Baseball Surrenders Late Lead, Falls 10-9 to Xavier at Joe Nuxhall Classic

Wednesday, April 15

Cincinnati, OH

3:00 PM

Wright State University

16-20

Xavier

18-13

Wright State

Xavier

Baseball Surrenders Late Lead, Falls 10-9 to Xavier at Joe Nuxhall Classic

4/15/2009 12:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: WSU Athletic Media Relations

The Wright State baseball team trailed by five runs twice against Xavier in the championship game of the Joe Nuxhall Classic hosted by the University of Cincinnati, but rallied to take a one run lead into the bottom of the eighth. The Raiders bullpen couldn't hold the lead as XU tallied two runs in the eighth to claim a 10-9 victory at Marge Schott Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Xavier got on the board with a run in the opening frame off of WSU starting pitcher Tyler Newhart and added four more runs in the third to end Newhart's outing.

WSU would tally their first runs of the contest in the fourth inning as Quentin Cate scored the first run when Gerald Ogrinc doubled and Tristan Moore walked, before Aaron Fields would slice a ball down the left field line to score two more and pull the Raiders close at 5-3.

Three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth off of Wright State reliever Casey Henn would extend the XU lead back to five runs at 8-3.

The Green and Gold would add two runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings to claim their first lead of the game at 9-8. Quentin Cate smacked his fifth home run of the season - a two run shot – in the eighth to give WSU a 9-8 lead.

Michael Meintel stood to be the winning pitcher as he tossed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The sophomore struck out four batters and allowed only two singles in the outing.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Musketeers would mount a rally when reliever Greg Robinson allowed a pair of singles to start the frame and Jordan Wolfe surrendered an RBI single that brought home the tying run. Michael Schum came on and retired the next three batters, but not before the go-ahead run would score, giving Xavier a 10-9 lead.

The Raiders would go in order in the ninth inning as they stranded 13 base runners in the contest, outhitting the Musketeers 16-12 in the contest.

Cate collected his second-straight three-hit contest, driving in two RBI's and scoring three times. Mercer added three hits of his own and scored three times, while Fields was three-for-five with a pair of RBI's in the game. Kory Twede and Jake Hibberd each chipped in two hits in the loss, with seven of the ninth starters collecting hits in the ballgame.

Wright State drops to 16-20 overall and will continue their road trip this weekend as they head to Valparaiso for a Horizon League series. The Raiders and Crusaders will play a single game on Friday, April 17, starting 3:00 before wrapping up play on Saturday, April 18, with a doubleheader at Noon.