DAYTON – The Wright State baseball team will be back on the road as they ready for a three-game series at Eastern Kentucky. The series will run from March 8-10 at Earle Combs Stadium. Raider fans can keep up with the action through live stats throughout the series, or on ESPN+ on Friday and Saturday.
 
Game 1 - Friday, March 8 - 2:00 p.m. - Live Stats - Watch
Game 2 - Saturday, March 9 - 4:00 p.m. - Live Stats - Watch
Game 3 - Sunday, March 10 - 4:00 p.m. - Live Stats
 
LAST TIME OUT
Wright State defeated Miami (OH) 6-5 for their home opener on Wednesday, March 5, thanks to a walk-off single by Boston Smith.
 
Recording six runs on 13 hits with five walks, the Raiders were led by Sammy Sass with three hits, including a lead grabbing home run in the sixth. Following Sass with two hits was Drew Baker, Julian Greenwell, Jay Luikart, and Boston Smith, while Gus Gregory and Ven Vore each recorded on hit on the day. Hitting outside of the park alongside Sass was Greenwell and Luikart.
 
Chris Gallagher (1-0) was awarded the win for the midweek matchup, after allowing only two hits with no walks in his one and two third innings on the mound. Mychal Grogan entered in the third, putting in one and a third innings of work and allowing two runs on two hits with three walks, and a team leading three strikeouts. Warren Hartzell notably put in three innings of work, allowing no runs with four hits and no walks, with two strikeouts.
 
SCOUTING THE COLONELS
Under direction of fourth-year head coach Chris Prothro, Eastern Kentucky is 2-11 on the season, going 2-5 at home and 0-6 on the road. The Colonels are sitting eleventh in the ASUN based on current records, and were predicted to finish seventh in the ASUN preseason poll.
 
Leading EKU at the plate is senior Conner Davis, averaging .348 at bat and totaling 16 hits this season. Alongside him is senior DJ Smith, leading the team and sitting No. 34 nationally with six doubles. As a team, the Colonels are averaging .214 at bat with 45 runs on 86 hits with 42 walks, and rank third in the ASUN with 26 doubles.
 
HISTORY VS. EASTERN KENTUCKY
Wright State holds the all-time series record of Eastern Kentucky, 20-14, with their last matchup being nearly 20 years ago, in April of 2005, where the Raiders came out victorious, 14-5. In their history, both teams do better when they are the host team, as the Raiders hold a 14-6 at home record against the Colonels, but are 6-8 when playing at EKU.
 
NATIONWIDE NUMBERS
Wright State currently ranks No. 54 with ten double plays on the season, and No. 56 with .91 double plays per game. They are No. 59 with 1.45 home runs per game, and No. 65 for total home runs (16).
 
Sitting No. 9 nationally as the toughest to strikeout is Julian Greenwell, with one strikeout in his 46 at bats. Alongside him is Sammy Sass, sitting No. 40 in the toughest to strikeout, going up to bat 45 times with only three strikeouts. Sass also ranks nationally as No. 12 in total doubles (7), and No. 15 in doubles per game (.64/game).
 
IN THE LEAGUE
The Raiders are leaders in the Horizon League, putting up 22 doubles on the season and a .967 team fielding percentage. They are second with a .289 batting average, .465 slugging percentage, and 18 home runs. They are also second on the mound with a 7.71 earned run average.
 
Sammy Sass is leading at the plate with 18 hits and seven doubles. Sass is third with a .400 batting average and 12 runs, and sits fourth with a .756 slugging percentage. Also ranking highly in the league is Gus Gregory, as he is second in walks (11) and fourth with a .500 on base percentage. Just below Gregory in walks is Patrick Fultz, sitting tied for third with 10 walks. Rounding out the Raider's at the plate HL leaders is Jay Luikart, sitting tied for third with four home runs on the season.
 
Leading the HL on the mound is Josh Laisure and Jake Shirk. Laisure is currently fourth in the HL with a 5.56 ERA, while Shirk sits tied for fifth with 11 strikeouts on the season.
 
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.
 
BACK ON HOME TURF
The Raiders will be back home for matchups against Xavier and Toledo, on Tuesday, March 12 at 3:00 p.m. and Wednesday, March 13 at 3:00 p.m., respectively, at Nischwitz Stadium. Both games will have free admission, but fans can also keep up online through ESPN+ or live stats.