DAYTON — Wright State fell to Purdue Fort Wayne 12-10 in game one of the Friday doubleheader at Nischwitz Stadium. The teams will continue the twin bill at 4:30 p.m. Fans can follow the action via live stats.

WSU (6-10, 0-1 HL) finished with 12 hits, including four for extra bases. Sammy Sass batted 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and three runs scored, while Jay Luikart singled three times. Boston Smith drove in a team-leading four runs on a two-run double, a solo homer, and a sacrifice fly. Gehrig Anglin had a two-run homer for his lone hit of the day. Andrew Patrick contributed with two walks, two runs, and a stolen base.

Starting pitcher Jake Shirk was tagged for six runs, five runs, on eight hits, and a walk in 4.2 innings of work. Joey Valentine (0-1) took the loss in relief after giving up two runs, one earned, in one-third of an inning, while Warren Hartzell, Chris Gallagher, and Tristan Haught also allowed runs out of the pen. 

The Raiders used three home runs and a double to power their way to an 8-2 lead after three innings of play. Sass put Wright State on the board with a three-run blast in the bottom of the first inning, while Smith connected on a leadoff homer in the second frame. WSU scored four times in the bottom of the third on a two-run roundtrip by Anglin and a two-run double off the bat of Smith. 

Purdue Fort Wayne (4-14, 1-0 HL) rallied back with three runs on three hits in the top of the fourth and scored on a wild pitch in the next frame to reduce its deficit to 8-6. The 'Dons then claimed a 9-8 lead after plating three runs on five hits in the top of the sixth inning.

The Raiders tied the game at 9-all in the bottom of the seventh, as Smith scored Sass on a sacrifice fly. However, PFW took back the lead with two runs on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly of its own in the top of the eighth.

Wright State closed its deficit to one run, 11-10, after scoring on a fielding error in the bottom of the eighth but was blanked in the ninth to seal the conference-opening loss.