MARION, Ind. — The Wright State baseball program clinched a series victory over Purdue Fort Wayne with a 17-6 win on Saturday afternoon at Indiana Wesleyan's Wildcat Baseball Field.

The Raiders improved to 22-17 overall and 12-5 against Horizon League opponents, while PFW dropped to 10-30 on the season and 6-11 in conference play. The three-game series will conclude at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Fort Wayne.

WSU's offense belted ten of its 14 total hits for extra bases, tallying a season-high eight doubles and two home runs in the win. The Raiders finished with four multi-run frames, highlighted by a seven-spot in the top of the fifth inning and five more in the top of the seventh inning.

Luke Arnold batted 4-for-4 with two doubles, four runs batted in, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Andrew Patrick went 3-for-4 at the plate with two homers, three RBI, and three runs. Dane Thomas contributed with two RBI doubles and two runs. Jay Luikart had two hits, two runs, an RBI, and a walk. Gehrig Anglin drove in three runs on a bases-clearing double, while Boston Smith and Patrick Fultz finished with a double, a walk, and two RBI. 

Arnold, Thomas, Sammy Sass, and Avery Fisher added a stolen base. The Raider defense was errorless for the 14th time this season. 

Starting pitcher Jake Shirk improved to 3-4 on the year after striking out a career-high nine batters in a season-high 7.0 innings of work, allowing four runs on seven hits and no walks. Warren Hartzell fired a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts. 

Arnold put Wright State on the board with a two-out, three-run double in the top of the second. Patrick led off the top of the third with a solo home run, and Fultz extended the Raider edge to 5-0 on a sacrifice fly later in the frame.

PFW inched back with two runs in the bottom of the third, but WSU broke the game open with seven runs on six hits (five for extra bases) and an error by the PFW defense in the top of the fifth. Smith started the scoring spurt with a two-run double, while Fultz, Arnold, and Thomas followed with RBI doubles. Patrick punctuated the scoring with a two-run homer, his second roundtrip of the day and his third of the series. 

The Raiders plated five more runs on an RBI double by Thomas, a three-run double by Anglin, and a sacrifice fly by Luikart in the top of the seventh, building Wright State's advantage to 17-2. 

WSU held the 'Dons to four runs over the last three innings of action, sealing its fifth consecutive win against a conference opponent.