Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Wright State baseball team picked up two key victories in its quest for winning the Horizon League regular-season title Saturday at Nischwitz Stadium, sweeping Cleveland State by scores of 6-2 and 10-9.
In the first game, the Raiders drew first blood thanks to a solo home run by Casey McGrew in the third, his fifth of the season.
The WSU offense then went on a scoring tear in the bottom of the fourth as they brought five runs across the plate on five hits and two walks. Gerald Ogrinc. The bases were then loaded when Kyle Mossbarger went to first on a walk.
Aaron Fields drove in the first run of the inning by hitting a ground ball to first to bring in Gray. The next batter, Dan Marsh, cleared the bases with a double that scored Ogrinc and Mossbarger to give the Raiders a 4-0 lead. Wright State rounded out scoring with an RBI single by R.J Grundolf that plated Marsh and a single by Jake Hibberd drove in Gundolff to give the Raiders a 6-0 advantage.
The six runs by Wright State was more than enough run support for Alex Kaminsky, who earned the complete-game victory. Kamisky allowed just two runs on four hits and struck out 13 in nine innings of work.
The opener saw Gray's hitting streak end at 28 games as he went 0 for 3 with a run scored.
The second game was a back and forth battle with the lead changing hands five times.
The Vikings were the first to strike in the second game, scoring twice in the top of the first. Wright State, though, answered back in the bottom half of the third with three runs to take a 3-2 lead. Mossbarger and Marsh each singled before Gundolff hit a three-run home run to give WSU the lead.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Cleveland State tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth. CSU's Josh Lowe led the inning off with a double and scored on an RBI double by Chuck Gasti.
The Raiders regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs and two on, Hibberd hit a two-run single to give Wright State a 5-3 lead. That lead was then extended in the sixth when WSU made the score 8-3 thanks to an RBI single by Fields and a two-run triple by Marsh.
Back came CSU as the Vikings scored four in the seventh and two more in the eight to go up 9-8, but the Raiders had one last surge in the ninth to capture the victory. Fields and Marsh each reached base and Fields scored on an RBI single by McGrew to tie the game at 9-9. With two on and nobody out the Vikings intentionally walked Gundolff to load the bases and Hibberd followed with a chopper up the middle to score Marsh and give WSU the win.
Greg Robinson (5-1) was credited with the win as he pitched the final inning and didn't allow a run. During the win, McGrew set a new Wright State record by hitting his 56th career double.
Wright State (27-20, 15-6 Horizon) will finish up their league schedule on Sunday with a doubleheader against Youngstown State at 1 p.m. at Nischwitz Stadium.