MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – The Wright State baseball team defeated Milwaukee 12-5 in the Saturday afternoon rubber match. The Raiders return home on March 25 to face Air Force at Nischwitz Stadium, continuing the Stars, Stripes, and Flight Classic series, which began in November with basketball.
The Raiders (11-10, 5-1 HL) tallied 12 runs on 12 hits, drawing five walks while striking out four times. Leading the way for WSU was
Hunter Warren with three hits, driving in three runs, followed by
Braylen Blomquist with two hits and three RBI.
Luke Arnold also added two hits, while
Conlan Daniel,
Patrick Fultz,
Cam Gilkerson,
Nate Manley, and
JP Peltier had one hit apiece. WSU recorded two extra-base hits: a Gilkerson triple and a Daniel home run.
Milwaukee struck first with a sacrifice fly in the opening frame. WSU quickly responded, tying the game in the second. Manley singled, advanced to second on a Daniel groundout, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Blomquist groundout. After holding Milwaukee hitless in the second, the Raiders opened the third as
Boston Smith reached on a walk, advancing on a Warren single. As both runners advanced on steals, the catcher made a throwing error, allowing Smith to score and Warren to reach third, giving WSU the lead 2-1. Fultz was walked before Peltier flew out to right field, allowing Warren to score, 3-1.
Wright State continued, adding two more runs in the fourth. The bases became loaded early, as Blomquist and Arnold singled, followed by Blomquist stealing third before Smith was walked. Warren reached on a fielder's choice, getting Smith out at second as Blomquist scored. Arnold advanced to third and scored on a throwing error by the second baseman, making it 5-1.
The Raiders doubled their runs with five more in the fifth, starting as Peltier singled on the first pitch, stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch. Gilkerson was walked before Manley was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Daniel reached on a fielder's choice, sending Peltier to score as Manley was out at second, 6-1. Daniel stole second before Blomquist singled to left field, sending both runners to score, 8-1. Arnold was hit by a pitch, moving Blomquist into scoring position and a Warren single through the right side sent Blomquist to score and put Arnold on third, 9-1. WSU hit double digits as Fultz's single to center plated Arnold, making it 10-1.
The Panthers responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, scoring on a home run and an RBI-single, 10-3. WSU responded with a homer of their own in the sixth as Daniel put one into left field, 11-3. Milwaukee answered with another RBI-single, making it 11-4.
Scoring capped in the seventh as the final Raider run came as Arnold reached on an error, advancing to second on the error and to third on a Smith groundout. Warren grounded out to the short stop, sending Arnold to score, 12-4. Milwaukee added the final run of the day, scoring on a fielder's choice, 12-5.
