Raiders ready for first program matchup against Oklahoma

Friday, February 23

Norman, OK

5 PM

Wright State University

Oklahoma

Photo by: Alex Underwood

Raiders ready for first program matchup against Oklahoma

2/22/2024 1:30:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes vs. Oklahoma Watch on ESPN+ (Friday)Watch on ESPN+ (Saturday 1)Watch on ESPN+ (Saturday 2)Watch on ESPN+ (Sunday)Follow Live Stats (Friday)Follow Live Stats (Saturday 1)Follow Live Stats (Saturday 2)Follow Live Stats (Sunday)

DAYTON – The Wright State baseball team stays in the South as they ready for a four-game series against the University of Oklahoma Sooners. The series take place February 23-25 at L. Dale Mitchell Park, with a double header on Saturday. All four games will have live stats and ESPN+ streaming provided.

Game 1 - Friday, February 23 - 5:00 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
Game 2 - Saturday, February 24 - 2:00 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
Game 3 - Saturday, February 24 - 5:30 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats
Game 4 - Sunday, February 25 - 3:00 p.m. ET - Watch - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State is coming off a 1-2 weekend at the University of Louisiana Lafayette, starting the season off with three highly contested games.

In game one, the Raiders opened with a 2-1 lead, and held the Cajuns off through the ninth, but fell after Louisiana up two runs in the final inning. The lone win came on Saturday, 7-6, as WSU took an early lead in the third and fourth, 6-2. Boston Smith homered in the eighth to regain the Raider lead, 7-6, after Louisiana tied the game during the seventh. In their final game against the Ragin' Cajuns, Gus Gregory gave the Raiders a two to nothing lead after hitting a 2 RBI home run in the fourth. WSU continued to hit it out of the park in the ninth, with another homer coming from Julian Greenwell. Though the Raiders maintained strong defense, they fell to Louisiana 5-3.

SCOUTING THE SOONERS
Under direction of head coach Skip Johnson, the Sooners are currently 2-2 on the 2024 season. In 2023, OU finished 32-28 overall and 11-13 in the Big 12. Based on their overall record, the Sooners are currently sitting tied for sixth in the Big 12, aligning with the preseason poll which placed them to tie sixth with West Virginia, receiving 85 votes.

OU is returning 13 letterwinners and has 26 newcomers for the 2024 season. Of their returners, senior outfielder Bryce Madron was given preseason recognition, being named to the Preseason All-Big 12 baseball team. Madron ended the 2023 season playing in all 60 games, batting .320 and led with team highs of 12 home runs, 15 doubles, 51 RBI, 58 runs, 61 walks, and a .424 slugging percentage. The Sooners finalized their 2023 season with a team batting average of .284, totaling 398 runs on 568 hits. They led with Big 12 with 19 triples and 39 sacrifice flies. On the mound, the Sooners averaged a 5.95 ERA, allowing 394 runs on 568 hits. OU held a .970 fielding percentage in the 2023 season. The Sooners currently rank 5th nationally with 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES
The Raiders were claimed the top spot in the 2024 Horizon League preseason poll, with 34 points and four first-place votes. Multiple Raiders were awarded preseason honors by D1 Baseball. Jay Luikart and Andrew Patrick were honored in the top 100 outfielders, and Sammy Sass in the top 50 catchers. D1 Baseball named Patrick as the top prospect of the Horizon League, followed by Ty Roder as the number five prospect.

VETERAN GROUP
The Raiders are returning 25 athletes, 13 of which were starters in the 2023 season. Andrew Patrick, Sammy Sass, and Jake Shirk were awarded a spot on the All-Horizon First Team, while Patrick Fultz and Joey Valentine were added to the All-Freshman Team. Julian Greenwell, Andrew Patrick, Jake Shirk, and Joey Valentine earned Horizon League weekly honors, with Patrick and Shirk being awarded twice. Patrick was also named to the East-ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team.

