DAYTON – The Wright State baseball team moved to 6-1 in the Horizon League, defeating Youngstown State 10-9 on Friday afternoon. The Raiders will finish the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 12 p.m. Fans can keep up with the action in person with free admission or online via live stats.
Wright State (12-11, 6-1 HL) finished with 10 runs on 10 hits, including three home runs, while drawing four walks.
Hunter Warren led the team with three hits, followed by
Luke Arnold with two. Five Raiders–
Braylen Blomquist,
Will Cook,
Patrick Fultz,
JP Peltier, and
Boston Smith– added a hit apiece.
WSU opened the scoring in the first as Fultz launched a 398-foot homer to left-center, driving in Warren, who had reached on a single. After the Penguins responded with an RBI double in the top of the second, WSU extended its lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the inning. The two runs came after Daniel drew a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a Blomquist groundout. Cook then walked and stole second, putting two in scoring position. Arnold singled up the middle, allowing both runners to score.
The Penguins tied the game at four by the fifth, scoring on an RBI single in the fourth and on a two-run homer in the fifth. Wright State quickly regained the advantage, tallying six runs over the fifth and sixth innings. The six-run rally began when Smith led off the fifth with a solo homer to center field, putting WSU back on top, 5-4. Warren followed, reaching on a single to left center, advancing to second as Fultz drew a walk. Both advanced on a Peltier sacrifice hit, as Warren was driven in on a Gilkerson RBI groundout.
After a one-two-three top of the sixth, the Raiders continued scoring, adding four runs in the bottom of the inning. The first came as Arnold singled through the left side, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Warren single. Fultz drew a walk to put two on base before Peltier crushed a first-pitch 444-foot homer over the left-field wall, making it 10-4.
Neither team recorded a hit in the seventh or eighth, with each side reaching once on a hit-by-pitch. YSU capped scoring on the day with five runs on six hits in the ninth. The Penguins drove in the final runs on a single and three doubles, making it a one-run game, 10-9.
Wright State starter
Mychal Grogan put in four innings of work, walking no batters and striking out three while allowing two runs on five hits.
Warren Hartzell (3-0) earned his third win of the season, entering in the fifth and putting in 4.2 innings on the mound. Hartzell walked two batters and struck out one, allowing five runs on four hits.
Garrett Peters closed the final third of an inning, walking none and striking out one while allowing two runs on three hits.
Youngstown State (4-20, 2-5 HL) finished with nine runs on 12 hits with two walks against their five strikeouts. Nathan Beckley and Kyle Fossum each drove in two runs, while Brady Shannon led the team with three hits. Penguins starter Jacob Gehring took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts over 4.2 innings.
