Baseball closes regular season at Milwaukee

Thursday, May 19

Milwaukee, WI

7 PM ET

Wright State University

Milwaukee

Ben Stoner, Avery Fisher, Jared Schmidt, Luke Arnold

5/18/2022 2:45:00 PM | Baseball

DAYTON — The Wright State baseball program will close its regular season with a three-game series from May 19-21 at Milwaukee. All three games will air on ESPN+, while live stats will also be available.

Game 1 - Thursday, May 19 - 7 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
WSU RHP Jake Shirk (5-5, 4.82 ERA, 71.0 IP)
MKE LHP Riley Frey (4-5, 4.63 ERA, 70.0 IP)

Game 2 - Friday, May 20 - 7 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
WSU LHP Sebastian Gongora (4-1, 5.69 ERA, 68.0 IP)
MKE - TBD

Game 3 - Saturday, May 21 - 3 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
WSU LHP Alex Theis (5-1, 3.44 ERA, 49.2 IP)
MKU LHP Jack Mahoney (3-1, 4.32 ERA, 25.0 IP)

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State is coming off doubleheader splits to Purdue Fort Wayne and Milwaukee at home. WSU lost both openers but bounced back with victories by a combined 24 runs in game two.

The Raiders batted .325 with 18 extra-base hits and 32 runs over the four-game stretch. Justin Riemer led the charge by going 8-for-16 (.500) at the plate with two doubles, his first collegiate home run, and four runs batted in. Alec Sayre was also impressive offensively, as he batted .438 (7-for-16) with a double, two homers, and five RBI. Sebastian Gongora shined on the mound, giving up no earned runs on four hits while striking out eight batters in six innings en route to his fourth win of the season.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS
WSU sits atop the Horizon League standings with an 18-8 record. Oakland is close behind at 16-10, followed by UIC in third at 13-9. Purdue Fort Wayne sits fourth at 13-15, while Northern Kentucky is fifth at 10-15. Youngstown State and Milwaukee are in the bottom two spots with records of 9-16 and 8-15 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 PANTHERS
Milwaukee is 19-28 overall and 8-16 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 five wins in their last 11 conference games. Last weekend, MKE went 1-3 with a doubleheader split against WSU and two losses at Purdue Fort Wayne.

Aaron Chapman has been Milwaukee's top offensive threat, as he is batting .307 with 11 doubles, four home runs, and 33 RBI. The Panthers are 58-for-65 on stolen base attempts, led by Luke Seidel with 15 steals. On the mound, AJ Bluebaugh possesses team-best marks in ERA (2.76), WHIP (.98), and saves (6). Starting pitcher Riley Frey is 4-5 on the season with a 4.63 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 70.0 innings.

HISTORY VS. MKE
Wright State leads the all-time series 74-61. 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.

STUDENT-ATHLETES
WSU had a 3.22 team grade point average in the 2022 spring semester, including 29 individuals with a GPA above 3.00. Dating back to 2012, the Raiders have accumulated a team GPA of 3.00 or higher in 19 of their last 20 semesters.

RUNS FOR DAYS
Wright State sits 59th nationally with a conference-best 7.4 runs per game. Four of the top-seven individual run-scorers in the HL sport the Green & Gold, led by Alec Sayre in first with 46 runs. The Raiders have pushed across double-digit runs in a league-leading 16 games.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR?
Sayre has placed himself in the running for Horizon League Player of the Year, as he is batting .351 with 14 doubles, nine homers, 42 RBI, 46 runs scored, and nine stolen bases. The Dover, Ohio native possesses top-five HL marks in nine categories and is one of only two players in the conference with an OPS above 1.000. In conference-only action, Sayreleads the HL in OPS (1.129), on-base percentage (.472), home runs (8), RBI (29), and runs (30).

HE GETS ON BASE
On the season, Julian Greenwell is batting .324 with 13 doubles, five triples, eight home runs, and 45 RBI. He leads the conference in slugging percentage (.600), triples (5), OPS (1.058), and hit by pitch (14) while possessing top-five conference marks in on-base percentage (2nd, .458), RBI (2nd), runs (3rd, 43), and walks (4th, 30).

VETERAN POWER
Gehrig Anglin ranks 55th nationally with a conference-high 15 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 has added four homers in his eight games, spanning over nine days. He entered the 2022 campaign with three homers in 178 career at-bats. The St. Clair, Mich., native has slugged 15 homers in just 178 at-bats this season.

In addition to home runs, Anglin sits second in the Horizon League in slugging percentage (.596) and OPS (.991) and fifth in RBI (41).

HE CAN DO IT ALL
On the season, Jay Luikart is batting .291 with 13 doubles, three triples, nine homers, 27 RBI, and 42 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 triples (2nd), walks (3rd, 31), saves (3rd), homers (5th), runs (5th), and slugging percentage (5th, .558).

POWER SURGE
In May, Andrew Patrick is batting .393 with three doubles, five home runs, and eight RBI. He opened the month by homering in three-straight games, highlighted by a career-high two roundtrips against YSU (5/1).

RBI KING
Zane Harris is third in the conference with 44 RBI. After a quiet start to the season, the senior has batted .314 with six doubles, two triples, four home runs, and 37 RBI over his last 30 games.

PATIENT AT THE PLATE
The Raiders have walked 263 times through 49 games, good for 25th 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
Projected Thursday starter Jake Shirk has gone 4-2 with a 3.83 ERA and 42 strikeouts in eight starts against conference opponents. The sophomore is tied for the HL lead in wins (5) and sits fourth in innings pitched (71.0).

RACKING UP K'S
Projected Friday starter Sebastian Gongora is 4-0 with a 4.66 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 46.1 innings against Horizon League opponents. The redshirt freshman ranks sixth in the conference in strikeouts (67) and seventh in innings pitched (68.0). He tossed a three-hit shutout against YSU (4/3) and punched out a season-high 10 batters in just five innings at NKU (3/26).

PITCHING EXCELLENCE
Projected Saturday starter Alex Theis is 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 38.2 innings against conference opponents. The redshirt junior leads the Horizon League in wins, ERA, strikeouts, strikeouts looking (21), and fewest home runs allowed (1) in HL-only games.

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
Patrick » 9-game reached base streak
McConnell » 5-game reached base streak
Theis » Five or more strikeouts in five-straight appearances
Gongora » Three or fewer runs allowed in three-straight starts

"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 108-63 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.