RIGHT OFF THE BAT

• This is the highest seed the Penguins have ever been in their four years in the Horizon League.
• The Penguins enter with 28 wins, the third-most in school history and the most under Mike Florak.
• Youngstown State is 5-4 all-time in the Horizon League Tournament and has beaten everyone except Wright State at least once.
• Six different Penguins are hitting above .300, and the team is hitting .303 overall.
• UW-Milwaukee is the last team to win back-to-back titles (2001, 2002). It has only happened once since 1995.

Justin Thomas Named Horizon League Pitcher of the Year
    Youngstown State junior left-hander Justin Thomas was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year at Tuesday evening’s League banquet.
    Thomas became the first Penguin to earn the distinction in the Horizon League, and joined former first-round draft pick Brad Hennessey as the only two players in school history to earn conference pitcher of the year honors. Thomas, who was also named First-Team All-Horiozn League, finished the season with a dominating 3-1 mark in Horizon League contests. In 27 innings against league opponents, Thomas posted an ERA of 2.00 and threw three complete games. In his three wins against Cleveland State, Wright State and UW-Milwaukee, the Oregon, Ohio, native allowed a total of one earned run in 27 innings for an ERA of 0.33. He also struck out 33 hitters in those 27 innings.
    Thomas finished the regular season with a mark of 7-5 to become the first pitcher in school history to earn seven wins in back-to-back seasons. He’s also posted a career-high 83 strikeouts in 76 1/3 innings.
    He currently ranks second in school history in strikeouts with 245, which is six behind Dave Dravecky’s mark of 251. He also ranks in the top five all-time in innings pitched and career starts.
Thomas earned Second-Team All-Horizon League honors as a sophomore.

Four Other Penguins Earn All-League Honors
    Four other Penguins joined Justin Thomas in earning All-League mentioning for their seasons.
    Juniors Justin Banks and Brandon Caipen were named to First-Team All-Horizon League while senior Jim Phillips earned second-team honors and redshirt freshman Erich Diedrich was named to the All-Newcomer Team.
    Banks, who earned the honor as a third baseman, led the Penguins in hitting with a .354 average, runs scored with 35 and on-base percentage with .429. He started 51 games and appeared in all 53. The Steubenville, Ohio, native also earned All-Newcomer Team honors in 2003.
    Caipen was named to the first-team as a utility player. The Tallmadge, Ohio, native stared 28 games behind the plate and 19 games in right field. He finished the regular season with a .315 average and scored 27 runs. He also earned All-Newcomer Team honors in 2003.
    Phillips, an outfielder, led the team in hitting for most of the season and finished with a .351 average. He ranked second on the team in home runs (4), RBIs (34) and total bases (85).
    Diedrich hit .333 while splitting time between being the catcher and the designated hitter. He led the team in home runs with five and in slugging percentage with a .514 mark.
    The Penguins also had five honorees in 2003. Adam Cox was named First-Team All-Horizon League and Kendall Schlabach earned second-team honors. Banks, Caipen and Charles Schultz were named to the All-Newcomer Team.

Thomas Named to CBF National Honor Roll for Third Time
    Justin Thomas was also named to the Collegiate Baseball Foundation’s National Honor Roll this week for the third time this season.
    In the series opener with a possible first-round bye in the Horizon League Tournament at stake, Thomas struck out 10 hitters and did not allow a run through 8 1/3 innings. With one out in the ninth, UWM pinch hitter Shane Davis hit the first pitch of his at bat off the top of the wall in left to spoil the shutout.
    Thomas was also named to the honor roll on on April 8 and April 29.

A Look Back at 2004 Run
    The Penguins entered the 2004 Horizon League Championship as the No. 7 seed and swept through four games in the tournament to earn the league crown. The host Penguins scored four runs in the top of the ninth to defeat Butler 4-3 in the first round and rode Eric Shaffer to a 7-2 victory over Cleveland State in the second round. YSU then topped UIC in the winner’s bracket final 5-4 on an Adam Cox sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth to advance to the championship game. In the title game, YSU jumped out to a 9-0 lead through six innings and never looked back en route to a 10-1 victory. Justin Banks was named the Tournament’s MVP while Shaffer and Kevin Libeg were also named to the All-Tournament Team. Before YSU’s triumph, no team in the previous 23 years had finished below fourth in the regular season and bounced back to win the title.

Pitching Staff Hoping to Repeat Last Year’s Magic
    YSU’s pitching staff was a key to the turnaround during last season’s postseason run. During the regular season, the staff had a 5.68 ERA while opponents hit at a .292 clip. In the tournament, YSU pitchers had a 1.50 ERA and opponents hit just .172. This year’s staff enters the tournament with a 5.30 ERA and opponents are hitting .281.

Taking Summer Hitting Lessons
    This year’s squad is hitting 37 points higher than last year’s NCAA Tournament team. Last year, Kendall Schlabach’s .313 average was the only mark above .300, and the team hit .266 overall and .226 against Horizon League opponents. In 2005, the Penguins are hitting .303 as a team and have six players above the .300 mark. In addition, YSU hit .324 against league opponents. The last time the Penguins hit above .300 was their last season in the Mid-Continent Conference when they batted .324 in 2001. That team had seven players finish above a .300 average, including having Schlabach hit .406 as a freshman.

