Box Score The Wright State baseball team won the opening game of the Joe Nuxhall Classic Tuesday, defeating Miami 7-3 at Cincinnati's Marge Schott Stadium.
The RedHawks scored an unearned run in the first, but that turned out to be the only run given up by Raider starter Jeremy Randolph (5-0) in his five innings of work as the freshman righthander scattered four hits and did not walk a batter while striking out five.
WSU took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the second. With one out, Ryan Fucci reached on an infield single and went to second as Gabe Snyder was hit by a pitch. After both completed a double steal, Matt Morrow walked to load the bases and a John Brodner hit plated Fucci to tie the game. Brad Macciocchi's ground out then drove in Snyder with the second run.
A Sean Murphy RBI single to left made it 3-1 in the fifth and Wright State added two more in the sixth as after Snyder singled and Morrow double, a Brodner fielder's choice knocked in Snyder and a Mitch Roman drove in Morrow.
Miami cut the deficit to 5-2 with a run in the eighth, only to see the Raiders answer with two in the ninth as Mark Fowler singled in Andrew McCafferty and later scored on a Murphy grounder.
The RedHawks had a solo home run in the ninth, but Jack Van Horn still earned his third save of the season as he pitched the final 3.1 innings, striking out four.
Wright State (23-10) faces Cincinnati (12-22), a 4-0 winner over Xavier in Tuesday's second game, in the championship Wednesday at 7:00. The Raiders will be looking for their third Joe Nuxhall Classic title, having won it previously in 2012 and 2013.
