YSU expects better season in 2012

February 16, 2012 at 12:08a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Ask sophomore third baseman Drew Dosch about the Youngstown State baseball team’s poor regular season in 2011 and he’ll tell you about its strong tournament finish.

Ask him about the team’s lack of power and he’ll tell you about its offseason work in the weight room.

Ask him about having 17 newcomers — more than half the roster — and he’ll tell you about the excitement they bring.

The Penguins went 14-41 last season and enter this year as the unanimous preseason pick to finish last in the Horizon League, but Dosch said he believes they’ll surprise a lot of people this spring.

“Most everyone is just very excited to get started,” said Dosch, who made the Horizon League’s all-newcomer team last season after batting .262 with 15 runs and 11 RBIs. “It’s no secret we had a little bit of a rough year last year but we ended strong in the tournament.

“Everyone came back this fall with a new attitude, a new dedication. We’ve got two big underclassmen classes that are ready to make their impact and prove they can play at this level.”

The Penguins went 7-16 in the league last year but were just eight outs away from advancing to the championship game of the Horizon League tournament. After losing two of their best players to graduation — pitcher Phil Klein (a 30th-round pick by the Texas Rangers) and outfielder Joe Iacabucci (who led the team in runs, walks and on-base percentage) — head coach Rich Pasquale added a big recruiting class that includes several junior college transfers.

“We’re seeing them get better and better,” Pasquale said of the newcomers. “Right now, the young guys are coming on pretty strong. They’re feeling confident.”

YSU returns six of its top seven hitters from an offense that ranked last in the conference in slugging, on-base percentage and runs. (Only Cleveland State had a lower batting average and the Vikings eliminated their baseball program in the offseason.) The Penguins should get a boost from two junior college transfers: sophomore outfielder Marcus Heath, a Badger High graduate who was a conference player of the year at Sinclair Community College, and junior catcher Jake Kucek, a Canfield High graduate who batted .481 for Cuyahoga Community College last year.

YSU also has two new starters at the top of the rotation. Sophomore Patrick O’Brien, a Boardman High graduate who pitched at Bowling Green in 2010, will replace Klein as the team’s ace. Pat Shedlock, a transfer from Cleveland State and Cuyahoga Community College, will be the No. 2.

After seeing his pitching staff hurt by injuries last season, Pasquale will have plenty of depth this spring with 14 pitchers on the roster and several other position players who can step in.

“We feel we have the starting pitching to go a little bit deeper in games,” he said.

YSU may also benefit from the Horizon League’s decision to eliminate Saturday doubleheaders in favor of single games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Penguins also benefited from being able to practice in the WATTS this winter, which should boost a defense that led the league in fielding percentage (.966) last fall.

“Having the WATTS is a huge plus for us,” said Pasquale, whose team begins play Friday in North Carolina. “We think we’re certainly ahead going into the season than we have been in the past.”