Baseball resumes non-con action at Charlotte

DAYTON- The Wright State baseball team (1-2) will be in action this weekend as they travel down to North Carolina to take on Charlotte February 20-22. The Raiders and 49ers will meet at 4 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday for the series finale. Friday and Sunday's games will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available for all three games.

GAME INFORMATION
Friday, Feb. 20 – WATCH (ESPN+) | LIVE STATS
Saturday, Feb. 21 - LIVE STATS
Sunday, Feb. 22 – WATCH (ESPN+) | LIVE STATS

PROJECTED ROTATION
Friday- Cam Allen, RHP
Saturday- Griffen Paige, LHP
Sunday- Warren Hartzell, RHP

HISTORY VS. CHARLOTTE
Friday night will be the first-ever meeting between Wright State and Charlotte.

SCOUTING THE 49ERS
Charlotte finished 36-22 a season ago with an 18-9 mark in American Conference play. The 49ers are off to a 1-3 start to the season, taking one game in the season-opening series against San Diego and falling to No. 15 Clemson Tuesday night.

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State went 1-2 last weekend against No. 6 Georgia, dropping the first two games before taking the series finale 6-3. In the finale, the Raiders struck for three runs in the fourth and three runs in the fifth to secure their first win of the season.

BATTER OF THE WEEK
JP Peltier was a spark plug in the middle of Wright State's lineup as they went on to upset No. 6/15 Georgia Saturday night. The junior recorded two hits on the night, including a double in the fourth inning and a clutch two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning. Junior stepped up and sent an opposite-field shot over the wall in right-center to give Wright State a 6-2 lead that it would hold onto to take the series finale.

SCOUTING THE 2026 SQUAD
The Raidergang returns 20 players from a season ago while adding 19 newcomers (10 transfers and nine true freshmen). The squad consists of five seniors, nine juniors, nine sophomores, and 16 freshmen.

The roster features a strong in-state contingent with 54% (21 players) coming from the state of Ohio. But the Raiders also recruit well nationally, with 13 other states being represented in the roster. The other 13 states include California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

IRON SHARPENS IRON
Wright State will challenge itself in its non-conference schedule, with eight of its 12 opponents winning 30-plus games a season ago. The Raiders will also face off against four teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2025, with Georgia and Tennessee each hosting a regional.

PRESEASON HYPE
D1Baseball placed four Raiders in its annual preseason positional rankings. Patrick Fultz led the bunch coming in as the 17^th-ranked third baseman. JP Peltier joined Fultz in the top 50, coming in as the 39^th-ranked first baseman. Cam Allen enters his junior campaign as the 115^th-ranked starting pitcher, and Cam Gilkerson rounds out the bunch as the #149^th-ranked outfielder.

BUY STOCK NOW
In its conference preview, D1Baseball selected a pair of Raiders to take home specialty awards in the Horizon League. JP Peltier was selected as the preseason Player of the Year, while Cam Allen was selected as the preseason Pitcher of the Year.

D1Baseball also identified 10 Raiders as top draft prospects out of the Horizon League for the 2025 and 2026 MLB Draft. Cam Allen was selected as the top prospect for the 2026 draft, along with Andrew Duncan, Griffen Paige, JP Peltier, Warren Hartzell, and Cam Gilkerson. Sophomores JJ Thompson, Abe Crall, and Malachi Paplanus were identified as top prospects for the 2027 draft.

RAIDERS RUNNING IT BACK
In the era of the transfer portal, where many teams lose so much talent year-to-year, Wright State has recruited talent and kept them in Dayton. The Raiders returned 65% of their total production from a season ago, when factored by total points (fantasy baseball points calculation done by D1Baseball), the Raiders rank ninth in total returning production. The Raidergang return 56% of their roster from a season ago, 64% of their plate appearances, and 55% of their innings pitched. Wright State has brought back six lineup mainstays from a season ago, as well as two of its three weekend starters.

HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
Wright State was picked atop the Horizon League preseason poll for the sixth consecutive year, receiving 24 points and four first-place votes. Milwaukee followed, voted to finish second with 18 points. Coming in third was Northern Kentucky with 12 points, closely trailed by Youngstown State with 11 points. Rounding out the poll is Oakland with 10 points and one first-place vote.

LAST SEASON REWIND
Wright State is coming off a very successful 2025 campaign. The Raiders went 40-21 en route to capturing their seventh consecutive Horizon League regular season title and fourth trip to an NCAA regional in the last five seasons. Wright State made some noise on the national stage, knocking off #1 Vanderbilt on its way to a regional final appearance before falling to Louisville.

The Raiders set a new program record in 2025, earning 16 honors in last season's Horizon League All-League Awards, headlined by Freshman of the Year Hunter Warren and Coach of the Year Alex Sogard. Warren was also named to the All-League first team and the All-Freshman team. Wright State returns four Raiders selected to the All-League first team, two selected to the second team, and all four selected to the All-Freshman team.

UP NEXT
Wright State will return home to Nischwitz Stadium for its home opener against Kent State on Wednesday, February 25. First pitch in Dayton is slated for 3 p.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cam Allen

Abe Crall

Andrew Duncan

Patrick Fultz

Cam Gilkerson

Warren Hartzell

Griffen Paige

Malachi Paplanus

JP Peltier

Hunter Warren

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