DAYTON — A walk-off blast by
Andrew Patrick in the bottom of the 12th inning lifted the Wright State baseball program to a series-clinching 5-4 victory over Northern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at Nischwitz Stadium.
The Raiders (28-18, 17-6 HL) led 4-2 after eight innings of play, but Northern Kentucky (26-19, 15-8 HL) tied the game with a pair of RBI singles in the top of the ninth inning to force extras.
Both teams were scoreless in the following two frames before Patrick's game-winning homer over the left-field fence with no outs in the bottom of the 12th.
Patrick headlined the offense by going 4-for-6 at the plate with a double, two homers, three runs scored, and a stolen base. It was his fourth multi-homer performance of the year, the most by a Horizon League player in 2023.
Jay Luikart batted 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base, while
Gehrig Anglin notched an RBI double and a run.
Luke Arnold contributed with two singles.
Sammy Sass added an RBI on a sacrifice fly, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base.
Starting pitcher
Jake Shirk had another efficient outing, as he held NKU to two runs on five hits and no walks while striking out five batters in seven innings of work. He retired 17 batters in a row after giving up a two-run homer and a single in the top of the second.
Alex Theis entered the game with runners on the corners and no outs in the top of the eighth and proceeded to induce a double play and a groundout to keep the Norse off the scoreboard.
Jay Luikart was tagged for two runs on four hits in the top of the ninth, but
Joey Valentine followed with back-to-back scoreless frames in extras, allowing just one hit and no walks in the process.
Tristan Haught (4-2) retired back-to-back NKU batters on swinging strikes in the top of the 12th en route to the winning decision.
The Raiders took command with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. WSU's first three batters of the game recorded hits and came around to score on an RBI double by Anglin and consecutive sacrifice flies by Sass and Luikart.
Northern Kentucky responded with a two-run homer in the top of the second to close Wright State's edge to 3-2. Both offenses were scoreless until Patrick's solo homer with one out in the bottom of the seventh, which cushioned WSU's advantage to 4-2.
The Raiders were one out away from a victory in the top of the ninth, but NKU rallied with back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at 4-all. Wright State stranded two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth but came away with the win on Patrick's second homer of the game in the 12th.
Wright State will look to secure a series sweep versus NKU on Sunday, May 7, at 1 p.m.
