertolini's career and his 131st at Youngstown State.

Scouting The Mastodons

• Purdue Fort Wayne is 13-23 overall and 7-8 in Horizon League play after a 15-5 non-conference loss at Notre Dame on Wednesday. The Mastodons have dropped each of their last three decisions after losing two of three games at Oakland this past weekend in their most-recent Horizon League action.
• Freshman infielder Justin Osterhouse is batting .390 and slugging .678 while leading Purdue Fort Wayne with nine home runs, 34 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Senior infielder Jacob Walker is batting .353 and slugging .525 with a team-high 13 doubles while senior outfielder Grant Thoroman is batting .323 and slugging .534 with five home runs and 26 RBIs.
• Senior right-hander Carter Sabol owns a 4-3 record and a 4.40 ERA with a team-high 45 strikeouts in 47 innings pitched over nine starts. Senior right-hander Mac Ayres has a 1-4 record and a 7.48 ERA with 37 strikeouts in a team-high 49.1 innings pitched over 11 appearances and nine starts. Senior right-hander Kevin Fee has a 4-1 record, three saves and a 3.86 ERA in 35 innings pitched over a team-high 18 relief appearances.
• Purdue Fort Wayne was picked sixth in the 2024 Horizon League Baseball Preseason Poll after posting a 13-43 overall record and an 8-22 mark in Horizon League play in 2023.

Series History

• Overall: Youngstown State leads 18-9
• Bertolini: 14-7 // H: 5-5 // A: 12-4 // N: 1-0
• Current Win Streak: 2 by Purdue Fort Wayne
• Last Meeting: March 17, 2024 (L, 5-18)
• First Meeting: April 17, 2004 (W, 6-1)
• Purdue Fort Wayne won two of three games at Eastwood Field earlier this season in the most recent meetings between the two teams.
• The Penguins swept a three-game series in Fort Wayne last May while the Mastodons took two out of three games at Eastwood Field in the first series between the teams during the 2023 season.
• Of the 27 all-time meetings, 21 have come since Purdue Fort Wayne joined the Horizon League prior to the 2021 season.

Recapping Bowling Green

at Bowling Green – Tuesday, April 16 // L 9-12

• Youngstown State made a late push with six runs over its final two at bats, but ultimately came up short to Bowling Green by a final score of 12-9 on Tuesday at Steller Field in Bowling Green, Ohio.
• The Falcons held an 11-3 advantage after seven innings, and the Penguins scored three runs in the top of the eighth to get within striking distance. After BGSU posted a single tally in the home half of the eighth to push its lead to 12-6, YSU continued to battle in the top of the ninth.
• Matt Thompson reached with an infield single to start the inning, and Teddy Ruffner followed with an RBI double to left field. With the Penguins down to their final out, RJ Sherwood ripped an RBI double to left that scored Ruffner and brought YSU within 12-8. Sherwood raced home when Joe Suarez reached on an error and Brett Stanley was hit by a pitch to bring the potential tying run to the plate. BGSU's Isaiah Seidel came out of the bullpen and got Alejandro Covas to fly out to left field to end the game.
• Covas posted a career-high four hits, going 4-for-6 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Ruffner went 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored while Sherwood was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. The Penguins more than doubled up the Falcons in the hit column, 15-7, but committed two more errors and issued seven more walks on the mound in the non-conference midweek contest.
• Covas posted a career-high four hits, going 4-for-6 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Ruffner went 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored while Sherwood was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, two RBIs and three runs scored.
• YSU starter Nick Perez suffered the loss after allowing five runs on three hits and four walks over 2.2 innings of work. Gavin Wilms, who was one of six relievers to appear for the Penguins, was responsible for five runs in a team-high 1.2 innings out of the bullpen.

Up Next

Youngstown State will begin a season-long five-game homestand at Eastwood Field on Tuesday with a non-conference contest against Kent State at an adjusted start time of 1 p.m. The Penguins will proceed to host Akron in another non-conference tilt on Wednesday at 5 p.m.