By Marissa Masano / The Jambar
The Youngstown State University softball team opened its 2025 season Feb. 7-9 in the Wofford Tournament at Spartanburg, South Carolina. Coming off a Horizon League regular-season championship, the Penguins return with 15 letterwinners and five starters.
Fifth-year senior Elyssa Imler, the 2024 Horizon League Player of the Year and an All-Horizon League First-Team selection, returns to the program. Sophomores Lydia Wilkerson and Macy Littler, who earned spots on last season’s All-Freshman Team, also add depth to the roster.
The Horizon League released its 2025 Under Armour Preseason Poll on Feb. 5, where YSU was projected to finish third. Cleveland State University secured the top spot, receiving eight first-place votes.
Prior to the tournament Head Coach Brian Campbell spoke about the youth of the roster.
“What it brings is these older players teaching the younger players,” Campbell said. “I can say this year we are a young team, when you lose six of your nine starters on the field.”
The Penguins opened tournament play against the University of Dayton, coming off an Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title and its first conference championship. Dayton was also predicted to repeat as A-10 champions in 2025.
YSU dropped its season opener to the Flyers, 6-0. Imler recorded the Penguins’ lone hit. Dayton got on the board in the second inning when freshman Mickie Shively singled and drove in a run.
Sophomore Autumn Behlke started on the mound for YSU, allowing five hits and five runs while facing 19 batters. Freshman Kelsey Ogin relieved Behlke and faced 13 batters, surrendering three hits and one run.
In the second game of the day, the Penguins fell to Towson University in five innings, 13-3. Freshman Ayla Ray led the team with two hits and one run, while Wilkerson and redshirt junior Bree Kohler each added a run.
YSU held a 2-1 lead after the first inning, but Towson shut out the Penguins in the second and put up four runs to take the lead. The Tigers then scored eight runs in the fourth inning to seal the win.
YSU lost 5-2 to tournament host Wofford College on Day Two. Littler and sophomore Lauryn Swanson each scored a run for the Penguins. Wofford’s offense was led by freshman Rivers Sampson, who recorded three hits and two runs.
In the second matchup against Dayton, YSU fell 8-1. Sophomore Reese Campbell-Schaller scored the Penguins’ lone run. Ogin started for YSU, facing 25 batters and allowing 11 hits and eight runs.
The Penguins closed out the tournament with a 5-2 loss to Towson. Ray and junior Ellie Hardman each crossed the plate for YSU.
Towson opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with two runs batted in. YSU responded in the top of the fourth when Schaller’s RBI allowed Hardman to score. The Penguins tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth after a Kohler double.
However, Towson pulled away in the bottom of the sixth, capitalizing on two home runs to secure the victory. Wofford won the tournament with a 4-1 record over the weekend.
Youngstown State will return to action at the Winthrop University Tournament, set for Feb. 21-23 in Rock Hill, South Carolina.