Friday, February 17
Manoa, HI
11:35 PM ET
Wright State University
at
Hawaii
Photo by: Joseph Craven
Raiders open 2023 with four-game series at Hawai'i
2/16/2023 10:00:00 AM | Baseball
DAYTON — The Wright State baseball program opens its 2023 season with a four-game series against the University of Hawai'i from February 17-19 at Les Murakami Stadium. The series opener and finale will air on Spectrum Sports. Live stats will be provided for all four games.
Game 1 - Friday, February 17 - 11:35 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
Game 2 - Saturday, February 18 - 6:05 p.m. ET - Live Stats
Game 3 - Saturday, February 18 - 10 p.m. ET - Live Stats
Game 4 - Sunday, February 19 - 6:05 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
The Raiders were picked atop the 2023 Horizon League preseason poll, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon. Wright State was also selected as the preseason conference favorite by D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game USA. Sammy Sass was listed as preseason Player of the Year by D1Baseball, while Anglin earned preseason Player of the Year honors from Perfect Game. Both sites named Gongora the preseason Pitcher of the Year and the conference's top prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft.
ALL-AMERICA RECOGNITION
Jay Luikart earned preseason All-America nods from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper after starring as WSU's starting outfielder and closer in 2022. The Ashland, Ohio native slugged .299/.409/.544 with 14 doubles, three triples, 10 homers, 31 RBI, and 49 runs scored over 54 starts. Luikart pitched to a 4-2 record with a team-low 2.53 ERA and seven saves in 21.1 innings.
VETERAN GROUP
WSU returns 16 letterwinners and 11 starters from last year's team, including eight All-Horizon League recipients. Gehrig Anglin and Julian Greenwell collected All-League First Team honors, while Jay Luikart, Jake Shirk, and Alex Theis were named to the Second Team. Sebastian Gongora, Andrew Patrick, and Justin Riemer earned spots on the All-Freshman Team.
SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
Hawai'i, under the direction of veteran coach Rich Hill, finished the 2022 season 28-24 overall and 19-11 against Big West competition. The Rainbow Warriors ranked second in the league in stolen bases (56), third in on-base percentage (.371), and fourth in runs per game (5.9) last season, while the pitching staff totaled 454 strikeouts over 52 games. The host team returns seven starters, including consistent contributors Matt Wong and
return seven starters and Jordan Donahue.
HISTORY VS. HAWAI'I
The Raiders have finished on the losing side in all five career meetings versus Hawai'i, most recently in the 2006 NCAA Corvallis Regional. Wright State last traveled to Hawai'i in 1998 for the Rainbow Spring Tournament while also making trips for tournament competition in 1990 and 1996.
ROAD TRIP
Wright State will begin its 2023 season on a 10-game road trip, starting with Hawai'i from February 17-19, followed by three-game series at Kentucky (Feb. 24-26) and Arkansas (March 3-5).
PRO RAIDERS
Sean Murphy, drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2016, and Peyton Burdick, drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2019, are the Raiders' two current Major League players. Murphy debuted with the Athletics in September 2019 and earned the Gold Glove award following the 2021 season. He signed a 6-year, $73 million contract extension with the Atlanta Braves in December 2022, which includes a $15 million club option for the 2029 season. Burdick made his debut for the Marlins in August 2022 and finished the season with four homers and 11 RBI. Joe Smith spent 15 years (2007-2022) in the big leagues as a reliever with eight different clubs and currently sits Top 40 all-time with 866 career pitching appearances.
DRAFT TALENT
Wright State's Alec Sayre was selected in 17th round of the 2022 MLB Draft, becoming the 17th draftee since 2015 and the 41st in program history. The Raiders saw three total players selected in the top 10 rounds of the MLB's 2021 first-year player draft, along with another two signing free agent contracts.
HOME RUN KING
Gehrig Anglin finished the 2022 season with 16 home runs, which tied the single-season school record held by Nick Shields ('01) and Bryan Vickers ('04). In addition to homers, the infielder led the Horizon League in slugging percentage (.598), OPS (1.022), and hit by pitch (14).
STUDENT-athletes
WSU had a 3.35 team grade point average in the 2022 fall 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 20 of their last 21 semesters.
COACHING SUCCESS
Alex Sogard, the seventh-youngest active head coach in Division I baseball, is 113-66 at the helm of the Raiders. Among fifth-year D1 coaches entering the 2023 season, he possesses the third-most wins and fourth-best winning percentage (.631). Sogard had guided the Raiders to back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances and collected ABCA/ATEC East Coach of the Year honors in 2021. The Phoenix, Arizona, native led WSU 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.