2005 Shutouts A Pleasant Surprise
    The Penguins tied the school record for shutouts in a season with six in the 2005 campaign. Andy Svitak had the lone complete-game shutout in a 1-0 victory over UW-Milwaukee on May 21, and the sophomore righty also pitched in three other combined shutouts. On the year, YSU blanked Morehead State (4-0), West Liberty State (6-0), Central Michigan (4-0), Duquesne (7-0), Wright State (4-0) and UW-Milwaukee (1-0). Four of those shutouts came in an eight-game span from March 17 to March 29. In addition, the Penguins had only recorded a total of eight shutouts in head coach Mike Florak’s first six seasons. YSU also recorded six shutouts in 1993, 1991, 1978, 1977, 1974 and 1966.

Let’s Turn On The Lights…
    Youngstown State is 9-0 in night contests so far this season, posting a 5-0 mark at home and a 3-0 record in night contests against Horizon League opponents. In those nine games, YSU outscored its opponents 64-23 and held a .315 to .212 edge in batting average. The pitching staff was equally impressive, posting a 2.10 ERA in 77 innings. Jim Phillips hit .414 in those nine games while Charles Schultz hit .412 in eight games. Justin Thomas is 3-0 and has allowed just one run in 27 innings for an ERA of 0.33 in his three night starts.

…Or Play At A Neutral Site
    The Penguins were also an impressive 3-1 when playing at a neutral site. YSU defeated Dayton 4-2 in Jefferson City, Tenn. in the season opener before falling 8-5 in game two. The Penguins then defeated West Liberty State 12-1 and 6-0 at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. In those four games, YSU outscored its opponents 27-11 and outhit them .336 to .216.

Penguins Reach 20-Hit Mark Twice
    Youngstown State reached the 20-hit mark in two games in a season for the first time in school history. The Penguins banged out 20 hits in a 13-5 win at IPFW and 21 in a 10-9 loss to Illinois-Chicago on May 14. The school record for hits in a game is 24, which was set in 1988 against California (Pa.). The Penguins reached the milestone only one other time in history when they banged out 22 against Cleveland State in 2000.

Bullpen Records Second-Most Saves in School History
    Ryan Sellman and Kevin Libeg combined to record 10 saves, the second-most in school history. Sellman converted on six save opportunities before April 30 while Libeg posted four saves, including recording two in a doubleheader against Ashland on April 16. The Penguins have not recorded a save since Libeg’s save against Wright State on May 1. The school record for saves in a season is 14, which was set in 1995.

Double Figures in Hits and Runs
    The Penguins recorded 10 hits or more in 27 games, which is a seven-game improvement over last season, and have scored at least 10 runs in seven games. When recording double digits in hits the Penguins are 19-8, and the team is 6-1 when scoring in double figures. The Penguins recorded 10 or more hits in nine straight games from April 3 to April 16 to go 8-1 in those contests.

Penguins Finally Get it Done In Extra Innings
    Youngstown State’s 5-4 victory over UW-Milwaukee in eight innings on May 21 was its first victory in extra innings in five tries this season. Brent Parks brought in Sean Lucas from third with a sacrifice fly to complete a four-run comeback against the Panthers. Previously, the Penguins dropped a 3-2 decision to Central Michigan (3/26) in 10 innings, a 3-2 game to Ashland (4/17) in nine innings, a 5-4 contest to Kent State (5/8) in nine innings and a 10-9 affair to Illinois-Chicago (5/14) in 11 innings.

Three-Baggers Galore Against UW-Milwaukee
    Youngstown State banged out a season-high four triples against UW-Milwaukee in a 9-1 victory on May 20. Mike Turjanica hit a clutch two-out, two-run triple in the second inning that put YSU up 2-0 while J.D. Hannan tripled to leadoff the sixth, Brandon Caipen hit a three-run triple in the seventh and Brent Parks tripled to start the eighth. Hannan added another triple in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Thomas Continues Dominance In League Games
    With his win against UW-Milwaukee on May 20, Justin Thomas improved his record to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in league contests.
    In the series opener with a possible first-round bye in the Horizon League Tournament at stake, Thomas struck out 10 hitters and did not allow a run through 8 1/3 innings. With one out in the ninth, UWM pinch hitter Shane Davis hit the first pitch of his at bat off the top of the wall in left to spoil the shutout.
    In 27 innings against league opponents, Thomas has an ERA of 2.00, has thrown three complete games and has struck out 33 hitters. Excluding his outing against UIC in which he threw to five batters because of sickness, Thomas has an ERA of 0.33 against League opponents and has allowed only 11 hits in 27 innings.

Jim Phillips Named YSU Male Athlete of the Year
    Senior outfielder Jim Phillips was honored as the 2004-05 Vindicator Male Athlete of the Year on May 5.
    Phillips, who was honored with diver Kalyn Leveto, was the first baseball player to earn the award in its 18 years.
    Phillips is having a career year, batting .351 with three home runs, 23 runs scored and 34 RBIs. Earlier this season he had a 14-game hitting streak through late March into mid April over which he hit .491 with 15 RBIs and recorded more than one hit in nine of the games.
    Excelling off the diamond as well, he owns a 3.19 grade-point average as an Integrated Social Studies major.

