Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU freshman Kennedy Kimball fires off a pitch during the top of the first inning of the Penguins' loss to Green Bay in the Horizon League tournament on Thursday at the YSU Softball Complex.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State is well aware of the recent history regarding the host team and top seed in the Horizon League softball tournament.

Since 2021, the host team is 3-11, plus the No. 1 seed has not won the title since 2022.

Those numbers don’t bode well for the top-seeded host Penguins, which succumbed to that precedent once again on Thursday, falling to No. 5 seed Green Bay 2-0 in their first game of the tournament at YSU Softball Complex.

“We just, we had opportunities, and opportunities were passed up,” YSU head coach Brian Campbell said. “They did a good job in the seventh, getting a base runner on with a two-run swing with two down. All together, I thought that was a pretty good ball game. Just unfortunately, one of us had to lose, and we were on the short (of that) end stick.”

After both teams were scoreless for six innings, the Phoenix (16-29) finally broke the deadlock in the top of the seventh inning.

A lead-off single up the middle by Gracie Anderson put a runner on base. Then, with an out on the board, Sidney Lamotte blasted a two-run homer over the left-field fence. With a chance to tie or walk it off, the Penguins went down in order in the bottom of the inning.

Up to that point, Kennedy Kimball (11-7), the Horizon League’s Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, had pitched a gem for the Penguins. Heading into the top of the frame, she had only given up two hits. But Green Bay pounced on her late and she finished with five strikeouts, no walks and gave up five hits across seven innings.

“It was a good swing by the kid,” Campbell said. “Kennedy pitched well and the ball moved. We have some kids on the team that can hit the long ball, and they do too. It just happened to be her opportunity to put one out.”

YSU (31-19) outhit the Phoenix, putting up nine hits. But the Penguins couldn’t convert those into runs. Senior third baseman Tai Turner and sophomore second baseman Ayla Ray led YSU with two hits apiece.

“I think we were getting the hits, but we weren’t stringing them together,” Turner said. “When runners were in scoring position, we just failed to score them.”

Like Kimball, Green Bay’s Ava Schill (7-5) had her own strong outing in the circle, finishing with a complete-game shutout thanks to her defense, which made some critical plays to keep the Penguins off the board.

Missed opportunities cost the Penguins, as they left eight runners on base, including four in scoring position.

“When nobody’s on base, there is no pressure. You just swing how you know how to swing,” Turner said. “But when people get on base, sometimes it gets a little in your head. You start overthinking. But we got here for a reason. We’re here for a reason. We know what to do, we just gotta do it.”

YSU’s best opportunities to score came in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings.

In the fourth, Ray led off the inning with a hard-hit grounder up the middle. Then after a base hit by Bree Kohler, the Penguins had two runners on, including one on third base, with one out. But Leila Staszak grounded into a 4-3 double play to end the inning.

In the fifth, Bella Meyer started things off by blasting a double into left-center field. A sacrifice bunt by Lydia Wilkerson then advanced Meyer to third. But Emma Gilkerson flew out to Green Bay shortstop Sara Ebner and Turner grounded out to Ebner in consecutive at-bats.

The loss drops YSU into the elimination bracket, where it will face the winner of Thursday’s late game at noon on Friday in a win-or-go home showdown.

“The way you just have to go about it is work to play on Saturday,” Campbell said. “I think the biggest thing, as far as just moving forward in tournaments, is you have to have a short memory and go onto the next one. We’re not out of it. So you gotta step back and be able to go out tomorrow. It’s a new day. Work on finding your way through the process and work on scoring those runs that you got opportunities to do.”