Baseball welcomes Xavier for Wednesday matchup

Wednesday, March 16

Dayton, OH

2 PM

Wright State University

Xavier

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3/15/2022 4:00:00 PM | Baseball

DAYTON — The Wright State baseball program hosts Xavier on Wednesday, March 16, at Nischwitz Stadium. The midweek tilt is slated for a 2 p.m. start. Fans can follow the action with radio and live stats.

Wednesday, March 16 - 2 p.m. - Tickets - Listen - Live Stats
Probable Starters:
WSU RHP Sam Wirsing (1-0, 4.15 ERA, 8.2 IP)
XU RHP Dorsey Chatham (0-0, 5.68 ERA, 6.1 IP)

LAST TIME OUT
Last week, the Raiders went 3-1 with a 14-0 shutout over Dayton and a series win against Indiana State. On Sunday, Julian Greenwell hit a walk-off RBI double, propelling the Raiders to a series-winning 11-10 victory over the Sycamores.

WSU hit .301 over the four-game stretch, averaging 8.25 runs per game. The Raiders continued to be aggressive on the base paths, going 10-for-11 on stolen-base attempts. ISU entered the weekend as one of the top offenses in the country but was held to three runs in the series opener, followed by six runs in game two.

GOOD TO BE HOME
A season ago, Wright State went 21-1 (.954) at Nischwitz Stadium, good for the highest home winning percentage in NCAA Division I. The Raiders were one of just eight D1 programs in the country to finish the year with a home winning streak of nine or more games. Since 2014, WSU has boasted a combined record of 149-27 (.846) at home.

BATS HEATING UP
WSU has averaged 6.85 runs over its last seven games, highlighted by double-digit scoring outputs against Virginia Tech (3/4), Dayton (3/8), and Indiana State (3/13). Alec Sayre (.429), Greenwell (.385), Justin McConnell (.360), Sammy Sass (.333), and Gehrig Anglin (.333) have batted above .300 in the span.

QUITE A WEEK
Sayre batted .563 (9-for-16) with three doubles, one home run, six RBI, and five runs scored over four games last week. The Dover, Ohio native slashed .563/.632/.938 and went 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts in the stretch. To add, he tallied two or more hits in all four games, including an extra-base hit in the last three. Defensively, Sayre recorded a perfect .1000 fielding percentage with seven putouts. The sophomore batted 3-for-4 at the plate on Sunday with two doubles and four RBI, sparking an 11-10 comeback win against the Sycamores.

On the season, Sayre ranks second in the Horizon League with a .382 batting average. To add, he sits atop the conference in hits (21) and is third in doubles (6).

VETERAN POWER
Anglin is tied for 27th nationally with a conference-leading six home runs. The redshirt junior has homered in five of his last eight games and has reached base in 12 out of 13 games this season. He entered the 2022 campaign with three homers in 178 career at-bats. The St. Clair, Mich., native has slugged his six homers in just 45 plate appearances this season.

BALL MAGNET
Greenwell was plunked in four consecutive plate appearances at Georgia Tech and five times overall in the season-opening series. Over the last seven games, the third-year sophomore has been hit on four occasions, increasing his total to eight. He was hit four times in 39 career games coming into the season. To date, Greenwell ranks fourth nationally in hit by pitch per game (0.69) and seventh in total hit by pitch (9). Wright State ranks second in the Horizon League in HBP (17) as a team.

QUICK ON THE BASES
WSU has stolen 20 bases in 13 games, good for the third-most among HL programs. Sayre and Andrew Patrick are each 4-for-4 on stolen-base attempts. The Raiders recorded a season-high six steals against Dayton, a feat they have only reached twice since 2020.

CONSISTENT OUT OF PEN
Junior reliever Tristan Haught is off to a strong start with a team-best 3.24 ERA in 8.1 innings of work out of the bullpen. The right-hander has recorded four scoreless outings, most recently against Indiana State on March 13.

FINDING A GROOVE
Last Thursday, Aaron Ernst earned his first quality start as a Raider by limiting the Sycamores to two runs on six hits and three walks in five innings. The senior recorded four strikeouts on the day and held ISU to no runs on no hits in his last two frames.

SCOUTING THE MUSKETEERS
Xavier is 5-11 overall under the guidance of fifth-year head coach Billy O'Connor. After starting the season 0-9, the Musketeers rattled off a five-game win streak, highlighted by wins at South Carolina and Coastal Carolina. Senior outfielder Luke Franzoni is batting .328 with one double, nine home runs, and 26 RBI. He ranks third nationally in home runs and 12th in RBI.

