Wright State stays on the road for series at Youngstown - Wright State University Athletics (2024)

DAYTON – The Wright State baseball team will stay on the road this weekend, traveling for a three-game series at Youngstown State. The series will run from Friday, May 10 to Sunday, May 12. Fans can keep up with the action through live stats or by listening to the audio broadcast.

Game 1 - Friday, May 10 - 11:00 a.m. - Live Stats - Listen
Game 2 - Saturday, May 11 - 3:00 p.m. - Live Stats - Listen
Game 3 - Sunday, May 12 - 1:00 p.m. - Live Stats - Listen

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State is coming off a midweek loss against the University of Pittsburgh, falling 22-4 on Wednesday afternoon.

Wright State finished with four runs on nine hits with three walks against their eight strikeouts. Julian Greenwell led the team with two hits on the day, followed by Luke Arnold, Drew Baker, Andrew Patrick, JP Peltier, Sammy Sass, Boston Smith, and Ben Vore all recording one hit. Wright State had four extra-base hits, with two doubles from Greenwell, one from Patrick, and a homer by Sass.

Starting pitcher Ty Roder (1-3) was charged with the loss, after allowing seven runs on six hits with one walk and two batters struck out in two thirds of an inning on the mound. Closing pitcher Chris Gallagher put in one inning of work, allowing no runs with only one hit, striking out one batter.

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS
Under direction of first year head coach Dan Bertolini, Youngstown currently has a 11-37 overall record, going 6-13 at home and 5-14 on the road. The 'Guins have an 8-16 Horizon League record.

Youngstown currently has a .266 team batting average, with 248 runs on 416 hits. The Penguins have tallied 66 doubles and 37 home runs with 168 walks against their 399 strikeouts. With 18 triples on the season, Youngstown ranks No. 13 nationally. On the mound, the team has a 10.88 ERA, striking out 300 batters with 349 walks.

The Penguins are led by Trey Law's .347 batting average, with 67 hits in 193 at bats, tallying 22 RBI. Alejandro Covas sits third in the nation with eight triples on the season. He leads the team alongside Brett Stanley, both recording 31 RBI. Jacob Gehring leads Penguins on the mound with 47 batters struck out. Making 18 appearances thus far, Chris Domke leads the team with a 6.63 ERA.

HISTORY VS. YOUNGSTOWN
Wright State holds the all-time record over Youngstown State 95-42, with their last matchup being earlier this season, where the Raiders swept the series, 15-12, 8-7, 11-1. Wright State has won eight of their last ten matchups against the Penguins.

LEAGUE STANDINGS
After sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne April 26-28, Wright State leads the Horizon League with a 16-8 conference record. Below them is the previous leader Northern Kentucky with a 15-9 HL record, falling after a series loss at Milwaukee April 26-28. Sitting third is Oakland, going 13-11 in the league.

Rounding out the league is Milwaukee, sitting fourth with a 11-13 HL record. They are followed by Purdue Fort Wayne's 9-15 record and Youngstown State going 8-16.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
"Julian Greenwell" and "Sammy Sass" have become common names when it comes to national rankings. Greenwell's .411 batting average ranks him No. 16 nationally, while Sass follows with a .389 batting average sitting No. 38. Greenwell sits third in the nation with .50 doubles per game, while him and Sass rank tied at No. 34 with 18 total doubles. Sass's 1.67 hits per game rank him No 11 in the nation, No. 32 with 71 total hits, while Greenwell is No. 13 with 1.66 hits per game. With just 16 strikeouts in his 185 at bats, Sass ranks No. 33 as the toughest to strikeout, averaging one strikeout every 11.6 at bats. Greenwell closely follows with one strikeout every 11.2 at bats. With 1.30 RBI per game, Sass sits No. 37 nationally.

NATIONWIDE NUMBERS
Wright State's .322 batting average puts them eighth nationally, sitting seventh with 537 hits on the season and ninth with 440 runs. Averaging 9.4 runs per game, the Raiders come in tenth nationally. When it comes to extra-base hitting, the Raiders do not shy away, sitting at No. 17 with 110 doubles, No. 15 with 2.34 per game, and seventh with 99 home runs, seventh with 2.11 home runs per game. The Raiders rank seventh in the nation with their .580 slugging percentage, and No. 21 with a .422 on-base percentage.

Alongside Greenwell and Sass, three 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. 26 in the nation. With 65 RBI on the season, Vore sits at No. 17 in the nation, followed by Luikart's 62 RBI ranking him No. 24. Both recording 18 home runs to date, Smith and Vore sit No. 34 nationally.

Jake Shirk is No. 43 with only 1.80 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 (Ben Vore– 65, 2; Jay Luikart– 62, 3; Sammy Sass – 56, 5). Sass leads the league with 72 hits on the season, followed by Luikart sitting fourth with 68 hits. Julian Greenwell leads the HL with a .411 batting average, while Sass's .389 batting average sits him third in the league.

The Raiders have three HL leaders when it comes to home runs, as Boston Smith and Vore lead with 18 homers on the season, closely trailed by Luikart with 17. Smith and Vore sit tied for second with four triples, while Greenwell and Sass's 18 doubles sit them third in the league. Sass and Vore lead the league with five sacrifice flies.

Wright State dominates in slugging percentages, with four batters in the top five spots, as Smith sits second with a .755 slugging percentage, Vore sits third (.733), Greenwell fourth (.

) and Sass fifth (.692). Sass leads the league as the toughest to strikeout with just 16 strikeouts in his 185 at bats, averaging one strikeout every 11.6 at bats. Greenwell sits just below him with a strikeout every 11.2 at bats.

FRESHMAN STANDOUTS
Standout freshmen for the Raiders this season include Brayden Shoetzow on the mound and Nate Manley at catcher. Shoetzow has made 12 appearances on the season, being awarded three saves, first at Louisiana and later at Eastern Kentucky, then against Purdue Fort Wayne. Shoetzow has earned one win on the season, entering to close against Youngstown State, striking out one batter and leaving on runner on base. The Granger, Indiana native averages a 2.53 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 20 appearances, Manley has tallied 26 hits, 13 walks, 21 RBI, and is four-for-four on stolen bases. Manley currently leads the team with a .426 batting average.

SCORING BIG
Wright State has had many high-scoring games this season, with 20 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 15-5 when finishing with ten or more runs.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES
The Raiders were claimed the top spot in the 2024 Horizon League preseason poll, with 34 points and four first-place votes. Multiple Raiders were awarded preseason honors by D1 Baseball. Jay Luikart and Andrew Patrick were honored in the top 100 outfielders, and Sammy Sass in the top 50 catchers. D1 Baseball named Patrick as the top prospect of the Horizon League, followed by Ty Roder as the number five prospect.

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.

FIVE-PEAT
The Raiders swept Milwaukee from May 12-14, 2023, to clinch their fifth consecutive Horizon League regular season title (excluding the Covid-shortened 2020 season). WSU has won 20-plus games against HL teams each year in the stretch.

PRO RAIDERS
The Raiders are no strangers to sending their athletes pro, with two current professional players, Sean Murphy and Jesse Scholtens. 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
The Raiders will stay on the Road for a midweek matchup at Kentucky on Tuesday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. The game 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.