Baseball welcomes Northern Kentucky in battle for first place

Friday, May 5

Dayton, OH

3 PM

Wright State University

Northern Kentucky

Photo by: Alex Underwood

Baseball welcomes Northern Kentucky in battle for first place

5/4/2023 4:00:00 PM | Baseball

By: Alex Underwood, WSURaiders.com

DAYTON — The Wright State baseball program hosts Northern Kentucky from May 5-7 at Nischwitz Stadium in a battle for the top spot in the Horizon League standings. Both teams head into the weekend series tied for first place with 15-6 records in league play. Admission will be free for all three games, while live stats will also be available.

Game 1 - Friday, May 5 - 3 p.m. - Live Stats
LHP Sebastian Gongora (6-1, 2.71 ERA, 63.0 IP)
RHP Clay Brock (4-2, 3.53 ERA, 58.2 IP)

Game 2 - Saturday, May 6 - 2 p.m. - Live Stats
RHP Jake Shirk (4-4, 4.74 ERA, 62.2 IP)
LHP Ben Gerl (4-3, 4.95 ERA, 60.0 IP)

Game 3 - Sunday, May 7 - 1 p.m. - Live Stats
RHP Luke Stofel (2-4, 4.22 ERA, 49.0 IP)
RHP Kaden Echeman (5-1, 4.11 ERA, 57.0 IP)

LAST TIME OUT
The Raiders are coming off a 3-1 victory versus Ohio State on Tuesday night at Nischwitz Stadium. Wright State allowed just five hits, none for extra bases, while striking out 12 batters compared to three walks en route to its second win of the season over the Buckeyes.

Joey Valentine and Alex Theis fired two-plus scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Jay Luikart struck out the side on 16 pitches in the top of the ninth for his sixth save of the year. Sammy Sass and Gehrig Anglin finished with RBI singles, while Patrick Fultz singled twice in four at-bats. Avery Fisher contributed with a double, a walk, and a run scored. Andrew Patrick helped out with an infield single, two stolen bases, and a run.

HISTORY VS. NKU
The Raiders have won 21 of their last 22 games against Northern Kentucky dating back to 2019. Wright State earned a series victory over NKU on the road in the first meeting between the two teams in late March 2023. WSU won its opening two games of the series by final scores of 6-2 and 3-1 but fell 9-5 in the Sunday finale. Starting pitchers Jake Shirk and Sebastian Gongora stood out over the weekend as the pair collected winning decisions on the mound. Boston Smith batted 6-for-12 (.500) over the three-game stretch with two doubles, a home run, and three runs scored.

SCOUTING THE NORSE
Northern Kentucky is 26-17 overall and tied for first in the HL standings with a 15-6 record. The Norse have won their last four games against conference opponents, highlighted by a three-game sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne at home last weekend. NKU has all swept Milwaukee, Oakland, and Youngstown State in league play.

The Norse boasts one of the top offenses in the HL, as they lead the conference in runs per game (8.6), batting average (.300), doubles (107), walks (271), hits (446), on-base percentage (.424), and slugging percentage (.475). Individually, six starters are batting above .300 on the year, led by Noah Fisher with team-best marks in homers (14), RBI (57), and OPS (1.238). The projected weekend rotation has compiled a 13-6 record over 29 starts.

CAREER OUTING
Jake Shirk fired a one-hit shutout in Wright State's series-clinching 2-0 victory at Oakland on Saturday, striking out a career-high 14 batters while allowing just an infield single in the first inning and walking none. The Fort Wayne, Indiana native had multiple punchouts in five different innings and fanned the side in the sixth frame. He retired his last 25 batters faced, with 13 going down on strikes in the stretch.
The junior right-hander's game score of 99 was the highest among all Division I pitchers that took the mound over the weekend. He was lauded as Pitcher of the Week by D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game USA, and the Horizon League.

LIVING UP THE TYPE
Starting pitcher Sebastian Gongora — the preseason Pitcher of the Year by D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game USA — is 6-1 with a 2.71 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 63.0 innings of work. The redshirt sophomore tops the HL in wins (T-1st), ERA, opposing batting average (.224), and fewest hits allowed per nine innings (7.43). He has racked up five quality starts against conference opponents.

AP RAKES
Andrew Patrick has placed himself into contention for Horizon League Player of the Year, as he leads the conference in stolen bases (20) while ranking second in the conference in homers (12), runs scored (47), total bases (107), triples (3), slugging percentage (.652), OPS (1.063), and sacrifice flies (4). The Hilliard, Ohio native has recorded a team-leading eight three-hit performances and three multi-homer games.

SPEED KILLS
The Raiders rank 32nd nationally and first in the Horizon League with 81 stolen bases. Andrew Patrick has swiped a team-high 20 bases on 21 attempts, while Gehrig Anglin has stolen 12 bases. Avery Fisher is a perfect 10-for-10 on stolen base attempts, and Dane Thomas is 9-for-10 in the category.

ARNOLD HEATING UP
Luke Arnold has slashed .407/.422/.878 with four doubles, one triple, one homer, eight RBI, and five runs scored in his last six games. He has recorded three multi-hit performances in the span, highlighted by a 4-for-4 showing at the plate with two doubles, 4 RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base in Wright State's 17-6 victory at Purdue Fort Wayne.

LOTS OF POP
Wright State leads the Horizon League with 55 home runs. Five players have gone yard six-plus times, paced by Andrew Patrick with a team-leading 12 in the category.

TEAM GUYS
Wright State ranks 34th in the country with 24 sacrifice flies. Andrew Patrick has totaled a team-best four sacrifice flies, while Sammy Sass, Gehrig Anglin, and Jay Luikart have three.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Five Raiders have collected Horizon League weekly honors through ten weeks in the 2023 campaign. Jake Shirk was the most recent recipient, as he earned HL Pitcher of the Week on May 2 after firing a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts.

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

ACTIVE STREAKS
Sass » 18-game reached base streak
Greenwell » 17-game reached base streak
Smith » 11-game reached base streak
Gongora » 5-plus innings pitched in eight-straight starts
Shirk » 5-plus innings pitched in six-straight starts
Valentine » 5-straight scoreless outings
Luikart » 3-straight scoreless outings
Roder » 3-straight scoreless outings

"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

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.