Youngstown State baseball players Gary Clift Jr., Steven D'Eusanio and Collin Floyd were each recognized by D1Baseball.com in the website's 2020 Horizon League Conference Wrap.
Clift Jr. was named the league's Best Senior, D'Eusanio was named Breakout Player and Floyd was named Most Impressive Pitcher. In addition, the Penguins were recognized as the league's Most Surprising Team.
YSU was off to its best start since 2010 at 7-7 before the 2020 season ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Penguins won three of their first four weekend series and a midweek contest at ACC member Pitt. YSU won two out of three games at preseason No. 35 Houston on opening weekend to begin the season 2-1 for the first time since 2001. The Penguins finished the shortened campaign ranked No. 92 in the RPI after ranking No. 278 at the end of the 2019 season. Youngstown State had the most wins and the best winning percentage in the Horizon League when the season came to an end.
Clift Jr. quickly became one of the most valuable arms in the Horizon League and a major weapon at the back end of YSU's bullpen in 2020. He went 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA, two saves and 10 strikeouts while allowing only three hits over 9.2 innings in six relief appearances. The senior, who had only thrown 13.1 career innings before this season due to injuries, surrendered only two hits and no runs over his final five outings. Clift Jr. led the Horizon League with his two saves and opponents batted .094 against him. The right-hander earned the win in YSU's 6-3 victory at Houston on Feb. 15 after recording career highs of 3.1 innings pitched and six strikeouts.
D'Eusanio established himself as a major force in the middle of the Penguins' lineup in 2020. He batted .291 while leading YSU with 16 hits, four home runs, 10 RBIs, 10 runs scored, 30 total bases and a .545 slugging percentage. He also led the Horizon League in home runs while ranking in the top five in runs scored, RBIs and slugging percentage. The sophomore went 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs in the Penguins' 6-3 extra-inning win over Houston on Feb. 15. D'Eusanio hit a two-run inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning before hitting the go-ahead, three-run blast in the top of the 11th. He recorded at least one hit in 10 of YSU's 14 games, and he had multiple hits on five occasions.
After missing all of 2019 with an injury, Floyd got right back to his dominating ways on the mound. He ranked second in the Horizon League with 25 strikeouts and third with 23 innings pitched over four starts. He went 2-1 with a 2.74 ERA and opponents batted just .159 against him. The senior went 2-0 while allowing one run on four hits and fanning 14 batters in 12 innings over his final two outings. Floyd was named Horizon League Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 17 after helping the Penguins to a 6-3 win at Houston on Feb 15. Floyd allowed two runs on a pair of solo homers while striking out seven and walking none over seven innings in his first start since May 5, 2018. He retired 18 of the first 20 hitters he faced and 21 of 24 overall while sitting down the Cougars in order in four different frames.
