After dropping the opener to Ole Miss 10-1 on Friday, the Raiders responded in a major way on Saturday afternoon, defeating the 10^th ranked team in the nation 9-5.
 
The Raiders have historically used early-season games to post wins over ranked teams such as winning at #4 South Carolina and #10 Clemson two seasons ago and #8 North Carolina State and Georgia in 2016.  Last season, WSU won at #20 Louisiana 8-2 and 4-3 as well as at Sam Houston State, which was receiving votes, 10-6.
 
1^st Inning
JD Orr got on base by way of an Ole Miss error, and Zach Weatherford brought him home on an infield single. Zane Collins worked around a couple of Rebel baserunners and struck out two batters in the process of recording a scoreless first inning.
 
3^RD Inning
After Collins used a double play to face the minimum in the second, the Wright State offense came alive. Peyton Burdick drew a full-count walk, Zane Harris singled, and Weatherford also drew a walk to load the bases. Seth Gray sent a ball to the gap in right for a two-RBI double. Chase Slone sent a successful sac fly right to score Weatherford, and Kyle Casserly sent a double towards left to score the fourth run of the inning and to give the Raiders an early 5-0 lead.
 
4^th Inning
Wright State picked up where they left off in the 3^rd and scored three more runs, extending their lead to 8-0. Orr walked to begin the inning, and Burdick, Harris, and Gray all singled. Gray's hit scored two runs, giving him 4 RBI on the day. Slone recorded RBIs in consecutive innings via a double to left. In the home half, Collins set the Rebels down in order.
 
5^th Inning
The Rebels cut the Raider lead to five after their third home run in two days. Collins (1-0) concluded both the inning and his season debut with his sixth strikeout of the game.
 
9^th Inning
Ole Miss added a run in both the 6^th and 8^th innings to draw within three runs of Wright State. The Raiders added a big insurance run in the top half. Casserly took the first pitch he saw back up the middle for a single which scored Zach Weatherford for his third run of the afternoon. In the bottom of the 9^th, the Rebels threatened, loading the bases on two walks and a hit batter, sending the tying run to the plate. Daniel Kreuzer entered the game to record the final out and did just that, getting a groundout to the first base side to end the game. The Raiders will conclude their series with Ole Miss tomorrow at 1 PM ET.

Sogard Said
"Zane Collins was outstanding today, he gave us a great start and opportunity for our offense to put up some runs early." Sogard, who recorded his first win as a Raider head coach added, "We had a lot of tough quality at-bats throughout the whole lineup and took advantage of their mistakes. I'm really proud of our guys, everyone contributed, making it a great team win."