Box Score The Wright State baseball team dropped their fourth straight game on Friday evening at Washington State. The Raiders took the lead early in the game, but an eight-run third inning proved to be the difference in the 13-4 loss at Bailey-Brayton Field.
The Raiders jumped out to an early lead for the fourth straight game as Jeff Mercer smacked a two-run home run. It was the first home run for Mercer in a Wright State uniform and gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead after one-half inning of play.
Washington State would tally one run in each of the first two innings on RBI hits from Jim Murphy and Simi Reynolds to tie the ball game at 2-2.
With two outs in the third inning, Mercer would strike again to push Wright State back into the lead. After a two-out walk to Brian Adams, Mercer sent the second pitch of the at-bat 355 feet over the left field fence for his second homer of the game. The blast gave WSU a 4-2 lead.
The Cougars (5-1) took the lead in the third inning as they tallied eight runs off of two Raider pitchers. In the inning Washington State collected eight hits, including three for extra bases, and took a 10-4 lead.
Rylan Ostrosky took over on the mound in the fourth inning and allowed one run in three innings of work. The junior struck out four and didn't walk a batter in his first outing of the season.
Jordan Wolfe threw the final two innings for the Raiders and struck out a game-high five batters. The sophomore surrendered two unearned runs, walked one and allowed two hit in his second outing of the season.
Washington State tacked on a run in the sixth and added a pair of runs in the eights to account for the final margin of 13-4.
In the contest, Mercer reached base in all four plate appearances, including two home runs, a double, two runs scored and four RBI's. Adams reached base twice and scored a pair of runs, while Gerald Ogrinc collected a pair of hits. John Kopilchack doubled to round out the offense for the Green and Gold in the series opener.
Wright State falls to 0-4 on the season and holds a 1-4 record on the 29th day of February with the loss at Washington State. The Raiders and Cougars will take to the field at 5:00 Dayton time for the second game of the series on Saturday, March 1.
