Correspondent file photos / Robert Hayes and David Dermer. YSU freshmen Sarah Baker (left), Sophia Gregory (top-right) and Erica King (bottom-right) play in games this season against Clarion and Milwaukee.

YOUNGSTOWN — When Youngstown State head coach Melissa Jackson took over the program in March, it was a restart in more ways than one for the Penguins.

YSU entered the season with an almost entirely new roster, but the six true freshmen that joined the program this past summer have contributed and made an impact in a variety of ways at different times so far this year.

“First and foremost, they’re workers and they love the game of basketball — the whole freshman class,” Jackson said. “I knew that when I recruited them and when I re-recruited them here when I got the job. Getting to know them, they just love being in the gym. They love the game, and they want to get better. They’re very talented, but they’ve also really risen to the opportunities that they’ve been given.”

At the forefront of the freshmen class has been Sarah Baker, who has already been named Horizon League Freshman of the Week three times this year.

“It means a lot since I hadn’t really had many expectations coming here,” Baker said. “It’s really cool to get Freshman of the Week that many times because I don’t really see myself that way usually.”

Baker, along with fellow freshman Danielle Cameron, has made the transition to college basketball seamlessly. Baker is third on the team in scoring, averaging 7.3 points and 5.6 boards per game. After scoring 13 points against Towson, she had her breakout game against Milwaukee last week, putting up 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

“Sarah came in right away and was ready for college basketball, as well as Dani Cameron,” Jackson said. “Dani shined in our closed scrimmages against two really high-level opponents. So those two were ready to go from the jump.”

However, Baker suffered a lower body injury against the Panthers and Jackson said Thursday that Baker would be out indefinitely. It’s the latest injury to hit the Penguins this season after Cameron and Ashlynn Van Tassell saw their freshman campaigns derailed by season-ending injuries.

“It’s definitely frustrating, especially coming off the game that I had against Milwaukee,” Baker said. “But I’m just going to keep on trying to do what I can do so I can get back as quickly as possible and help the team. But for now, I’ll just support from the sidelines.”

As YSU’s roster has been increasingly affected by those injuries, the Penguins have needed the rest of the freshmen to step up.

Erica King was thrust into the spotlight when she made her first career start at Xavier on Nov. 26. She started for injured fifth-year guard Malia Magestro, who would end up missing the next four games.

“It was definitely very unexpected,” King said. “I never expected to start, especially as a freshman. But I felt like I was ready because my coaches believed in me and my teammates believed in me.”

In that time, King played out of position. She normally backs up Jewel Watkins at the No. 3 spot, yet she was called upon to fill Magestro’s No. 2 position at shooting guard.

But the more she’s been on the floor, the more King has started to figure things out.

So far, she’s averaging 5.7 points per game and had an 11-point outing in the second game she started against Southern Indiana at the Puerto Rico Clasico. She then had a standout performance in YSU’s conference-opening win over Milwaukee, scoring 16 points in 39 minutes of action.

“I’ve just grown with confidence and just making sure I do everything with confidence,” King said. “I’m playing hard, because at the end of it, I mess up a lot, I can admit. But I just play hard through it, and hope that my coaches see that I’m playing hard.”

It’s taken her a little bit longer to find her groove, but West Branch product Sophia Gregory has started to come along for the Penguins.

Despite being 6-foot-2, Gregory played point guard in high school during her time with the Warriors. Since arriving at the college level, she’s had to adjust to playing strictly in the post.

“It’s been pretty hard actually — lots of ups and downs, mentally and physically,” Gregory said. “Just trying to understand the difference, and then get out of my old habits and get into new habits, while just learning a completely different style of play.”

For the first few games, most of Gregory’s impact came on the glass, as she’s averaged 6.9 boards per game while averaging 14.7 minutes per game. But in YSU’s most recent game at Northern Kentucky, Gregory put together her best performance yet — she recorded her first career double-double at the collegiate level with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

“I didn’t actually know I had it at first, but then once I found out, it was pretty exciting,” Gregory said. “I also don’t want to celebrate it too much because I don’t want it to get to my head. But having my family there and all my coaches to celebrate was pretty awesome.”

In that game, the Penguins dominated in the post. Both Gregory and junior forward Faith Burch posted double-doubles in the same game, which was a first for YSU in five seasons.

Burch has been a role model and mentor of sorts for both freshmen post players, Baker and Gregory. As a veteran of the college game from her time at Cleveland State, Burch has helped the two of them make the adjustment to college basketball.

“She’s really good at seeing whenever we’re struggling — coming up to us and giving us some advice, (telling us) we ‘deserve to be here,'” Baker said. “This is a lot, and she’s been through this before. She’s been through this before, so it makes sense that we’re still trying to wrap our heads around things. Whenever we do need something, she’s really willing (to help). We can just come up to her and ask her, whether it be school, life or basketball. So she’s definitely helped a lot.”

Among YSU’s other freshmen, Hayden Barrier and redshirt freshman Dacia Lewandowski have seen an uptick in their minutes in recent games as the injuries have taken their toll.

Barrier saw her first career minutes during the Penguins’ two games in Puerto Rico, while Lewandowski has seen action in seven games as she continues to progress back from the injury that caused her to miss her true freshman season at Akron last year.

“You’ve seen Erica and Sophia come on as they’ve gotten better,” Jackson said. “I think Hayden Barrier has had really good practices. Dacia has also had really good practices.

“So you’re going to see this group continue to get better and better as the season goes along. … Could not be happier with how that group, collectively, has come together both on and off the court. They have an unbelievable chemistry about them, which I think is unique in this day and age. They are the best teammates for each other, and they celebrate each other, but they also push each other to be better.”