Raiders stay on the road for midweek matchup at Ohio State

Tuesday, April 16

Columbus, OH

6 PM

Wright State University

Ohio State

Photo by: Alexis Hutchinson

Raiders stay on the road for midweek matchup at Ohio State

4/15/2024 6:00:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes at Ohio State Watch Live Stats

DAYTON – The Wright State baseball team will be heading north to Columbus for a midweek game against Ohio State. The night game will begin at 6:00 p.m., and fans can keep up with the action on the Big Ten live stream or through live stats.

Ohio State - Tuesday, April 16 - 6:00 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State is coming off a weekend series win against Northern Kentucky, falling short in the series opener 14-15, taking the win on Saturday 12-9, and winning the rubber match 16-11.

The Raiders finished with 42 runs on 40 hits with 16 walks against their 22 strikeouts. Julian Greenwell was a large asset in the series win, recording eight hits in his 16 at bats, leading the team with four doubles, two home runs, and ten RBI. Greenwell's homers came in the form of two series finale grand slams in consecutive innings. Following Greenwell were Patrick Fultz and Sammy Sass, each recording seven hits, with Fultz matching the leading two home runs. Boston Smith added five hits over the series, and Andrew Patrick four. Patrick led the team with eight runs scored, closely followed by Fultz with six.

Griffen Paige and Ty Roder were awarded the wins, as Paige entered in the fifth inning on Saturday, putting in two and two third innings of work, allowing only two runs on four hits with two walks and four batters struck out. Josh Laisure entered in the ninth earning the save, after preventing one runner from scoring and allowing no runs or hits. Ty Roder earned the series finale win after entering in the fourth, allowing two runs on one hit with three walks, striking out one batter in one inning on the mound. Jake Shirk started the series opener, recording a team weekend high of seven batters struck out in his five and two third innings on the mound. Saturday starter Garret Simpson closely trailed, striking out six batters in his four and one third innings of work.

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
Under direction of second year head coach Bill Mosiello, Ohio State currently has a 17-15 overall record, going 6-5 at home and 7-9 on the road. The Buckeyes are currently sixth in the Big Ten with an 5-4 conference record.

Ohio State currently has a .266 team batting average, with 205 runs on 288 hits. The Buckeyes have tallied 55 doubles, 14 triples, and 33 home runs with 170 walks against their 309 strikeouts. They are ranked No. 14 nationally with .44 triples per game. On the mound, the team has a 5.41 ERA, striking out 256 batters with 150 walks.

The Buckeyes are led Henry Kaczmar's .315 batting average, with 40 hits and 31 runs scored. Mitchell Okuley leads the team with 32 RBI.

HISTORY VS. OHIO STATE
Wright State holds the all-time record over NKU 48-14, with their last matchup being in May of 2023, where the Raiders won 7-3. The Norse were last victorious over the Raiders in April of 2023, winning 9-5. Wright State has won nine of their last ten matchups against the Norse.

D1BASEBALL.COM PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sammy Sass was named the D1Baseball.com player of the week on April 15. Sass's weekly honors come in part after a monumental midweek game against Miami (OH), recording four home runs in a single game. This feat has only been reached one other time in the 2024 season, and is a first in the Horizon League. Against Miami, Sass recorded four runs in five at-bats, tallying six RBI, reaching base once on balls and again on a hit by pitch.

Over the week, the Upper Arlington, Ohio native averaged .611 at bat, recording 11 hits in 18 at-bats against Miami and Horizon League opponent Northern Kentucky University. He finished the week with eight extra-base hits, including his four midweek homers, as well as three doubles and another home run against NKU. Sass tallied 14 RBI, a 1.611 slugging percentage, and a .873 weighted on-base percentage over the four games.

