Raiders close out regular season at home this weekend

Friday, May 14

Dayton, OH

3:00 PM

Wright State University

Oakland

Photo by: Abbi Pritchard

5/13/2021 2:30:00 PM | Baseball

Live Stats (All Games)Friday Game 1 ESPN3 Link Saturday Game 1 ESPN3 Link

THE SERIES
Teams: Wright State (25-11, 24-4 HL)
Oakland (15-24,9-19 HL)
Location: Nischwitz Stadium / Dayton, OH

The Wright State baseball team wraps up Horizon League regular season play this weekend at home when the Raiders welcome Oakland to Nischwitz Stadium. The Raiders are coming off of a series win over Milwaukee, while Oakland won its series last weekend against Northern Kentucky and has won six of its last eight overall.

Due to anticipated weather on Sunday, the Raiders and Panthers will play a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday, with the opening game set for 3 p.m. on Friday and a 1 p.m. start on Saturday afternoon with the second games to follow both days.

Fans can follow the action with live stats for each game, while the first game on Friday and the first game on Saturday will be streamed on ESPN3. All links are available on the team's schedule page.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Game 1:
WSU: Jake Schrand, RHP, Jr.
OAK: Cooper Donlin, LHP, Fr.

Game 2:
WSU: Bradley Brehmer, RHP, So.
OAK: Andrew Hill, RHP, Sr.

Game 3:
WSU: Austin Cline, RHP, RSr.
OAK: Bryce Konitzer, RHP, Jr.

Game 4:
WSU: Alex Theis, LHP, RSo.
OAK: TBD

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State posted 52 runs in a series win over Milwaukee, tallying 20-plus runs in both of the Saturday contests. The first win on Saturday clinched the Horizon League regular season title. The Raiders hit .387 as a team with an .577 slugging percentage, totaling 13 doubles, three home runs and two triples as 10 different players drove in multiple RBI, paced by Sammy Sass' 10 RBI. On the mound, Wright State pitchers struck out 36 batters in 32 innings, allowing 18 runs(13 earned). Starters Jake Schrand and Austin Cline each tallied nine strikeouts in their wins.

OAKLAND OVERVIEW
Oakland is 15-24 overall and 9-19 in Horizon League play after taking three of four at home against Northern Kentucky last weekend. Oakland is 6-2 over the last two HL weekends against NKU and at Milwaukee, improving what had been a 3-17 League mark to that point.

REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS
With its game one victory on Saturday afternoon over Milwaukee, Wright State clinched the Horizon League regular season championship and the rights to host the 2021 tournament at Nischwitz Stadium later this month. Wright State has now captured the Horizon League regular season title for the third consecutive season (2018, 2019, 2021) and the fourth time in the last five years overall.

CHECKING THE LATEST TRENDS
Quincy Hamilton (reached base streak, 30 games) and Sammy Sass (16-game hitting streak) both saw their streaks snapped in the opening game of the Milwaukee series. Justin McConnell now has the longest active hitting streak (10 games) while Zane Harris has reached base in 16 consecutive contests, also the new longest active mark. Tyler Black has 16 multi hit games to pace the Raider offense, while he also has a team-leading seven three-hit games. Black has driven in multiple RBI in 14 contests to lead the team, followed by 13 multi-RBI games from Zane Harris and 12 from Hamilton.

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Entering the weekend series, Wright State leads the country in five national categories: Batting Average (.334), On-Base Percentage (.441), Slugging Percentage (.570), Doubles per Game (2.72), and Scoring (10.4 per). The Raiders' 376 total runs is No. 3 nationally, while their 98 total doubles is No. 8 and also their 1.61 home runs per game average is No. 8 nationally. Wright State's strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3.39, which is also No. 8 nationally.

RAIDERGANG RETIRES MATHILE'S JERSEY
Former Wright State standout Mike Mathile became the fourth Raider to have his number retired, as he was honored in a ceremony at Nischwitz Stadium between games of the doubleheader on May 8, joining fellow Raider pitchers Joe Smith (No. 21) and Brian Anderson (No. 34), along with legendary head coach Ron Nischwitz. Mathile, who pitched for the Raiders from 1988-1990, helped lead Wright State to a 114-48 overall record and left Wright State inside the Top Five in several statistical categories. Over 30 years later, Mathile remains in the Top 10 in many categories, including: career wins (25), career complete games (24), career strikeouts (203) and career ERA (2.73). After his junior season, he entered the MLB Draft, where he was selected in the third round by the Montreal Expos. Mathile advanced to as high as Triple A before his career was cut short.

SCHRAND NAMED HL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Jake Schrand was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week on May 11 after he struck out nine Milwaukee batters and scattered six hits and did not walk a batter while not allowing a run. His most impressive inning came early on in the second frame. After back-to-back hits to open the inning put Milwaukee runners on second and third with no outs, Schrand struck out the side, including a pair looking, to get out of the jam and leave the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the second, when the Raiders would find the scoreboard.