Feb. 9, 2010
Penguins Picked to Finish Fourth by Rivals.com
Youngstown -- The Youngstown State baseball team has been picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League standings by Kendall Rogers of Rivals.com in his conference preview of the 2010 season.
Rogers also predicted that first baseman Jeremy Banks and pitcher Phil Klein would be named First-Team All-Horizon League.
Just as in the Horizon League Coaches Poll, Wright State was picked to win the league title by Rivals.com. UIC and Milwaukee were selected to finish second and third ahead of YSU. Valparaiso, Cleveland State and Butler were predicted to place fifth through seventh.
Banks, a sophomore from Steubenville, Ohio, had a strong freshman campaign for the Penguins in 2009. He hit .302 with four home runs, 29 runs scored and 30 RBIs in 45 games, but he was even better down the stretch. He hit safely in the final 11 games of the season, batting .439 with 18 RBIs and 13 runs scored in that span.
Klein was named First-Team All-Horizon League last season as perhaps the conference's most improved player. He went 5-2 with a 4.62 ERA overall and 4-0 with a 3.83 ERA in Horizon League regular season contests. Klein struck out 80 batters in 76 innings, and his his 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings led all Horizon League starters.