Baseball hosts back-to-back doubleheaders

Saturday, May 14

Dayton, OH

12 PM

Wright State University

Purdue Fort Wayne

Buy Tickets

5/13/2022 10:00:00 AM | Baseball

DAYTON — The Wright State baseball program will conclude its regular-season home slate with back-to-back noon doubleheaders against Horizon League competition. The Raiders will host Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday, May 14, followed by two games versus Milwaukee on Sunday, May 15.

Sunday's slate will air on ESPN+, while live stats will be available for all four games.

WSU will honor five seniors in Bradley Deboutte, Aaron Ernst, Zane Harris, Donnie Nicodemus, and Henry Von Hollen before Sunday's doubleheader.

Saturday, May 14 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne
12 p.m. — Live Stats
3 p.m. — Live Stats

Sunday, May 15 vs. Milwaukee
12 p.m. — Watch — Live Stats
3 p.m. — Watch — Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
The Raiders are coming off a 21-9 loss at Michigan on Wednesday, May 11. Julian Greenwell led off the midweek contest with a home run, but UM had an 18-1 advantage by the end of the third inning. Zane Harris paced the offense in the loss with three hits and an RBI. Bradley Deboutte was a bright spot out of the pen, as he held the Wolverines scoreless with three strikeouts in 1.2 innings.

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 lone schools to meet the facility criteria to host the tournament.

SCOUTING THE MASTODONS
Purdue Fort Wayne is 13-32 overall but is an improved 10-14 in Horizon League play. The Mastodons boast HL series wins over Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky and knocked off Michigan in non-conference action.

Cade Fitzpatrick has paced the offense, as he is batting .346 with five doubles, two triples, seven home runs, and 28 RBI. Jack Lang has compiled team-leading marks in home runs (10), RBI (29), runs (40), and stolen bases (11). Rex Stills possesses a team-low 3.56 earned run average in 30.1 innings. The 'Dons have allowed an average of 7.17 runs per game.

HISTORY VS. PFW
The Raiders are ahead 7-4 in the all-time series. This season, Wright State earned a three-game sweep over Purdue Fort Wayne, combining for 34 runs while holding the Mastodons to three runs in the series opener and closer. WSU batted .280 with 10 extra-base hits and seven stolen bases as a team. The Raider defense committed a mere two errors. The teams met just four times before the PFW joined the Horizon League, with the 'Dons winning each time.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Milwaukee is 18-25 overall and 7-13 against conference opponents under the guidance of 16th-year head coach Scott Doffek. The Panthers fell to 3-10 in HL play following an 11-2 loss to YSU but have bounced back with four wins in their last seven conference games. Last weekend, MKE went 2-1 with victories over NKU and Oakland.

Aaron Chapman has been Milwaukee's top offensive threat, as he is batting .307 with 10 doubles, four home runs, and 33 RBI. The Panthers are 56-for-63 on stolen base attempts, led by Luke Seidel with 14 steals. On the mound, AJ Bluebaugh possesses team-best marks in ERA (2.81) and saves (5). Starting pitcher Riley Frey is 4-4 on the season with a 4.92 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 64.0 innings.

HISTORY VS. MKE
Wright State leads the all-time series 73-60. The Raiders went 5-1 against MKE a season ago, including a 21-3 victory in the Horizon League Championship title game. Damon Dues hit for the cycle and tied the title game record in total bases with 12. Zane Harris finished with four hits and drove in seven RBI.

PITCHING EXCELLENCE
Starting pitcher 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.

RUNS FOR DAYS
Wright State sits 62nd nationally with a conference-best 7.3 runs per game. Jay Luikart, Alec Sayre, Sammy Sass, and Julian Greenwell are tied for fourth in the HL with 40 runs. The Raiders have pushed across 10-plus runs in 14 games this season.

HE GETS ON BASE
On the season, Julian Greenwell is batting .325 with 12 doubles, four triples, seven home runs, and 39 RBI. He leads the conference in on-base percentage (.465), OPS (1.056), triples (4), and hit by pitch (14) while possessing top-five conference marks in slugging percentage (.591), RBI (3rd), walks (4th, 28), and runs (4th, 40).

VETERAN POWER
Gehrig Anglin leads the Horizon League with 13 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 13 homers in just 165 at-bats this season.

In addition to home runs, Anglin sits third in the Horizon League in slugging percentage (.588) and OPS (.982) and fourth in RBI (38).

HE CAN DO IT ALL
On the season, Jay Luikart is batting .296 with 12 doubles, three triples, nine homers, 25 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 (2nd, 24), runs (3rd), triples (2nd), home runs (3rd), saves (3rd), slugging percentage (4th, .579), and OPS (4th, .980).

POWER SURGE
Andrew Patrick is batting .350 with two doubles, 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).

STAR IN THE MAKING
Alec Sayre is batting .343 with 13 doubles, seven homers, 37 RBI, and 40 runs. He has totaled 18 multi-hit games, including nine three-hit performances. In Wright State'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 (4/24).

RBI KING
Zane Harris is second in the conference with 41 RBI. After a quiet start to the season, the senior has batted .326 with six doubles, one triple, four home runs, and 34 RBI over his last 26 games.

PATIENT AT THE PLATE
The Raiders have walked 241 times through 45 games, good for 29th nationally and first in the conference. WSU drew a season-high 13 free passes in its series finale against NKU (3/27).

PLAYING LIKE AN ACE
Jake Shirk has gone 4-1 with a 3.25 ERA and 38 strikeouts in seven starts against conference opponents. The sophomore is tied for the HL lead in wins (5) and sits fourth in innings pitched (66.0).

RACKING UP K's
Projected weekend starter Sebastian Gongora ranks seventh in the Horizon League with 59 strikeouts. The redshirt freshman punched out a season-high 10 batters in just five innings at NKU (3/26).

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.

ACTIVE STREAKS
Harris » 17-game reached base streak
Greenwell » 14-game reached-base streak
Sass » 13-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 106-61 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.