Wright State to host 2023 Horizon League Baseball Championship

Thursday, May 25

Dayton, OH

11 AM

Wright State University

No. 5 Milwaukee

Photo by: Joseph Craven

Wright State to host 2023 Horizon League Baseball Championship

5/24/2023 10:00:00 AM | Baseball, General

Championship Central Championship Bracket Live Stats Game Notes

DAYTON — The No. 1 seed Wright State baseball program will host the 2023 Horizon League Championship from May 24-27 at Nischwitz Stadium, with the conference's six teams represented in a double-elimination bracket.

The bottom four teams will open the tournament on Wednesday (May 24) in two elimination games, while the Raiders will play against the lowest remaining seed on Thursday (May 25) at 11 a.m.

Tickets are available for purchase at the gate of Nischwitz Stadium. All-Tournament passes can be purchased for $25, while day passes are $10. Horizon League students with their ID cards and children under five years old are admitted for free. Every game of the tournament will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+.

Tournament Info » Championship Central | Bracket | Game Notes | Live Stats

FIVE-PEAT
The Raiders swept Milwaukee from May 12-14 to clinch their fifth consecutive Horizon League regular season title (excluding the Covid-shortened 2020 season). WSU has won 20-plus games against HL teams each year in the stretch.

CHAMPIONSHIP REWIND
Wright State clinched its 10th NCAA Division I appearance with a 24-0 victory over No. 2 seed Oakland in the 2022 Horizon League Championship at Nischwitz Stadium. The Raiders set single-game tournament records in runs scored, largest shutout margin (24), doubles (8), and RBI (23) in the blowout victory. WSU took down Northern Kentucky 18-4 in the tournament's quarterfinals and proceeded to defeat Oakland 14-3 in the semifinals.

The Raiders outscored opponents 56-7 in their three HL Championship wins, including a tournament-record 11 home runs.

PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Sebastian Gongora was named the 2023 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year, as the conference office announced its yearly awards on Tuesday, May 23. The 6-foot-5 lefty compiled a 9-1 record in the regular season with a 2.87 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 78.1 innings. The Dayton, Ohio native has gone a perfect 8-0 with a 2.89 ERA and 64 strikeouts over ten starts (62.1 IP) against conference opponents. He leads the Horizon League in wins, ERA, opposing batting average (.221), and hits allowed per nine innings (7.35) while also possessing top-five HL marks in innings pitched (3rd), strikeouts (3rd), and WHIP (4th, 1.23). Gongora took home Horizon League Pitcher of the Week after striking out seven batters in eight shutout innings versus Oakland (3/26). He enters the postseason with four or fewer earned runs allowed in five-plus innings in 12 starts.

COACH OF THE YEAR
Head coach Alex Sogard won Horizon League Coach of the Year honors after leading the Raiders to a 35-20 overall record and their fifth consecutive HL Regular Season title in 2023. He also earned the award in the 2019 and 2021 campaigns en route to becoming the first-ever Raider head coach to win three HL Coach of the Year honors. The previous record of two was held by former WSU skippers Rob Cooper (2010, 2011) and Greg Lovelady (2014, 2016). Dating back to the 2010 season, Wright State coaches have won eight of the 14 Coach of the Year honors (Sogard, Cooper, Lovelady and Jeff Mercer (2018)). Legendary Raider head coach Ron Nischwitz was the 2004 HL Coach of the Year.

ALL-LEAGUE HONORS
In addition to the major awards, the Raiders placed six players on the All-League First Team, with Gehrig Anglin, Jay Luikart, Andrew Patrick, Sammy Sass, and Jake Shirk joining Gongora. Patrick Fultz and Joey Valentine collected All-Freshman Team honors.

THE FIELD
In the tournament, the top-seeded Raiders will compete alongside No. 2 Oakland, No. 3 Northern Kentucky, No. 4 Youngstown State, No. 5 Milwaukee, and No. 6 Purdue Fort Wayne. Wright State went 22-8 against the five teams in the regular season, but lost at least one game to each program.

LAST TIME OUT
The Raiders closed the regular season with a series loss at Youngstown State. Wright State won the opener 8-1 but dropped the following two games by final scores of 7-8 and 8-9.

