DAYTON — The Wright State baseball program concludes its five-game road swing against Michigan on Wednesday, May 11. The midweek meeting is slated for a 6 p.m. start on Big Ten Plus. Live stats will also be available.

Wednesday, May 11 - 6 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
The Raiders are coming off a 2-2 weekend against Horizon League competition. WSU dropped a pair of close games at Oakland but bounced back with a doubleheader sweep over Youngstown State on Sunday. While Wright State led by three-plus runs in all four games, opponents outscored the Raiders 7-0 in the eighth and ninth innings. 

Andrew Patrick was hot at the plate, as he batted .286 with a double, two homers, three runs batted in, and four runs scored over the four-game stretch. Gehrig Anglin had a team-leading .333 batting average to go along with a home run and two stolen bases. Alex Theis and Sebastian Gongora tossed quality starts, while Josh Laisure held the Penguins hitless in 3.1 innings of work in his second collegiate start.  

CONFERENCE STANDINGS
WSU sits atop the Horizon League standings with a 16-6 record. UIC and Oakland remain in the mix for the first seed, with conference records of 12-7 and 14-9. Purdue Fort Wayne is fourth at 10-14, while Northern Kentucky and Youngstown State are tied for fifth with an 8-13 record. Milwaukee is in the bottom spot at 7-13 against HL opponents.

HOSTING RIGHTS
The Raiders clinched hosting rights for the 2022 Horizon League Baseball Championship with their doubleheader sweep at Youngstown State. Excluding 2020, it marks the fourth-straight season that the conference tournament will take place at Nischwitz Stadium. Wright State, YSU, and Milwaukee were the only schools to meet the facility criteria to host the tournament. 

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
Michigan is 24-20 and 10-7 at home under the guidance of 10th-year head coach Erik Bakich. The Wolverines have collected series wins over Cal State Fullerton, Dayton, Florida International, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Ohio State. UM is 0-2 against HL programs this season with losses to Purdue Fort Wayne and Oakland. 

Michigan ranks 52nd nationally in home runs (60) and 53rd in runs per game on the season. The Wolverines have scored double-digit runs in 10 games and have yet to endure a shutout. Clark Elliott has paced the offense, as he is batting .344 with 13 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, and 45 RBI. Tito Flores possesses team-leading marks in doubles (16) and homers (10).

HISTORY VS. MICHIGAN
Wednesday will be the fifth-ever meeting between Wright State and Michigan. The teams last faced off in 1997, where WSU defeated the Wolverines 11-3 to even the all-time series 2-2.

RUNS FOR DAYS
Wright State sits 65th nationally with a conference-best 7.3 runs per game. Four of the top-seven individual run-scorers in the HL sport the Green & Gold, led by Jay Luikart in third with 40 runs. The Raiders have pushed across 10-plus runs in 14 games this season. 

PITCHING EXCELLENCE
Alex Theis is 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 33.0 innings against conference opponents. The redshirt junior leads the Horizon League in wins, opponent batting average (.223), and strikeouts looking (20) in conference-only games. 

HE CAN DO IT ALL
On the season, Jay Luikart is batting .301 with 12 doubles, three triples, nine homers, 24 RBI, and 40 runs. He is also is 3-1 as WSU's closer with a team-low 2.35 ERA and six saves in 15.1 innings. The Ashland, Ohio native possesses top-five HL marks in extra-base hits (1st, 24), slugging percentage (1st, .590), OPS (2nd, .998), triples (2nd), home runs (2nd), runs (3rd), saves (3rd), doubles (5th), and walks (5th, 27).

VETERAN POWER
Gehrig Anglin leads the Horizon League with 12 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 147 at-bats this season.

In addition to home runs, Anglin sits third in the Horizon League in slugging percentage (.574) and fifth in RBI (37). 

HE GETS ON BASE
On the season, Julian Greenwell is batting .322 with 12 doubles, four triples, six home runs, and 38 RBI. He leads the conference in OPS (1.036), hit by pitch (14) and triples (4), while possessing top-five conference marks in walks (3rd, 28), RBI (3rd, 38), slugging percentage (4th, .572), and runs (4th, 39). 

POWER SURGE
Andrew Patrick is batting .333 with a double, four home runs, and six RBI in May. He opened the month by homering in three-straight games, highlighted by a career-high two roundtrips against YSU (5/1). 

HERO OF THE GAME
Avery Fisher had a career day in WSU's 11-10 comeback win at UIC (4/24), 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 (4/23). Among fourth-year Division I coaches, Sogard entered the season with the top winning percentage (.680), fewest losses, and third-most wins.

RBI KING
Zane Harris is second in the conference with 40 RBI. After a quiet start to the season, the senior has batted .310 with five doubles, one triple, four home runs, and 33 RBI over his last 25 games. 

PATIENT AT THE PLATE
The Raiders have walked 232 times through 44 games, good for 42nd nationally and first in the conference. WSU drew a season-high 13 free passes in its series finale against NKU (3/27).

ACTIVE STREAKS
Harris » 16-game reached base streak
Greenwell » 13-game reached-base streak
Sass » 12-game reached-base streak
Theis » Five or more strikeouts in four-straight appearances
Laisure » No runs allowed in three-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 Alec Sayre were listed as top 250 prospects for the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft. Sammy Sass was ranked 17th among D1 catchers, while Sayre checked in as the 19th-best outfielder. Zane Harris was listed as the No. 21 first baseman in the site's positional rankings.  

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.