Raiders ready for HL week two in Indiana

Friday, March 22

Fort Wayne, IN

3 PM

Wright State University

Purdue Fort Wayne

3/21/2024 4:00:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes at Purdue Fort Wayne Live Stats

DAYTON – The Wright State baseball team will be on the road for the second Horizon League weekend series, as they head to Purdue Fort Wayne for a three-game series from March 22-24. Fans can keep up with the action through live stats.

Game 1 - Friday, March 22 - 3:00 p.m. - Live Stats
Game 2 - Saturday, March 23 - 2:00 p.m. - Live Stats
Game 3 - Sunday, March 24 - 1:00 p.m. - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State is coming off a midweek game against Akron, falling short 7-11.

The Raiders finished the day with seven runs on eight hits with five walks against their nine strikeouts. Patrick Fultz, Nate Manley, and Boston Smith led the team with two hits each, followed by Jay Luikart and Dane Thomas adding one each. The Raiders had five extra-base hits, including two doubles by Thomas, a Smith triple, a home run by Luikart, and two homers by Manley. Thomas and Ben Vore each reached base on walks twice, and Manley once.

Joey Valentine (0-1) was charged with the loss after opening the second innings and allowing five runs on three hits with two walks in two third innings on the mound. Duke Benge notably pitched two innings, allowing no runs or hits with one strikeout. Starting pitcher Garret Simpson pitched the first inning, allowing no runs or hits with two strikeouts.

HISTORY VS. PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Wright State holds the all-time series record over Purdue Fort Wayne 13-6, with their last matchup being at PFW, in April 2024, where the Raiders came out victorious 11-5. Wright State has won eight of their last ten matchups. Both teams do better when they are the visiting team, as the Raiders hold a 10-1 away record against the Mastodons, but are 3-5 when playing in Indiana.

SCOUTING THE MASTODONS
Under direction of fifth year head coach Doug Schreiber, PFW currently has an 8-14 overall record, all in away games.

The Mastodons have a .273 batting average, with 136 runs on 204 hits in their 747 at-bats. They have 34 doubles, 4 triples, 23 home runs, and 82 walks, with 196 strikeouts. The 'Dons are leading the Horizon League with ten sacrifice flies on the season. They are led by Justin Osterhouse, averaging .385 at bat, holding a .744 slugging percentage, recording 30 hits in his 78 at bats with eight home runs for 24 RBI.

Probable starters for the Panthers include right-handed pitchers Mac Ayers (0-3) and Carter Sabol (2-2). Sabol sits at the top of the 'Don's pitching staff with a 4.97 ERA, striking out 19 batters this season. Ayres currently has a 11.10 ERA with 20 strikeouts on the season.

NATIONWIDE NUMBERS
Wright State currently ranks No. 32 in the nation with 224 hits on the season, and No. 37 with 180 runs. The Raiders are No. 39 with a .312 batting average, and No. 30 with a .534 slugging percentage. Wright State is No. 31 in home runs (31) and home runs per game (1.70 HR/game).

Two batters ranking in the top ten of the nation are Boston Smith with three triples (No. 7), and Sammy Sass with .56 doubles per game (No. 8). Jay Luikart is No. 16 nationally with 35 hits this season, and No. 23 with 1.75 hits per game. Luikart is No. 22 averaging 1.50 RBI per game, and No. 25 with 30 total RBI. Ben Vore sits No. 22 with a .833 slugging percentage.

IN THE LEAGUE
The Raiders lead the Horizon league with 180 runs on 224 hits, with 45 doubles (2.25 2B/game), and 34 home runs (1.70 HR/game). The Raiders have put up a league leading 14 doubles plays and hold a .972 fielding percentage. They are second with a .312 team batting average, a .534 slugging percentage, nine sacrifice flies, and a .550 win-loss percentage.

Jay Luikart is a top batter in the HL, leading the league with 35 hits. Sammy Sass leads with nine doubles, average .56 per game, while Boston Smith leads with his three triples. Luikart and Sass take the top two seats when it comes to hits per game, averaging 1.75 and 1.69 respectively. In RBI, Luikart and Sass are joined by Ben Vore, taking up three of the top five spots for runs batted in. Drew Baker leads the league in runs per game averaging 1.38. Luikart is second in total bases (64) and third with eight total home runs this season. Vore's .833 slugging percentage puts him second in the league.

Leading on the mound is Jake Shirk, with a 5.25 strikeout-to-walk ration and 1.24 walks allowed per nine innings.

JAY LUIKART-BATTER OF THE WEEK
Jay Luikart was named the Horizon League baseball batter of the week on March 19, being the first Raider to be awarded a HL player of the week award in the 2024 season.

Luikart batted .611 (11-for-18) with a 1.111 slugging percentage, three doubles, two home runs, 12 RBI, and five runs scored in four games over the week, greatly leading the team to a 3-1 record. Luikart recorded a league leading and career best of five hits in his six at bats against Toledo, including one double and a home run in his five RBI. The Ashland, Ohio native averaged .500 at bat in the Horizon League opening weekend, recording two doubles and a home run against Milwaukee. Luikart led the team with seven RBI over the Panthers, and reached 11 total bases.

FRESHMAN STANDOUTS
Standout freshmen for the Raiders this season include Brayden Shoetzow on the mound and Nate Manley at catcher. Shoetzow has made five appearances on the season, being awarded two saves, first at Louisiana and later at Eastern Kentucky. The Granger, Indiana native averages a 5.40 ERA, with three earned runs on the season.

Manley got off to a slower start for his first year of collegiate ball, not appearing in a game until March 15 for the series against Milwaukee. Manley recorded his first collegiate home run in the series finale against Milwaukee, and broke the personal record with two homers against Akron just two days later. In his four appearances, Manley has tallied eight hits, three walks, and seven RBI, and currently leads the team with a .533 batting average.

POWER FIVE WIN
Wright State took down Power Five school Oklahoma 12-2 earlier this season. In the run-heavy series finale, the Raiders put up 12 runs on 15 hits, with four walks and only five strikeouts. Leading the way for the Raiders was Drew Baker with a hit in each of his four at bats. Following him was Patrick Fultz, Julian Greenwell, Sammy Sass, and Ben Vore, each putting up two hits. Gus Gregory, Parker Harrison, and Jay Luikart each gave a single hit on the day. The Raiders recorded four home runs on the day, one each from Baker, Luikart, Sass, and Vore.

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.

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.

BACK ON HOME TURF
Wright State will be back at Nischwitz Stadium for a three-game series against Oakland on March 28-30. All three games will stream on ESPN+ and have live stats provided.