HOME RUN KING
Andrew Patrick belted two long balls in WSU's weekend sweep of Milwaukee to become the program's single-season school record holder in home runs with 17. He bested the previous record of 16 shared by Nick Shields (2001), Bryan Vickers (2004), and Gehrig Anglin (2022).

STRIKE-THROWER
Starting pitcher Jake Shirk has proven to be the one of the top strike-throwers in the country, as he ranks 15th nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (1.49) and 24th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.31). The junior has not walked a batter in his last 32.1 innings pitched.

PITCHING EXCELLENCE
Wright State's pitching staff leads the Horizon League in ERA (5.04), strikeouts (478), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.38), strikeouts per nine innings (9.0), WHIP (1.46), saves (16), opponent batting average (.264), fewest hits allowed per nine innings (9.32), and fewest walks allowed per nine innings (3.79).

MONSTER NUMBERS
Andrew Patrick put together the top offensive numbers in the Horizon League after slashing .327/.427/.692 with 17 doubles, four triples, 17 homers, 50 RBI, 62 runs, and 26 stolen bases in 54 games during the regular season. Wright State's primary leadoff hitter led the conference in stolen bases, total bases (144), three-plus hit games (11), and multi-homer games (T-1st, 4) while ranking second in doubles, triples, homers, hits (68), runs, hits, slugging percentage, and OPS (1.119). The Hilliard, Ohio native has tallied 13 multi-hit games and 14 multi-RBI games in addition to Horizon League Batter of the Week honors twice.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Seven Raiders have collected Horizon League weekly honors during the 2023 campaign. Andrew Patrick and Jake Shirk took home weekly honors twice during the regular season.

Jake Shirk - Pitcher of the Week - 2/21/23
Gehrig Anglin - Batter of the Week - 3/14/23
Andrew Patrick - Batter of the Week - 3/28/23
Sebastian Gongora - Pitcher of the Week - 3/28/23
Julian Greenwell - Batter of the Week - 4/18/23
Jake Shirk - Pitcher of the Week - 5/2/23
Joey Valentine - Pitcher of the Week - 5/9/23
Andrew Patrick - Batter of the Week - 5/16/23
Tristan Haught - Pitcher of the Week - 5/16/23

STUDENT-athletes
Wright State's Gehrig Anglin, Julian Greenwell, Josh Laisure, Jay Luikart, and Andrew Patrick were named to the 2023 Valeo Horizon League Baseball All-Academic Team. The Raiders' five All-Academic Team selections were the second-most among Horizon League programs. As a team, Wright State had a 3.33 GPA in the 2023 spring semester. Twenty-eight student-athletes closed the semester with a GPA above 3.00.

ACTIVE STREAKS
Greenwell » 25-game reached base streak
Smith » 22-game reached base streak
Patrick » 13-game reached base streak
Anglin » 12-game reached base streak
Valentine » 11-straight scoreless outings
Roder » 6-straight scoreless outings
Clark » 5-game hitting streak

LOTS OF POP
Wright State leads the Horizon League with 70 home runs. Six players have gone yard six-plus times, paced by Andrew Patrick with a team-leading 17 in the category. Jay Luikart and Gehrig Anglin have homered nine times.

SPEED KILLS
The Raiders rank 28th nationally and first in the Horizon League with 101 stolen bases. Andrew Patrick has swiped a team-high 26 bases on 28 attempts, while Gehrig Anglin has stolen 13 bases. Dane Thomas is 12-for-13 on stolen base attempts and Avery Fisher is a perfect 10-for-10 in the category. Sammy Sass has added a career-high 11 stolen bases on 14 attempts this season.

TEAM GUYS
Wright State ranks sixth in the country with 37 sacrifice flies. Jay Luikart and Sammy Sass are tied for first in the Horizon League with six sac flies.

"POWER 5" DOMINANCE
Wright State has knocked off a "Power Five" conference program on 22 occasions since 2014, including three times this season.

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
2/25/23 — at Kentucky — W, 12-9
3/21/23 at Ohio State — W, 3-0
5/2/23 vs. Ohio State — W, 3-1