DAYTON – The Wright State baseball team defeated Xavier University 7-6 on Tuesday afternoon. Wright State is now 8-7 on the season, and will have another midweek matchup on Wednesday, March 13 at 3:00 p.m. against The University of Toledo.
Recording seven runs on ten hits with three walks, the Raiders were led by
Boston Smith's three hits, followed by
Julian Greenwell and
JP Peltier for two.
Drew Baker,
Sammy Sass, and
Ben Vore each added one hit on the day. Three of the five Raider doubles came from Smith, the others coming from Sass and Vore adding one each. Greenwell added his third home run of the year in the seventh.
After a hitless first inning, Wright State gained an early advantage, putting up five runs in the second. The first run came from Clark reaching on an error, allowing Smith to score. Peltier reached base with a single, putting Clark on third. A double by Vore sent Clark and Peltier home, for a 3-0 lead. A Greenwell single allowed Vore to score, and the last run was added with a Sass double putting Greenwell across home plate, 5-0. The following innings were uneventful, as Xavier added a hit in both the third and fourth innings, but were unable to score a run and
Boston Smith recorded a double to right center in the third.
Xavier closed in on the Raider lead in the fifth inning, adding three runs, including two doubles and two singles, 5-3. There was little action through the bottom of the fifth and sixth, as the Musketeers added just one single in each inning. Wright State extended their lead in the seventh, beginning with a home run from Greenwell, 6-3. Baker was walked and sent home on a Smith double, 7-3. Xavier lowered the Raider lead to just one in the eighth with two singles and a walk to advance a runner home. The inning ended with two left on base after a double play from Smith to Greenwell. No runs were scored the final at bats, ending the game 7-6.
Starting pitcher
Joey Valentine (1-0) was awarded the win after pitching three innings with no runs on one hit with three walks, one wild pitch, and one strikeout.
Garrett Peters (S, 1) entered in the eighth to finish the game and was awarded the save after preventing Xavier from taking the lead with two left on base. Peters allowed just one hit with no runs and no walks with one strikeout.
Alex Vera (0-1) took the Tuesday loss after pitching the first two innings and allowing five runs on six hits with two strikeouts. The Musketeers finished putting up six runs on 13 hits with five walks against their six strikeouts. They were led by Carter Hendrickson, putting up two doubles in his three at bats.
