Raiders travel to Oakland for eighth week of HL play

Friday, May 3

Rochester, MI

3:30 PM

Wright State University

Oakland

Photo by: Alexis Hutchinson

5/2/2024 4:00:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes at Oakland Live Stats (Friday)Live Stats (Saturday)Live Stats (Sunday)

DAYTON – The Wright State baseball team will be traveling north for a three-game series at Oakland, starting Friday, May 3 through Sunday, May 5. Fans can keep up with the action through live stats for all three games.

Game 1 - Friday, May 3 - 3:30 p.m. - Live Stats
Game 2 - Saturday, May 4 - 2:00 p.m. - Live Stats
Game 3 - Sunday, May 5 - 1:00 p.m. - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State is coming off a series sweep against Purdue Fort Wayne, going 5-1. 11-4, and 2-1.

The Raiders finished with 18 runs on 36 hits with 18 walks against their 14 strikeouts. Julian Greenwell and Sammy Sass led the team with six hits each, followed by Luke Arnold, Patrick Fultz, Jay Luikart, and Ben Vore with four each. Gus Gregory and Andrew Patrick both had two hits over the series, and Boston Smith recorded two hits. Luikart, Smith, and Vore each added a homer over the weekend.

Friday starting pitcher Jake Shirk earned the win after putting in six innings on the mound, allowing only one run with four hits and two walks, striking out four batters. Garrett Peters closed the game and was awarded the save on Friday after allowing no runs with one hit and two walks and four batters struck out. Saturday starting pitcher Garret Simpson (4-1) was awarded the win after pitching five innings, allowing only four hits with four walks, while striking out five batters. Cam Allen earned his first collegiate win, entering to pitch from the fifth to eighth innings in the series finale, allowing no runs with only one hit and one walk, striking out three batters.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Under direction of fourth year head coach Jordon Banfield, Oakland currently has a 24-21 overall record, going 8-2 at home and 16-19 on the road. The Golden Grizzlies sit fourth in the Horizon League with an 12-9 league record.

Oakland currently has a .301 team batting average, with 388 runs on 464 hits. The Golden Grizzlies have tallied 91 doubles, 21 triples, and 51 home runs with 267 walks against their 366 strikeouts. On the mound, the team has a 7.94 ERA, striking out 280 batters with 197 walks. They rank first in the HL with 4.65 walks allowed per nine innings.

The Golden Grizzlies are led by Carter Hain's .350 batting average, sitting him seventh in the HL, .592 slugging percentage, 44 RBI, and four sacrifice flies. Reggie Bussey leads the team with 58 hits and 36 walks. Brandon Decker's 5.51 ERA leads the team, along with his five wins, 78.1 innings pitched in 21 appearances, and 65 batters struck out.

HISTORY VS. OAKLAND
Wright State holds the all-time record over Oakland 55-15. Their last matchups were earlier this season at Wright State, where the Golden Grizzlies took the series opener and finale, 19-1 and 12-7, and Wright State won game two 5-4. The two teams have faced each other 58 times since Oakland joined the Horizon League in 2013, with the Raiders holding the 46-12 HL record.

LEAGUE STANDINGS
After sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne, Wright State leads the Horizon League with a 14-7 conference record. Below them is the previous leader Northern Kentucky with a 13-8 HL record, recently falling after a series loss at Milwaukee. Sitting third is Oakland, going 12-9 in the league.

Rounding out the league is Milwaukee, sitting fourth with a 9-12 HL record. They are followed by Purdue Fort Wayne's 8-13 record an Youngstown State going 7-14.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
"Jay Luikart" and "Sammy Sass" have become common names when it comes to national rankings. Luikart's 60 RBI rank him No. 14 in the nation, while Sass sits at No. 35 with his 1.31 RBI per game. Sass sits fifth in the nation with 1.74 hits per game. Luikart's 128 total bases rank him No. 30 nationally, and his 17 home runs rank him No. 31. Sass's .46 doubles per game sit him No. 13 in the nation, No. 17 with 18 total, while his .407 batting average ranks him No. 19. With 68 hits on the season, Sass comes in at No. 29, while Luikart's 66 hits rank him No. 44.

NATIONWIDE NUMBERS
Wright State's .324 batting average puts them sixth nationally, sitting fifth with 496 hits on the season and No. 11 with 413 runs. Averaging 9.6 runs per game the Raiders come in eighth nationally. When it comes to extra-base hitting, the Raiders do not shy away, sitting at No. 21 with 100 doubles and tenth with 90 home runs, ninth with 2.09 home runs per game. The Raiders rank sixth in the nation with their .581 slugging percentage, and No. 17 with a .425 on-base percentage.

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. 20 in the nation. With 62 RBI on the season, Vore sits at No. 11 in the nation, while Smith's 17 home runs sit him at No. 31 nationally, No. 28 with .41 home runs per game. Smith's .762 slugging percentage puts him at No. 36 nationally.

Jake Shirk is No. 52 with only 1.87 walks allowed per nine innings.

ROOKIE TRIO TAKES DOWN PFW
First-year Raiders have made a name for themselves this season. Notably in the series finale against Purdue Fort Wayne, where an all-freshman pitching staff earned the series sweeping win. Starting pitcher Chet Lax put in four innings of work, allowing only one run on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Cam Allen earned his first collegiate win, entering to pitch from the fifth to eighth innings, allowing no runs with only one hit and one walk, striking out three batters. Brayden Schoetzow was awarded the save after closing the game, allowing only one hit in the final inning. The three pitchers held the Mastodons to a .219 batting average.

SCORING BIG
Wright State has had many high-scoring games this season, with 19 total ten-plus run games. The Raiders had a six-game streak scoring ten or more runs (4/7/24-4/16/24), the most in program history. The Raiders preform best preforming in double-figures, going 15-4 when finishing with ten or more runs.

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.

STAYING ON THE ROAD
Wright State will stay on the road, traveling for a midweek game at Pittsburgh on Wednesday, May 8 at 4:00 p.m. The Raiders will remain away, traveling to Youngstown State for a three-game series from Friday, May 10 through Sunday, May 12. All four games will have live stats provided.

BACK ON HOME TURF
The Raiders will be back in the Nisch to close the regular season in a three-game series against Northern Kentucky. Fans are invited to keep up with the action in-person with free admission, or through live stats.