Photo by: Joseph Craven
Raidergang earns preseason accolades from D1Baseball
2/3/2022 1:00:00 PM | Baseball
The Wright State baseball program has been projected to win the Horizon League in D1Baseball.com's preseason outlook. Additionally, sophomore catcher Sammy Sass was listed as preseason Player of the Year, while freshman outfielder Andrew Patrick earned preseason Freshman of the Year.Â
The Raiders are coming off a 35-13 campaign in 2021, winning the Horizon League regular season and tournament championships en route to a berth in the Knoxville Regional. WSU's 28 Horizon League wins reset the standard for the most conference wins all-time in single-season Raider history, while the Knoxville Regional appearance marked their fourth regional appearance in the past six seasons. Wright State also led the NCAA in batting average (.339), on-base percentage (.447), slugging (.579), runs per game (10.5), and doubles per game (2.71).Â
Despite losing three players to the Major League Baseball draft and another two to MLB free agent contracts, the Raiders return a bevy of talent, including all-conference selections Sass, Alec Sayre, Zane Harris, and Jake Shirk.Â
A year ago, Sass hit .362 overall with 12 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs, 60 runs batted in, and 45 runs scored. He had 17 multi-RBI games and 15 multi-hit games. Most notably, Sass ranked third nationally in RBI per game (1.36).Â
Sayre recorded a .383 batting average with nine doubles, two triples, eight homers, 40 RBI with 40 runs a season ago, tallying 14 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games. Harris had a strong 2021 campaign by hitting .347 with 14 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 55 RBI, and 32 runs. He averaged 1.31 RBI per game, good for 10th in the country. Â
Shirk headlines WSU's returning pitchers, as he went 7-0 in relief with a 2.01 earned run average in 22.1 innings of work. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native allowed just five earned runs while holding opponents to a .244 batting average against him.
D1Baseball also listed several Raiders as top MLB prospects in the Horizon League. Logan Tabeling was named the number one prospect for the 2022 MLB Draft, followed by Sayre in the second spot. Aaron Ernst and Sass were selected as the fourth and fifth top prospects in the draft. For the 2023 MLB Draft, Justin Hornschemeier, Luke Arnold, Shirk, and Avery Fisher earned second through fifth in D1baseball's list. Patrick, Josh Laisure, and Ty Roder were listed as impact freshmen for the upcoming season.Â
The Raiders are coming off a 35-13 campaign in 2021, winning the Horizon League regular season and tournament championships en route to a berth in the Knoxville Regional. WSU's 28 Horizon League wins reset the standard for the most conference wins all-time in single-season Raider history, while the Knoxville Regional appearance marked their fourth regional appearance in the past six seasons. Wright State also led the NCAA in batting average (.339), on-base percentage (.447), slugging (.579), runs per game (10.5), and doubles per game (2.71).Â
Despite losing three players to the Major League Baseball draft and another two to MLB free agent contracts, the Raiders return a bevy of talent, including all-conference selections Sass, Alec Sayre, Zane Harris, and Jake Shirk.Â
A year ago, Sass hit .362 overall with 12 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs, 60 runs batted in, and 45 runs scored. He had 17 multi-RBI games and 15 multi-hit games. Most notably, Sass ranked third nationally in RBI per game (1.36).Â
Sayre recorded a .383 batting average with nine doubles, two triples, eight homers, 40 RBI with 40 runs a season ago, tallying 14 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games. Harris had a strong 2021 campaign by hitting .347 with 14 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 55 RBI, and 32 runs. He averaged 1.31 RBI per game, good for 10th in the country. Â
Shirk headlines WSU's returning pitchers, as he went 7-0 in relief with a 2.01 earned run average in 22.1 innings of work. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native allowed just five earned runs while holding opponents to a .244 batting average against him.
D1Baseball also listed several Raiders as top MLB prospects in the Horizon League. Logan Tabeling was named the number one prospect for the 2022 MLB Draft, followed by Sayre in the second spot. Aaron Ernst and Sass were selected as the fourth and fifth top prospects in the draft. For the 2023 MLB Draft, Justin Hornschemeier, Luke Arnold, Shirk, and Avery Fisher earned second through fifth in D1baseball's list. Patrick, Josh Laisure, and Ty Roder were listed as impact freshmen for the upcoming season.Â
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