In the month of February, happy couples celebrate Valentine’s Day. When it comes to baseball on the college level, it can either break hearts or make them full. As for the Youngstown State Penguins, the hearts of the baseball program and its fans have been shattered for the last 11 seasons after making its lone NCAA Tournament appearance in 2014.
This year, second-year head coach Trevor Charpie and his Penguins are looking to waddle back into the “Big Dance,” but they have a very tall task since they were picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League with Wright State at the top like usual.
To kick off the 2026 campaign, YSU faced an Auburn Tigers squad that was shockingly knocked out in the Super Regional of last year’s NCAA Tournament by eventual College World Series runner-up Coastal Carolina. Auburn was picked to finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference standings with defending College World Series champion LSU at the top of the list, but Tigers head coach Butch Thompson — entering his 11th season — is looking to help his team scratch and crawl their way to better heights and not have a repeat of last year.
This series also marks the first time since 2019 that Youngstown State opened the season against an SEC opponent, with the last team being Mississippi State.
In the season opener on Friday, Braden Gebhardt delivered a master class on the mound, but Youngstown State still fell short in a 2-1 loss against fifth-ranked Auburn.
Penguins second baseman Misael Uriepero recorded his very first collegiate hit in the top of the third inning with a one-out single to left.
In just six innings, the left-handed Gebhardt fanned seven-straight batters between the third and fifth frames. Overall, he allowed only one unearned run on two hits and a career-high 11 strikeouts, which is the most strikeouts in a game by a Penguin pitcher since Collin Floyd fanned a dozen against Milwaukee on April 9, 2021.
NAIA Ave Marie transfer Luke Zmolik suffered the defeat after allowing one run on three hits over an inning and a third of relief in his Penguin debut, while redshirt senior Sloan Ulrich recorded the last two outs of the eighth inning.
Auburn starting pitcher Jake Marciano was just as good if not better. The left-handed sophomore, who transferred from Virginia Tech, punched out his first five hitters. In five total innings of work, Marciano allowed one earned run on two hits with 12 strikeouts.
Western Kentucky transfer Drew Whalen earned the win after tossing three scoreless innings of relief, while Michigan State transfer Garrett Brewer struck out two batters in the ninth inning to get the save.
The Penguins drew first blood with two outs in the top of the fourth inning when Brady Shannon crushed a solo home run over the left field wall. Auburn then evened the score in the bottom half of the fifth when Ethin Bingaman reached on a one-out error by Penguins first baseman Nick Miscavage, advanced to second on another error from catcher Ethan Hadley after Cade Belyeu struck out swinging and scored on Chris Rembert’s two-out RBI single through the left side to tie it up, 1-1.
The Tigers would score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth when Eric Guevara smacked a leadoff double to right-center field, and ended up scoring following a Brayden Kuriger fielding error in the outfield on Chase Fralick’s base hit through the right side for the 2-1 advantage.
Youngstown State threatened to keep the game going when Kendal Spencer got hit by a pitch to lead off the frame before Kuriger walked, and both runners advanced to second and third after a double steal. Thompson then came out of the dugout to bring out Whalen in favor of Brewer, who struck out both Luke Rossi and Shannon before getting Teddy Ruffner to fly out to center to end the game.
On Saturday, the two teams played in a doubleheader, with the first one being a close 2-1 affair in 10 innings and the second one being a 17-2 blowout.
The Penguins scored their lone run of game one in the top of the fifth when Shannon led it off with a walk, stole second after Ruffner struck out, and scored on Garrett Cutting’s double to the right-center field gap. The score stayed the same until the bottom of the ninth inning when Belyeu led it off with a double before Bingaman walked and Lucas Steele reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases with no one out. Belyeu then scored on a sacrifice fly from Bristol Carter to knot things up before Mikey Rodriques struck out Brandon McCraine and got Bub Terrell to ground out to second.
The Tigers loaded the bases again with no outs in the bottom of the 10th inning with a single from Guevara to lead off the bottom frame before Fralick reached on a fielder’s choice error and Belyeu walked intentionally. After a fielder’s choice out at the plate, Fralick was able to score from third on a wild pitch, allowing Auburn to take the series.
YSU’s Jack Messmore was outstanding on the mound in the first game of the twin bill. The New Mexico transfer allowed six hits and punched out five batters in 6 ⅓ innings of work in his Penguin debut.
Aidan Dorsch recorded a pair of outs in the seventh in his YSU debut, while Griffin Almond also tossed a scoreless eighth inning. Rodriques allowed the game-tying run in the ninth in his only frame of work, while Aidan English suffered the loss after inheriting the winning run in the 10th.
Auburn’s Jackson Sanders allowed one run on two hits with a walk and eight strikeouts over six good innings and suffered a no-decision. Jett Johnston tossed three shutout innings of relief, while Ryan Hetzler fanned the side in order in the 10th inning to pick up the win.
Game two was a completely different story. Fralick hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first before Carter and Terrell both delivered run-scoring singles in the second to give the Tigers a 5-0 lead. Then, Terrell singled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Belyeu in the bottom of the fourth to make it 6-0.
Auburn then blew up for eight runs on five hits in the fifth inning to extend its lead to 14-0. It started with Guevara’s RBI double down the left field line, run-scoring infield hits from Brandon and Mason McCraine, Mason McCraine scoring on a wild pitch, Carter’s two-run single to left-center field, and Ryne Farber’s base hit through the right side.
The Tigers scored three more times in the sixth inning on a home run from Terrell, followed by back-to-back RBI singles from the McCraine brothers to make it 17-0. The ‘Guins avoided the shutout with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh with an RBI single from Alex Jang and Chyran Humphries scoring on a wild pitch for the final tally.
YSU starting pitcher Brandon Mikos surrendered five runs on seven hits over an inning and a third in a losing decision in game two. Tyler Heflin threw an inning and two-thirds and allowed a run on three hits, while freshman Bryce Palms made his first NCAA appearance and allowed two runs — one earned on one hit in an inning and a third. Sumner Esters recorded one out and allowed four unearned runs, while Kale Wemer gave up five runs — two earned on eight hits in an inning and a third of work.
Auburn’s Alex Petrovic earned the victory after delivering five innings of one-hit shutout baseball and fanning nine batters. L.J. Cormier tossed a scoreless sixth inning, while Ethan Harder allowed two runs in the seventh before Connor Gatwood recorded the final out of the game.
Shannon was the lone Penguin to get a hit in each game of this series, going 3-for-10.
Guevara, Fralick and Belyeu were the only Tigers to record hits in all three games of the sweep. Guevara and Fralick recorded six hits apiece, while Belyeu went 3-for-10.
Youngstown State continues its early-season road swing on Thursday when it visits the Oregon Ducks for a four-game series at PK Park. First pitch for Thursday’s game is set for 6 p.m. Eastern Time and will be broadcast live on B1G+.
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