DAYTON — The Wright State baseball program took down Milwaukee 9-2 for its seventh consecutive victory on Friday afternoon at Nischwitz Stadium.
The Raiders improved to 32-18 overall and 19-6 in the Horizon League to remain atop the standings. MKE dropped to 22-25 on the season and 10-14 in HL play with the loss. The teams will continue the three-game series tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Wright State finished with eight hits and eight walks, scoring all nine of its runs over the last five innings of play.
Sammy Sass totaled a season-high four RBI on a go-ahead two-run homer and a two-run single.
Andrew Patrick notched a two-run blast, a sacrifice fly, two walks, and a stolen base.
Gehrig Anglin batted 2-for-3 with a two-run double, a run scored, and two walks.
Luke Arnold and
Boston Smith added a hit and a run in the winning effort.
Starting pitcher
Sebastian Gongora boosted his record to 8-1 after holding the Panthers to two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three batters in six innings of work.
Tristan Haught was dominant in relief, firing three shutout innings en route to his second save of the year.
Defensively, the Raiders were errorless for the 19th time this season. Arnold had a team-leading four assists, while
Jay Luikart totaled 11 putouts at first base.
The game was scoreless until the top of the third inning, as Milwaukee claimed the lead with a two-run double.
Wright State threatened to reach the scoreboard with runners on first and second in the bottom of the fourth but stranded both on an inning-ending strikeout.
The Raiders erased their deficit with a pair of two-run homers by Patrick and Sass in the bottom of the fifth. Patrick's blast was his 16th of the year, which tied the single-season school record.
Sass arrived to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh and came through with a two-run single to extend WSU's lead to 6-2. Wright State added three runs of insurance on a sacrifice fly by Patrick and a two-run double by Anglin to cushion its edge to 9-2.
Haught retired Milwaukee in order in the top of the ninth to seal the Raider win.