GRAND SLAM-ING GREENWELL
Julian Greenwell made quite an impact on April 14, leading Wright State to the rubber match victory over Northern Kentucky with two grand slams. Greenwell recorded his first grand slam of the Sunday afternoon game after Boston Smith reached on a single, advancing on a wild pitch, Andrew Patrick was walked, and Carson Clark reached on a hit by pitch, taking a 7-4 lead in the fourth. The Norse returned, tying the game at seven in the bottom of the fourth. The Raiders regained and held the advantage for the remainder of the game, starting with a Smith RBI double in the top of the fifth. After Patrick and Fultz reached base on walks, the bases were loaded for Greenwell to record his second grand slam of the day, tallying eight RBI on the day.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
"Jay Luikart" and "Sammy Sass" have become common names when it comes to national rankings. Luikart's 51 RBI rank him ninth in the nation, sitting No. 11 qirh 1.46 RBI per game. Sass ranks tenth with his 1.48 RBI per game, coming in at No. 31 with 46 total RBI. Sass's .52 doubles per game put him at fifth in the nation, tenth with 16 doubles total, while his 1.71 hits per game rank him No. 11. Luikart ranks No. 15 with his 108 total bases, sitting No. 31 with 55 hits on the season. With 14 home runs to date, Luikart is No. 28 nationally. Sass's meer 11 strikeouts in his 132 at-bats ranks him No. 27 as the toughest to strikeouts, averaging a strikeout once every 12 at-bats, while his .402 batting average places him at No. 41.

NATIONWIDE NUMBERS
Wright State's .321 batting average puts them tenth nationally, sitting eighth with 403 hits on the season, ninth with 337 runs, and eighth with a .576 slugging percentage. Averaging 9.6 runs per game the Raiders come in ninth nationally. When it comes to extra-base hitting, the Raiders do not shy away, sitting at No. 15 with 85 doubles, tenth with 70 home runs, and No. 32 with 12 triples.

Alongside Luikart and Sass, two other Wright State batters have made a name for themselves within national rankings. Boston Smith and Ben Vore's four triples put them at No. 14 in the nation. With 48 home runs this season, Ben Vore sits at No. 17 nationally, and No. 21 with 1.41 home runs per game.

With 19 pitching appearances, Chris Gallagher sits No. 15 nationally. Jake Shirk is No. 34 with only 1.54 walks allowed per nine innings.

LEADING THE LEAGUE AT BAT
The Raiders dominate the HL leaders at bat, taking up three of the top five spots when it comes to RBI (Jay Luikart – 51, 2; Ben Vore – 48, 3; Sammy Sass – 46, 4) and RBI per game (Sass – 1.48, 2; Luikart – 1.46, 3; Vore– 1.41, 4). The Raiders have three HL leaders when it comes to home runs, as Luikart is tied for the lead with 14, closely followed by Boston Smith with 13 sitting, and Vore in foruth with 11. Luikart leads with 55 hits, closely trailed by Sass's 53 hits placing him third.

Wright State dominates in slugging percentages, with four batters in the top five spots, as Smith sits second with a .746 slugging percentage, Sass sits third (.742), Vore fourth (.727), and Luikart fifth (.706). The Raiders hold four of the top five spots in total bases, led by Luikart's 108, Sass coming in third with 98, Smith fourth with 94, and Vore fifth with 93.

ONE… TWO… THREE… FOUR HOME RUNS
Putting himself on everyone's radar, Sammy Sass recorded an astounding four home runs in the midweek matchup against Miami (OH) during the Joe Nuxhall Classic. Sass was only the second batter in the nation to record four homers in a single game during the 2024 season.

Sass opened the afternoon game adding the first two runs to the board with a two-RBI bomb to left field in the first inning. He followed with another two-RBI home run, hitting over the "S" of the "Prasco Park" sign in left center. Making it three-for-three on the day, Sass hit it off the foul pole, for a solo home run in the fourth. Sass added his fourth and final home run of the day driving into left field on the first pitch in the bottom of the eighth. His four homers added up to six RBI on the day.

FRESHMAN STANDOUTS
Standout freshmen for the Raiders this season include Brayden Shoetzow on the mound and Nate Manley at catcher. Shoetzow has made nine appearances on the season, being awarded two saves, first at Louisiana and later at Eastern Kentucky. The Granger, Indiana native averages a team leading 3.86 ERA, with three earned runs on the season.

Manley got off to a slower start for his first year of collegiate ball. The anticipated redshirt did not appear 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 14 appearances, Manley has tallied 23 hits, ten walks, 16 RBI, and is four-for-four on stolen bases. Manley currently leads the team with a .511 batting average.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Wright State will stay on the road, traveling for their second series against Horizon League rival Milwaukee. The series will run from Friday, April 19, to Sunday April 21, with ESPN+ live stream and live stats provided for all three games.