Baseball welcomes Youngstown State for three-game series

Friday, April 29

Dayton, OH

3 PM

Wright State University

Youngstown State

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Baseball welcomes Youngstown State for three-game series

4/28/2022 3:00:00 PM | Baseball

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DAYTON — The Wright State baseball program returns home for a three-game series against Youngstown State from April 29-31 at Nischwitz Stadium. WWSU 106.9 FM will broadcast Saturday's and Sunday's games, while live stats will be available for the entirety of the series.

Game 1 - Friday, April 29 - 3 p.m. - Tickets - Live Stats
WSU RHP Jake Shirk (4-4, 4.92 ERA, 53.0 IP)
YSU RHP Matt Brosky (4-5, 3.32 ERA, 62.1 IP)

Game 2 - Saturday, April 30 - 2 p.m. - Tickets - Listen - Live Stats
WSU LHP Sebastian Gongora (2-1, 7.83 ERA, 46.0 IP)
YSU RHP Travis Perry (2-1, 6.14 ERA, 44.0 IP)

Game 3 - Sunday, April 31 - 1 p.m. - Tickets - Listen - Live Stats
WSU LHP Alex Theis (3-0, 4.45 ERA, 32.1 IP)
YSU RHP Chad Coles (2-2, 6.44 ERA, 43.1 IP)

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State is coming off a 3-0 weekend in Horizon League play. The Raiders recorded back-to-back shutouts over Northern Kentucky at home by final scores of 3-0 and 8-0, respectively. Jake Shirk tossed a complete-game shutout in the opener, while Aaron Ernst, Tristan Haught, and Donnie Nicodemus blanked the Norse in game two. At UIC, WSU belted a season-high six home runs, including three by Avery Fisher, en route to an 11-10 comeback win over the Flames in 10 innings.

PITCHING EXCELLENCE
WSU collected back-to-back shutouts for the first time in seven seasons. The feat last occurred in 2016, when the Raiders defeated Dayton 1-0 and followed with a 14-0 victory against Eastern Michigan.

HERO OF THE GAME
Fisher had a career day in WSU's 11-10 comeback win at UIC, as he batted 3-for-4 with three homers, five RBI, three runs, and a hit by pitch. Fisher hit his third home run with two outs in the top of the ninth, a game-tying solo blast over the right-field wall. The Ontario, Ohio native became the third Horizon League player to reach three home runs in a game this season.

WIN NO. 100
Head coach Alex Sogard reached 100 career wins in Wright State's 8-0 win over NKU last weekend. Among fourth-year Division I coaches, Sogard entered the season with the top winning percentage (.680), fewest losses, and third-most wins.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS
The Raiders sit atop of the Horizon League standings with an 11-4 record. UIC (7-5) and Oakland (9-7) are both two games above .500 in conference play, while Youngstown State is in fourth at 8-8. Purdue Fort Wayne is close behind with a 9-10 HL record, followed by Northern Kentucky (7-11) and Milwaukee (4-10) in the bottom two spots. The regular-season champion will receive hosting rights for the upcoming Horizon League Championship.

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS
YSU is 15-26 overall under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Dan Bertolini. After starting HL play 3-6, the Penguins have won five of their last seven conference matchups, highlighted by a doubleheader sweep over Oakland.

Braeden O'Shaughnessy has paced the Penguins offensively, as he leads the team in batting average (.358), doubles (10), home runs (7), RBI (33), and runs scored (27). Padraig O'Shaughnessy tops the conference in walks with 39. The YSU pitching staff leads the HL in saves (9) while also ranking second in ERA (5.46) and strikeouts (305).

HISTORY VS. YSU
Wright State leads the all-time series 84-39, including a 44-19 record at home. WSU went 5-3 against the Penguins a year ago, highlighted by a four-game sweep at home. However, the Raiders endured their lone conference series loss to YSU later in the season, losing three out of four on the road. Over the eight-game stretch, Sammy Sass batted .393 with three doubles, one homer, and 12 RBI. Tyler Black blasted a team-leading five roundtrips in the span.

