Baseball opens conference season against Oakland

Friday, March 18

Dayton, OH

11 AM

Wright State University

Oakland

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3/17/2022 2:30:00 PM | Baseball

DAYTON — The Wright State baseball program opens its Horizon League portion of the season with a three-game series against Oakland from March 18-20 at Nischwitz Stadium. Saturday's and Sunday's games will stream on ESPN+. Live stats will be available for the entirety of the series.

Game 1 - Friday, March 18 - 11 a.m. - Tickets - Listen - Live Stats
WSU RHP Aaron Ernst (1-1, 11.12 ERA, 11.1 IP)
OU RHP Bryce Konitzer (0-1, 4.82 ERA, 9.1 IP)

Game 2 - Friday, March 19 - 2 p.m. - Tickets - Watch - Live Stats
WSU RHP Jake Shirk (0-3, 9.18 ERA, 16.2 IP)
OU LHP Chas Sagedahl (1-2, 9.18 ERA, 16.2 IP)

Game 3 - Sunday, March 20 - 1 p.m. - Tickets - Watch - Live Stats
WSU LHP Sebastian Gongora (0-1, 9.18 ERA, 16.2 IP)
OU RHP Jacob Wosinski (1-2, 4.67 ERA, 17.1 IP)

LAST TIME OUT
The Raiders won in walk-off fashion for the second game in a row, dropping Xavier 2-1 in 10 innings on Wednesday afternoon. After relief pitcher Jay Luikart tossed a scoreless 10th inning, WSU loaded the bases with three walks in the bottom half of the frame. Sammy Sass reached home for the game-winning run on a wild pitch with two outs.

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

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. WSU is off to a 4-1 start in home games this season, highlighted by a pair of walk-off wins. Since 2014, WSU has boasted a combined 150-27 (.846) record at home.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland is 4-10 overall under the direction of second-year head coach Jordon Banfield. The Golden Grizzlies opened the 2022 campaign with a series win at CSU Bakersfield and added victories against Marshall and NAIA Rochester. OU sits second in the Horizon League in home runs (11) and walks (65) while also ranking third in stolen bases (21) and on-base percentage (.349).

Outfielder Seth Tucker leads the team with a .342 batting average and eight steals. Ian Cleary has belted a team-leading four home runs with 10 RBI. OU's pitching staff has a combined 6.67 ERA. Projected Sunday starting pitcher Jacob Wosinski is 1-2 with a 4.67 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 17.1 innings of work. Right-hander Brett Hagen has recorded a team-high two quality starts.

HISTORY VS. OAKLAND
The Raiders hold a 43-9 advantage in the all-time series, which includes an active eight-game winning streak. WSU collected a four-game sweep over the Golden Grizzlies a year ago, outscoring OU by a combined score of 45-17. In 2019, Wright State finished close to its school record for runs in a game (32) by plastering Oakland 28-10 (5/16/19). Zach Weatherford exploded for nine RBI on three extra-base hits, including two home runs in the win. Zane Harris went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI while Justin McConnell singled twice.

BATS HEATING UP
WSU has averaged 6.25 runs over its last eight games, highlighted by double-digit scoring outputs against Virginia Tech (3/4), Dayton (3/8), and Indiana State (3/13). Alec Sayre (.387), Greenwell (.323), Sass (.323), McConnell (.310), Justin Riemer (.308), and Gehrig Anglin (.300) have batted above .300 in the span.

HAVE A WEEK, SAYRE
Sayre earned Horizon League Batter of the Week for the third time in his career after batting .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 third in the Horizon League with a .362 batting average. He also sits second in the conference in hits (21) and third in doubles (6).

VETERAN POWER
Anglin is tied for 34th nationally with a conference-leading six home runs. The redshirt junior has homered in five of his last nine games and has reached base in 13 out of 14 games this season. He entered the 2022 campaign with three homers in 178 career at-bats. This season, the St. Clair, Mich., native has slugged his six homers in just 48 at-bats.

BALL MAGNET
Greenwell was plunked in four consecutive plate appearances at Georgia Tech and five times overall in the season-opening series. To date, Greenwell ranks eighth nationally in hit by pitch per game (0.64) and ninth in total hit by pitch (9). Wright State ranks second in the Horizon League in HBP (18) as a team.

CONSISTENT OUT OF PEN
Junior reliever Tristan Haught is off to a strong start with a team-best 2.61 ERA in 10.1 innings of work out of the bullpen. The right-hander has recorded five scoreless outings, most recently against Xavier.

FINDING A GROOVE
In WSU's series opener versus Indiana State, 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.

NO FREE BASES
Garret Simpson ranks 15th nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (0.64). The sophomore has allowed just one walk over 15.1 innings pitched.

NEWCOMERS SHOWING OUT
Drew Baker is batting .364 with three doubles and three RBI in limited action. He doubled twice in his first career start against Xavier. Riemer has tallied six hits and four runs in 11 games, including five starts in the infield. Over Chris Gallagher's last four appearances, he has recorded a 1.59 ERA with nine strikeouts.

"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 88-48 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.