"POWER 5" DOMINANCE
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
Game 1 - Friday, February 17 - 11:35 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
Game 2 - Saturday, February 18 - 6:05 p.m. ET - Live Stats
Game 3 - Saturday, February 18 - 10 p.m. ET - Live Stats
Game 4 - Sunday, February 19 - 6:05 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
The Raiders were picked atop the 2023 Horizon League preseason poll, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon. Wright State was also selected as the preseason conference favorite by D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game USA. Sammy Sass was listed as preseason Player of the Year by D1Baseball, while Anglin earned preseason Player of the Year honors from Perfect Game. Both sites named Gongora the preseason Pitcher of the Year and the conference's top prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft.
ALL-AMERICA RECOGNITION
Jay Luikart earned preseason All-America nods from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper after starring as WSU's starting outfielder and closer in 2022. The Ashland, Ohio native slugged .299/.409/.544 with 14 doubles, three triples, 10 homers, 31 RBI, and 49 runs scored over 54 starts. Luikart pitched to a 4-2 record with a team-low 2.53 ERA and seven saves in 21.1 innings.
VETERAN GROUP
WSU returns 16 letterwinners and 11 starters from last year's team, including eight All-Horizon League recipients. Gehrig Anglin and Julian Greenwell collected All-League First Team honors, while Jay Luikart, Jake Shirk, and Alex Theis were named to the Second Team. Sebastian Gongora, Andrew Patrick, and Justin Riemer earned spots on the All-Freshman Team.
SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
Hawai'i, under the direction of veteran coach Rich Hill, finished the 2022 season 28-24 overall and 19-11 against Big West competition. The Rainbow Warriors ranked second in the league in stolen bases (56), third in on-base percentage (.371), and fourth in runs per game (5.9) last season, while the pitching staff totaled 454 strikeouts over 52 games. The host team returns seven starters, including consistent contributors Matt Wong and
return seven starters and Jordan Donahue.
HISTORY VS. HAWAI'I
The Raiders have finished on the losing side in all five career meetings versus Hawai'i, most recently in the 2006 NCAA Corvallis Regional. Wright State last traveled to Hawai'i in 1998 for the Rainbow Spring Tournament while also making trips for tournament competition in 1990 and 1996.
ROAD TRIP
Wright State will begin its 2023 season on a 10-game road trip, starting with Hawai'i from February 17-19, followed by three-game series at Kentucky (Feb. 24-26) and Arkansas (March 3-5).
PRO RAIDERS
Sean Murphy, drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2016, and Peyton Burdick, drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2019, are the Raiders' two current Major League players. Murphy debuted with the Athletics in September 2019 and earned the Gold Glove award following the 2021 season. He signed a 6-year, $73 million contract extension with the Atlanta Braves in December 2022, which includes a $15 million club option for the 2029 season. Burdick made his debut for the Marlins in August 2022 and finished the season with four homers and 11 RBI. Joe Smith spent 15 years (2007-2022) in the big leagues as a reliever with eight different clubs and currently sits Top 40 all-time with 866 career pitching appearances.
DRAFT TALENT
Wright State's Alec Sayre was selected in 17th round of the 2022 MLB Draft, becoming the 17th draftee since 2015 and the 41st in program history. The Raiders saw three total players selected in the top 10 rounds of the MLB's 2021 first-year player draft, along with another two signing free agent contracts.
HOME RUN KING
Gehrig Anglin finished the 2022 season with 16 home runs, which tied the single-season school record held by Nick Shields ('01) and Bryan Vickers ('04). In addition to homers, the infielder led the Horizon League in slugging percentage (.598), OPS (1.022), and hit by pitch (14).
STUDENT-athletes
WSU had a 3.35 team grade point average in the 2022 fall 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 20 of their last 21 semesters.
COACHING SUCCESS
Alex Sogard, the seventh-youngest active head coach in Division I baseball, is 113-66 at the helm of the Raiders. Among fifth-year D1 coaches entering the 2023 season, he possesses the third-most wins and fourth-best winning percentage (.631). Sogard had guided the Raiders to back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances and collected ABCA/ATEC East Coach of the Year honors in 2021. The Phoenix, Arizona, native led WSU 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.
"POWER 5" DOMINANCE
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
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
UTL
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballBaseball Highlights vs. UCF (5/10/23)
Tuesday, May 30
Baseball Highlights vs. Dayton (5/9/23)
Tuesday, May 30
Baseball Highlights vs. Ohio State (5/2/23)
Tuesday, May 30
Baseball Highlights vs. Youngstown State (4/14/23)
Tuesday, May 30
