Curbstone to honor YSU’s Brungard

On Monday at the Avion Banquet Center on Western Reserve Road in Canfield, the Curbstone Coaches will honor Beau Brungard, the Youngstown State quarterback and Walter Payton award winner as the top FCS player in the country.

Because of an afternoon class that Beau needs to attend, he will need to leave by 1 p.m. The buffet lines will open at 11:30 a.m. to accommodate Beau’s schedule.

All valley sport fans are encouraged to attend this event and don’t need to be a current or former coach.

Deep Freeze to host Skate-a-Thon

Deep Freeze Skating Club in Boardman is reaching out to the community for assistance.

The local figure skating club is putting on a Skate-a-Thon on Sunday at 6 p.m. to help make the club more affordable. It will be held at Deep Freeze Ice Arena, with the goal of raising $20,000.

The recent financial uncertainty is a result of rising, which can be difficult on small community groups.

Deep Freeze Skating Club has been active in Boardman for nearly three decades, offering youth figure skating development, competitions, Theater on Ice performances and community shows and events.

Skaters can collect pledges per lap or as a one-time donation, with the goal of reaching 80 laps each.

There will be a basket raffle, as well as prizes for participants for achieving fundraising goals, such as most money raised or most donors.

The group has an upcoming performances scheduled for March 5 at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown.

MVFC announces schedule changes

The Missouri Valley Football Conference announced an update to the 2026 schedule on Friday morning.

The conference’s nine teams will each play one another in the new format. The Penguins home and away opponents do not change from the previous version while a September visit to Youngstown by South Dakota replaces a previously scheduled Halloween home matchup against North Dakota State.

YSU will play the Coyotes in the league opener at Stambaugh Stadium on Sept. 26 before playing road games at Southern Illinois (Oct. 3) and at Indiana State (Oct. 10).

The Penguins entertain UNI on Oct. 17, visit South Dakota State on Oct. 24 and have North Dakota at home on Oct. 31.

The month of November features a road trip to Murray State (Nov. 7) and a visit from National Championship finalist Illinois State on Nov. 14.

YSU’s bye week falls on the final weekend of the regular season.

The current non-conference slate includes Mercyhust (Aug. 27), at Kentucky (Sept. 5), vs. Duquesne (Sept. 12) and at Sacramento State (Sept. 19).

Youngstown State has advanced to the FCS playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

Penguins shut out by Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. — Braden Gebhardt (Howland) did not allow an earned run while limiting Oregon to two hits over seven strong innings on the mound as the Youngstown State baseball team fell 3-0 to the Ducks on Friday evening at PK Park.

The Ducks got on the scoreboard first with a single unearned run in the bottom of the fourth before adding a pair of insurance runs in the eighth. The Penguins loaded the bases with three walks in the ninth before Oregon reliever Devin Bell came out of the bullpen to retire back-to-back Penguins and give the Ducks a 2-0 series lead.

Youngstown State drops to 0-5 on the 2026 season while Oregon improves to 6-0.

Gebhardt, a senior left-hander, delivered his second masterful starting pitching performance in as many outings to begin the 2026 season. A week after he recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts over six innings in an impressive Opening Day effort in a 2-1 loss at Auburn in the season opener, Gebhardt matched the longest outing of his career while blanking Oregon in six different frames on Friday.

Gebhardt, who has allowed no earned runs and just four hits with 16 total strikeouts in 13 innings pitched through two starts, retired the side in order on three different occasions on Friday at Oregon. He did not allow a hit over the first three innings while surpassing 150 career strikeouts in his 58th appearance as a Penguin.

Nathan Beckley went 2-for-3 with a walk at the plate as the Penguins bested the Ducks 4-3 in the hit column. Brayden Kuriger and Misael Uriepero added base hits while Uriepero and Garrett Cutting each recorded a stolen base.

Luke Zmolik was responsible for two runs in his lone inning out of the bullpen for YSU.

The Ducks broke a scoreless tie with a single run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jax Gimenez drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third when Dominic Hellman followed with a double to left center. After Gebhardt retired the next two batters, Gimenez was able to race home on a passed ball to give Oregon a 1-0 edge.

The Ducks pushed their advantage to 3-0 by scoring twice in the home half of the eighth. Owen Morgan led off the inning with an infield single, advanced to third following an errant throw as he swiped second base and scored on a wild pitch. Jack Brooks followed with a walk, stole second base, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Gimenez’s RBI groundout.

Oregon starter Will Sanford earned the win after allowing four hits and striking out six batters over six scoreless innings. Tanner Bradley tossed 2.1 innings of relief before Bell came on to get the final two outs and collect the save.

Game three of the four-game series between Youngstown State and Oregon is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern/12 p.m. Pacific Time on Saturday. The game will be broadcast live on B1G+.

From staff/wire reports