The Musketeers went 15-11 in conference play a year ago, advancing to the BIG EAST Championship series against UConn.

HISTORY VS. XAVIER
Wright State leads the all-time series 38-31. The Raiders won twice in three meetings against the Musketeers during the 2019 season. Sam Wirsing was the starting pitcher in both victories, allowing just one run while striking out 10 batters in a combined 11.1 innings. Zane Harris had one of his best games of the year in the WSU's 12-2 win against Xavier (4/10/19), batting 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI.

The teams will meet again on Tuesday, April 12, at Xavier. WSU has not lost at Xavier since 2018.

"POWER 5" DOMINANCE
After defeating Virginia Tech on March 4, Wright State has knocked off a "Power Five" conference program 19 times since 2014.

2/16/14 — vs. Michigan State (Neutral Site) — W, 7-1
3/1/14 — at #4 Oregon State — W, 6-2
2/22/15 - at #18 Ole Miss — W, 3-1
3/1/15 — at #11 Miami — W, 12-6
5/31/15 — vs. Notre Dame (NCAA Regional) — W, 4-0
2/26/16 — at #8 NC State — W, 10-8
3/5/16 — at Georgia — W, 3-1
6/5/16 — vs. #20 Ohio State (NCAA Regional) — W, 7-3
2/17/17 — at #10 Clemson — W, 6-4
2/19/17 — at #10 Clemson — W, 9-2
2/26/17 — at #4 South Carolina — W, 5-1
3/5/17 — vs. Pittsburgh (Neutral site) — W, 3-1
2/16/19 — at #10 Ole Miss — W, 9-5
2/24/19 — at #19 Oklahoma State — W, 5-4
4/3/19 — at Indiana — W, 15-4
2/19/20 — at #1 Louisville — W, 10-3
3/6/20 — at #11 Tennessee — W, 5-4
3/8/20 — at #11 Tennessee — W, 6-3
3/4/22 — at Virginia Tech — W, 11-5

PRESEASON ATTENTION
The Raiders were projected to win the Horizon League in the conference's annual preseason poll, collecting 42 points and six first-place votes, ahead of UIC in second with 35 points. WSU also topped the D1Baseball.com preseason poll, in addition to Sass tabbing preseason Player of the Year and Andrew Patrick earning preseason Freshman of the Year.

TOP PROSPECTS
D1Baseball listed several WSU players as top positional and overall prospects ahead of the 2022 season. A pair of returners in Logan Tabeling and Sayre were listed as top 250 prospects for the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft. Sass was ranked 17th among D1 catchers, while Sayre checked in as the 19th-best outfielder. A fifth-year senior in Zane Harris was listed as the No. 21 first baseman in the site's positional rankings.

RETURNING TALENT
Offensively, WSU returns eight players that appeared in over half of its games last season. The group includes all-conference selections Sass, Sayre, and Harris. The pitching staff features nine individuals who made eight or more appearances, led by Jake Shirk, who went 7-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 22.1 innings of work as a freshman.

COACHING SUCCESS
Alex Sogard, the seventh-youngest active head coach in Division I baseball, is 87-48 at the helm of the Raiders. Among fourth-year D1 coaches entering the season, he possessed the top winning percentage (.680), fewest losses, and third-most wins. Sogard collected 2021 ABCA/ATEC East Coach of the Year honors after guiding WSU to the 2021 Knoxville Regional. The Phoenix, Arizona, native led the Raiders to a 42-17 record in 2019, the most wins by a first-year head coach in program history. Wright State beat three ranked teams in 2019 and took down top-ranked Louisville in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign before going 35-13 in 2021 on the way to the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles. In June 2021, Sogard was named to the 2021 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team coaching staff.

LEADING THE NATION
Wright State led Division I baseball in the following statistical categories a season ago:

» Batting average (.339)
» Doubles per game (2.71)
» On-base percentage (.447)
» Scoring (10.5)
» Slugging percentage (.579)
» Quincy Hamilton - Bases on balls per game (1.17)
» Quincy Hamilton - Runs per game (1.62)

WSU TO THE MAJORS
Wright State saw three total players selected in Major League Baseball's 2021 first-year player draft, along with another two signing free agent contracts. The three selections, all inside the top 10 rounds, give the Raiders 16 total draftees over the last seven drafts dating back to 2015 and 40 total players in program history.