ALL-REGION RECOGNITION – ANDREW PATRICK
Andrew Patrick was awarded 2023 East-ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team honors. Patrick earned his accolade after putting up a remarkable 326/.433/.703 with 21 doubles, four triples, 20 homers, 59 RBI, 72 runs, and 31 stolen bases, and starting in 61 of the 62 2023 games. Patrick sat alone as the only NCAA Division I player with 20-plus doubles, 20-plus homers, and 30-plus stolen bases. The Hilliard, Ohio native led the Horizon League in doubles (T-1st), home runs, runs, stolen bases, total bases (166), three-plus hit games (12), and multi-homer games (T-1st, 4) while ranking second in hits (77), triples, slugging percentage, and OPS (1.136).

2ND LIEUTENANT DUKE BENGE
This season the Raiders will be even closer to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, as recent Air Force Academy graduate 2nd Lieutenant Duke Benge will be training with both the Air Force and Wright State Baseball. He is currently enrolled in the sports management program at WSU and earning a master's degree in operational logistics on base as he waits for a spot in the Wright-Patterson pilot training program. Benge attended and played for the Air Force Academy over the past four seasons, notably becoming the first-ever cadet-athlete from Air Force or any service academy to make the NWL All-Star game.

STUDENT-athletes
WSU held a team average grade point average of 3.55 for the 2023 fall semester. 31 athletes finished with a GPA higher than 3.00, 23 with a GPA over 3.5, and 11 earned a 4.0 or higher. Since 2012, the Raiders have maintained a team GPA of 3.00 or above in 21 of their last 22 seasons. Fifteen student-athletes were added to the Spring 2023 Horizon League Academic Honor Roll, which requires a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher with at least three semesters at the same institution.

HEAD COACH – ALEX SOGARD
Head coach Alex Sogard has acquired many accolades in his time at WSU. Most recently, Sogard became the first Raider to win three Horizon League Coach of the Year honors. After leading the Raiders to a 39-23 overall record, earning their fifth HL Regular Season title, and to their third NCAA Regional Appearance, Sogard was awarded the 2023 Horizon League Coach of the Year title.

His Coach of the Year awards are not the only accomplishment Sogard achieved at WSU. In 2019, Sogard took the Raiders to a 42-17 record, tallying the most wins by a first-year head coach in program history. Sogard led the Raiders to three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, 2021-2023, being named the 2021 ABCA/ATEC East Coach of the Year. In June 2021, Sogard was named to the 2021 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team coaching staff.

DRAFT TALENT
The 2023 draft gave attention to a few of the Raidergang. Middle infielder, Justin Reimer, was the first Raider to be picked in the 2023 MLB draft, being the 133rd pick in the fourth round. Before a season-ending injury, Reimer put up .323/.563/.645 through the first 12 games of 2023, with four extra-base hits (3 home runs), seven runs batted in, 12 runs scored, 15 walks, and three stolen bases. He reached base in all 12 games, including multiple times on eight occasions. Right-handed pitcher, Luke Stofel, comes in as the second Raider to sign a professional contract in Major League Baseball, joining the Detroit Tigers as a free agent. Stofel is the first Raider in nearly a quarter-century to sign with the Tigers, the previous being Busty Beam in the 20th round of the 1999 MLB draft. A notable mention, Alex Theis, signed a professional contract with the Florence Y'alls of the Frontier League.

PRO RAIDERS
The Raiders are no strangers to sending their athletes pro, with three current professional players, Peyton Burdick, Sean Murphy, and Jesse Scholtens. Burdick, drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2019, was recently traded to the Baltimore Orioles after his 2022 debut with the Marlins. Murphy debuted with the Athletics in September 2019 and earned the Gold Glove award following the 2021 season. In 2023, Murphy served as the starting catcher on the National League All-Stars. He team signed a 6-year, $73 million contract extension with the Atlanta Braves in December 2022, which includes a $15 million club option for the 2029 season. Scholten recently made his debut with the Chicago White Sox in September 2023 after working his way through the minors.

STAYING ON THE ROAD
Staying in the visitor's dugout, the Raiders will continue playing on the road as they face Miami University on Tuesday, February 27 and compete in a three-game series at the University of Memphis March 1-3.

BACK ON HOME TURF
The Raiders be back in Nischwitz Stadium for their first home game on Wednesday, March 6 against Miami University.