Phillips Named Horizon League Player of the Week
    Senior Jim Phillips was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after his performance against Dayton in the season-opening doubleheader on Feb. 19.
    Phillips went 3-for-6 with two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored against the Flyers. In game one of the doubleheader, the senior went 2-for-3 and hit a game-winning grand slam to left in the top of the sixth. In game two, Phillips started at third after starting in right in game one and went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Thomas Earns National CBF, Horizon League Honors
    Junior Justin Thomas was named to the Collegiate Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll three times and was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week twice this season for his performances against UW-Milwaukee, Wright State and Cleveland State.
    Against Wright State on April 29, Thomas allowed only two hits and one unearned run in a nine-inning complete game to lead the Penguins to a 5-1 win over the Raiders. Wright State, which came into the game hitting .312 as a team, had its only two hits of the game in the third inning and had only one baserunner after the third.
    After the walk to Vickers, Thomas forced a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play and went on to retire the final 16 hitters of the game. The junior southpaw also struck out the side in the ninth to finish the game with eight strikeouts.
    Against the Vikings on April 8, the junior lefty struck out a career-high 15 batters and did not allow an earned run in a 5-1 victory. After allowing an unearned run in the first, Thomas struck out 15 of the next 29 hitters and allowed only four hits in the game. His 15 strikeouts were the most since Barry Daggett fanned 15 against North Carolina A&T on March 28, 1997.
    He was also named to the CBF National Honor Roll on May 23.

Hannan Stepping It Up At Leadoff
    After starting only eight of the team’s first 25 games, junior J.D. Hannan started the next 27 games in centerfield and batting leadoff for the Penguins. Since being put into the starting lineup, he’s batted .361 with 27 runs scored and has hit safely in 22 of those 27 games. He’s also stepped up against League opponents, hitting a team-best .400. In addition, he’s reached 49 percent of the time he’s led off an inning.

Svitak Records First Career Shutout
    Sophomore Andy Svitak threw a two-hitter in a 1-0 shutout of UW-Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader. It was the sophomore right-hander’s first career shutout, and the win improved his record to 5-0. Svitak did not allow a hit until there was one out in the fifth, and UWM’s only two hits were bloop singles to left. He added a career-high eight strikeouts and did not allow a runner to reach second base all game.

It’s Been A Season Of Streaks
    Youngstown State has had a very streaky season. After winning their first game against Dayton, the Penguins lost 10 straight games to drop to 1-10. From that point, the Penguins went on a 23-5 run that featured winning streaks of three, five, six and eight games. YSU then went on to lose nine of 10 games, including dropping eight straight, before winning three straight against UW-Milwaukee last weekend.

In the 23-5 Streak...
    After starting the season 1-10, Youngstown State won 23 of its next 28 games to improve to 24-15. Included in those wins were an eight-game winning streak and a six-game winning streak.
In those 28 games, YSU outhit its opponents .339 to .229 and outscored them 183 to 99. On the mound, the Penguins hold an ERA advantage of 3.12 to 6.06.

Page’s Defense Strong At Second
    Redshirt freshman Josh Page has been a solid addition to the infield at second base. While playing second, he’s committed only one error in 170 chances. At shortstop, however, he’s committed three blunders in 10. Overall, he’s converted on 176 of 180 chances for a fielding percentage of .978 and has turned a team-best 24 double plays. He started the season converting on 125 of his first 126 chances.

Schultz Turning Season Around
    Junior Charles Schultz entered the season as a career .326 hitter but hit just .219 through the first 23 games. Since that point, Schultz has hit .317 in the past 28 games to bring his average up to .277. Schultz also stepped up in league competition, hitting .382 with 16 RBIs in 16 games. The .382 mark is the second-best on the team, and his RBI total, his .491 slugging percentage and his six doubles are team highs. Most recently, he went 6-for-12 with three runs scored and three RBIs in four games against UW-Milwaukee last weekend.

Turjanica Coming On In Home Stretch
    Redshirt freshman Mike Turjanica had his most impressive week in his career last week as he hit .462 (6-for-13) with a triple and four RBIs in six games. He also slugged .615, had an on-base percentage of .632 and recorded his first-career stolen base. He began the week going 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base against Kent State on Tuesday. After a 1-for-2 performance against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, he went 1-for-2 with a two-run triple that got the offense going for the Penguins in a 9-1 victory over the Panthers on Friday. In the field, he recorded 39 putouts and had two assists, including making a game-saving diving stab toward the line with two outs and a man on third in the top of the seventh in a tie game against UW-Milwaukee on Saturday.

Florak Moves Into Second Place in Career Victories
    With last Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of UW-Milwaukee, head coach Mike Florak passed Dan Kubacki in career wins with 163 to move into second place all-time. Dom Rosselli collected 486 in 31 seasons at the helm while Kubacki collected 162 in seven seasons. No other coach in YSU history recorded more than 50 victories or coached more than two seasons.