RUNS FOR DAYS
Wright State sits 53rd nationally with a conference-best 7.5 runs per game. Four of the top-six individual run-scorers in the HL sport the Green & Gold, led by Sass in first with 36 runs. The Raiders have pushed across 10-plus runs in eight of their last 19 games.

STAR IN THE MAKING
Alec Sayre is batting .345 with 12 doubles, six homers, 33 RBI, and 32 runs. He has totaled 15 multi-hit games, including eight three-hit performances. In WSU's 17-10 win at PFW (4/2), Sayre batted 3-for-6 with two homers and a career-high seven RBI. He blasted the game-winning home run in WSU's 11-10 victory at UIC.

HE GETS ON BASE
On the season, Julian Greenwell is batting .331 with 11 doubles, two triples, five home runs, and 32 RBI. He leads the conference in hit by pitch (14) while possessing top-five conference marks in on-base percentage (2nd, .482), OPS (2nd, 1.055), walks (4th, 24), RBI (5th), and runs (5th, 33).

VETERAN POWER
Gehrig Anglin leads the Horizon League with 11 home runs. The redshirt junior homered nine times in a 15-game span, starting at Oral Roberts (2/28) and ending against NKU (3/27). He entered the 2022 campaign with three homers in 178 career at-bats. The St. Clair, Mich., native has slugged 11 homers in just 134 at-bats this season.

In addition to home runs, Anglin sits fourth in the Horizon League in slugging percentage (.597) and hit by pitch (8).

HE CAN DO IT ALL
On the season, Luikart is batting .313 with 11 doubles, two triples, eight homers, 20 RBI, and 35 runs. The Ashland, Ohio native possesses top-five HL marks in home runs (T-2nd, 8), slugging percentage (3rd, .611), OPS (4th, 1.023), and runs (4th). Luikart is 3-1 as WSU's closer with a team-low 2.13 ERA and four saves in 12.2 innings.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Projected Friday starter Jake Shirk earned Horizon League Pitcher of the Week after tossing a complete-game shutout versus NKU last Saturday. Facing one of the top offenses in the HL, he limited the Norse to just six hits and one walk in seven innings of work. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native recorded a career-high eight punchouts in the standout outing, including multiple strikeouts in three different frames.

On the season, Shirk is tied for the Horizon League lead in wins with four. He also possesses top-five HL marks in complete games (2nd, 1) and innings pitched (5th, 53.0). Against conference opponents, Shirk has gone 3-1 with a 3.45 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 31.1 innings.

RACKING UP K'S
Projected weekend starters Sebastian Gongora and Alex Theis are tied for sixth in the Horizon League with 52 strikeouts. Gongora punched out a season-high 10 batters in just five innings at NKU (3/26), while Theis had a season-best nine strikeouts at Purdue Fort Wayne (4/3).

REMEMBER THE NAME
Theis has gone 3-0 with a 2.81 ERA and 40 strikeouts over his last six outings, allowing just 11 runs, eight earned, on 27 hits and seven walks in a combined 25.2 innings.

RBI KING
Zane Harris ranks second in the conference with 35 RBI. The senior has batted .333 with five doubles, one triple, three home runs, and 28 RBI over his last 18 games.

PATIENT AT THE PLATE
The Raiders have walked 196 times through 37 games, good for 56th nationally and first in the conference. WSU drew a season-high 13 free passes in its series finale against NKU (3/27).

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 28th nationally in hit by pitch per game (0.39) and 29th in total hit by pitch (14). Wright State sits atop the Horizon League in HBP (51) as a team.

NEWCOMERS SHOWING OUT
Justin Riemer ranks fourth on the team with a .301 batting average and has added 17 RBI and 22 runs. Drew Baker has batted .294 with three doubles and five RBI in limited action. He doubled twice in his first career start against Xavier (3/16). Chris Gallagher has recorded a 4.13 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 24.0 innings.

ACTIVE STREAKS
Harris » 9-game reached base streak
Anglin » 7-game reached base streak
Greenwell » 6-game reached base streak
Sass » 5-game hitting streak
Shirk » 5-plus innings pitched in six-straight appearances
Simpson » No runs allowed in four-straight appearances

"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 Sammy 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 101-58 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.