Raiders begin HL Championship play Thursday morning against Milwaukee

Thursday, May 27

Dayton, OH

11:00 AM

Wright State University

Milwaukee

Photo by: Abbi Pritchard

Raiders begin HL Championship play Thursday morning against Milwaukee

5/26/2021 1:15:00 PM | Baseball

ESPN+ Link (Wright State-Milwaukee)Live Stats (All Games)Horizon League Tournament Central Head Coach Alex Sogard - Championship Preview

THE TEAMS
Teams: No. 1 Wright State (32-11)
No. 2 UIC (29-16)
No. 3 Youngstown State (32-22)
No. 4 Milwaukee (20-31)
Location: Nischwitz Stadium / Dayton, OH

The Wright State baseball team begins its postseason run on Thursday morning as the top-seeded Raiders take on No. 4 Milwaukee in the opening game of the 2021 Horizon League Championship. Wright State captured the HL regular season title for the third consecutive season (2018, 2019, 2021) and the fourth time in the last five years overall to earn hosting duties for the tournament at Nischwitz Stadium. The Raiders are 32-11 overall this season, while Milwaukee was 20-31 during the regular season.

No. 2 seed UIC and No. 3 Youngstown State meet in the second game of the tournament at 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The winners from games one and two on Thursday will advance to face each other at 12 p.m. on Friday, while game one and two losers will face off in an elimination game Thursday night.

Tickets are available for purchase, with all purchases to be made at the gate at Nischwitz Stadium. All-Tournament Passes can be purchased for $25, while Day Passes are $10. Horizon League students with their ID cards and children under five years old are admitted free. Spectators should stay in their family grouping and maintain social distancing. Fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask outdoors. The university strongly recommends that unvaccinated people wear masks when they cannot maintain safe distancing from others.

All games of the 2021 Horizon League Championship will be streamed on ESPN+, while fans can follow the action with live stats for each game. All links are available on the team's schedule page.

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State posted 27 runs in a three-game series win over visiting Charleston in a late series added to keep the Raiders sharp for this weekend's Horizon League Championship. The Raiders hit .271 as a team with an .469 slugging percentage, totaling eight doubles, three home runs and one triple as seven different players drove in multiple RBI, paced by Sammy Sass' eight RBI. On the mound, Wright State pitchers struck out 23 batters in 27 innings, allowing seven runs (seven earned). The Raiders had 15 different pitchers see action in the series in preparation for the HL Championships.

HAMILTON NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Quincy Hamilton earned Horizon League Player of the Year honors on Tuesday afternoon, marking the third straight awards season that Wright State has captured HL Player of the Year honors, following Peyton Burdick in 2019 and Gabe Snyder in 2018. Awards were not presented due to COVID-19 and the cancellation of the 2020 season. Wright State has won eight Player of the Year honors overall, all since the 2007 season. Hamilton hit for a .358 overall average with 17 doubles, two triples, 12 home runs and 53 RBI with 70 runs scored, with his batting average improving to .412 in Horizon League contests.

CHECKING THE LATEST TRENDS
Entering the postseason, Alex Alders' 10-game hitting streak is the longest active mark on the Raider roster, followed by Alec Sayre's nine-game hitting streak. Sayre previously had a 13-game hitting streak during the season, while Sammy Sass had a 16-game hitting streak, the longest on the roster this season, snapped in the Milwaukee series late in the regular season. Justin McConnell had an 11-game streak earlier in the season as well. Damon Dues has reached base in 19 straight games, with Justin McConnell having reached in 18 straight games. Sammy Sass, Tyler Black and Alex Alders have all reached in 10 consecutive games. Quincy Hamilton had his 30-game reached base streak snapped in the Milwaukee series, while 10 different Raiders have had reached base streaks of 10 or more games at some point during the season. Damon Dues and Tyler Black have both tallied 19 multi-hit games to pae the offense, followed by Hamilton (16), Sass & Alders (14 each). Tyler Black, Sammy Sass and Zane Harris all have 15 multi-RBI games to lead the team, while Hamilton (14) and Sayre (10) are also in double digits.

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Entering the postseason, Wright State leads the country in five national categories: Batting Average (.336), On-Base Percentage (.446), Slugging Percentage (.567), Doubles per Game (2.70), and Scoring (10.4 per). The Raiders' 448 total runs is No. 2 nationally, while their 116 total doubles is No. 4. Wright State's 284 total drawn walks is No. 7 nationally, while the pitching staff's strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3.21, which is also No. 10 nationally.

HL AWARDS SEASON
Wright State received 11 Horizon League honors, the league office announced Tuesday, headlined by Quincy Hamilton earning Player of the Year honors and head coach Alex Sogard winning his second straight Coach of the Year award. In addition to the major awards, the Raiders placed five players on the All-League First Team, with Tyler Black, Austin Cline, Sammy Sass and Alec Sayre joining Hamilton. Three Raiders – Bradley Brehmer, Damon Dues and Zane Harris – earned Second Team honors, while Jake Shirk earned All-Freshman Team honors. (All-Freshman eligibility was limited to those players using their first year of collegiate eligibility in 2021.)

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
No. 2 UIC
UIC enters the postseason with a 29-16 overall record and a 28-11 HL record, while Youngstown State is 32-22 overall with a 24-16 mark in the Horizon. UIC has won 11 straight games and 19 of its last 20 overall. UIC and Youngstown State split their eight regular season meetings, with each side winning three of four games at its home park.
No. 3 YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Youngstown State has won eight of its last 10 games, including taking three of four at home against Milwaukee to close the regular season. UIC and Youngstown State split their eight regular season meetings, with each side winning three of four games at its home park.
No. 4 MILWAUKEE
Milwaukee enters the HL Championship as the No. 4 seed with a 20-31 overall record and had a 17-23 mark in Horizon League play. Milwaukee lost three of four this weekend at Youngstown State, and has lost seven of its last 10 overall. The Raiders and Panthers met once during the regular season, with Wright State taking three of four games on May 7 and 8 while outscoring Milwaukee 57-18 in the series.