Mastodons Welcome Penguins to Fort Wayne This Weekend

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Youngstown State arrives in Fort Wayne this weekend for a three-game Horizon League baseball series against the Mastodons.

Game Day Information
Who: Purdue Fort Wayne (10-35, 6-15 Horizon) vs. Youngstown State (11-32, 6-14 Horizon)
When:
Friday, May 5 | 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 6 | 2 p.m.
Sunday, May 7 | 1 p.m.
Where: Mastodon Field
Weather: 74, clear | 76, clear | 78, chance of rain
Live Stats: Link
Series History: Youngstown State leads 14-7. The 'Dons took 2-of-3 in Youngstown earlier this season.

Probable Pitchers:
Purdue Fort Wayne: RHP Mac Ayres (2-2), RHP Brody Fine (1-4), TBD
Youngstown State: RHP Travis Perry (4-4), LHP Braden Gebhardt (0-3), LHP Cam Marshalwitz (1-2)

Scouting the Penguins: Youngstown is coming off of a series sweep of Milwaukee at home. Steven D'Eusanio recorded a total of seven RBIs in the series, including five in the last game against the Panthers (April 30). Trey Law leads the Horizon League in hits with 64, and Turner Grau leads the league in triples with four.

Miller is the Strikeout King: Justin Miller owns 218 career strikeouts, passing Jason Horvath (2001-2005) for most career strikeouts earlier this season. Horvath recorded 210. Miller broke the record against Dayton on April 26. Additionally, Miller is averaging 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings, the best for a career in program history during the Division I era.

Down Goes Sparty: The Mastodons defeated Michigan State on April 19 3-2. It is the Mastodons' second straight season with a win over a Big 10 opponent. Last season the 'Dons defeated eventual league champion Michigan.

Return of the SAC: Dylan Stewart is tied for the league lead with seven sacrifice bunts.

Put His Name in Ink: Jarrett Bickel has started all 45 games at shortstop.

Grant is Fly: In league play only, Grant Thoroman is tied for second in the Horizon League in sacrifice flies with four.

Back in Black: Braedon Blackford is second in the league with 12 home runs. He is in fourth in RBIs (46), fourth in slugging (.596), fifth in runs (41) and fifth in hits (52).

Double-Digits: Braedon Blackford's 12 home runs has him tied for fifth in program history for home runs in a season. The all-time single season record is Shaun VanDriessche's 18 in 2010.

Cade Gets on Base: Cade Nelis has a current 26 game on-base streak. It is the longest for a Mastodon since Jackson Boyce reached base in 37 consecutive games in 2017. Nelis owns 31 walks, second best in the league.

HL is BH Time: In league play only, Ben Higgins is second in the league slugging (.893), OPS (1.339) and RBIs (30). Higgins also has a 10 game hitting streak.

Masto-Slams:  The 'Dons hit grand slams in back-to-back games against Northern Kentucky. On March 24 Ben Higgins hit a grand slam and then in game one on March 26 Jarrett Bickel hit a game-tying grand slam in the seventh inning of a 9-5 win.

Save X4: Four different Mastodons have recorded a save this season. Brody Fine, Mac Ayres, JD Deany, and Justin Miller own saves for the 'Dons.

Closing Time: Justin Miller owns eight career saves, fourth most in Mastodon history for career saves.

'Dons Dig The Long Ball: 11 different Mastodons have hit a home run this season, it is the most since 2013 when 11 different 'Dons hit a home run. The 2003 season saw 13 Mastodons hit a home run, the most during the Mastodon Division I era.

Multi-verse: 14 different Mastodons have had a multi-hit game this season.

Hey Batter Batter (of the Week): Braedon Blackford hit .429 and slugged 1.357 with four home runs in 14 at bats over four games played in Winston-Salem, N.C. (March 3-5). He also recorded one double, seven RBIs, five runs scored, two walks and 19 total bases to earn the Horizon League Batter of the Week honor.

Hey Batter Batter (of the Week) X2: Ben Higgins was named the Horizon League Batter of the Week on April 4 for his play the prior weekend. His play was highlighted by his thee home run performance at Youngstown State on March 31). Higgins was the first Mastodon to hit three big flys in a game since 2016.

D1Baseball Top 30: Braedon Blackford was named a Top 30 Hitter of the day for his two-run home run game vs. Cornell. He was ranked No. 11. He also earned the No. 12 spot on the list after his five-hit, six-RBI doubleheader against Milwaukee (April 15). JD Deany was selected as a Top 30 pitcher for his five shutout innings vs. Cornell. Ben Higgins was named the No. 3 hitter of the day by DIBaseball.com for his three dinger day against Youngstown State. Jacob Walker (21st) and Caileb Johnson (25th) earned spots on the daily top 30 list for their performances at Northern Kentucky. Walker drove in seven runs with a home run. Johnson had four hits, four RBIs and two home runs.

Up Next:  The 'Dons will host Oakland May 12-14 in Horizon League play.

RECORD WATCH: Multiple Mastodons are lurking around the top 10 in program history in several stats this season.

Individual Records:
RBIs
Single Season Record: 54 Jared Davis (2007)
10^th place: 44 (multiple times)
Braedon Blackford: 46 (currently 8^th)
Ben Higgins: 42

Runs
Single Season Record: 53 Brandon Soat (2015) and Terry Johnson (1997)
10^th place: 44 (multiple times)
Braedon Blackford: 41

Total Bases
Single Season Record: 150 Greg Kaiser (2016)
10^th place: 107 (twice)
Braedon Blackford: 102

Home Runs
Single Season Record: 18 Shaun VanDriessche (2010)
10^th place: 10 (multiple times)
Braeadon Blackford: 12 (currently tied for 5^th)
Caileb Johnson: 11 (currently tied for 8^th)
Ben Higgins: 10 (currently tied for 9^th)

Walks
Single Season Record: 54 Malcolm White (2012)
Cade Nelis: 31 (currently tied for 10th)

Team Records:
Doubles
Single Season Record: 99 (2016)
Currently: 89 (5^th)

Home Runs
Single Season Record: 55 (2010)
Currently: 47 (4^th)

Hit By Pitch
Single Season Record: 79 (1999 & 2002)
Currently: 58 (9^th)

Hits
Single Season Record: 539 (2014)
10^th place: 444 (2009)
Currently: 410

Slugging %
Single Season Record: .494 (1998 & 1997)
Division I era Record: .435 (2005)
10^th place: .420 (1989 & 2015)
Currently: .419

Runs Batted In
Single Season Record: 325 (2015)
10^th place: 250 (1995)
Currently: 240

Runs
Single Season Record: 355 (1997)
Division I era Record: 353 (2015)
10^th place: 277 (1999)
Currently: 258

Walks
Single Season Record: 230 (2016)
10^th place: 194 (2005)
Currently: 177

OBP
Single Season Record: .415 (1997)
Division I era Record: .409 (2005)
10^th place: .377 (1989)
Currently: .360

Double Plays
Single Season Record: 70 (1998)
Division I era Record: 48 (2010)
10^th place: 40 (multiple times)
Currently: 31

Runners Picked Off
Single Season Record: 25 (2009)
10^th place: 11 (multiple times)
Currently: 10

Strikeouts
Single Season Record: 398 (2015)
Currently: 320 (6^th)

~ Feel the Rumble ~

Mastodons Welcome Penguins to Fort Wayne This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Mac Ayres

Jarrett Bickel

Braedon Blackford

JD Deany

Brody Fine

Ben Higgins

Caileb Johnson

Justin Miller

Cade Nelis

Dylan Stewart

Grant Thoroman

Jacob Walker

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics