Wright State Baseball Field | Photo by Jessica Fugett | The Wright State Guardian
The Wright State University baseball team opened up its conference play at Nischwitz Stadium against the Grizzlies of Oakland University in a three-game series.
The Raiders are coming off a tough non-conference schedule that featured a few of the nation’s top teams that will benefit the Raiders as the season progresses.
Game one
On Friday, WSU lost their series opener, 4-2 to Oakland. Starting pitcher Jake Shirk threw seven innings, only giving up five hits and two earned runs.
The scoring began in the top of the third for Oakland when the Grizzlies brought two runs in with a single following a fielding error and a walk to lead the inning off.
In the top of the fifth, the Grizzlies posted two more runs following a leadoff double and a throwing error on a bunt that ultimately set up both runs. In the bottom of the fifth, the Raiders posted their first hit of the game but struggled to build momentum.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Raiders started a late rally by hitting two doubles and two singles resulting in two runs. The Raiders were unable to climb back from their early 4-0 deficit, ultimately falling 4-2.
Oakland capitalizing on errors along with their starting pitcher going eight and two-thirds innings played pivotal roles in Oakland winning the first game.
Game two
Originally scheduled for Saturday but postponed due to inclement weather, The Raiders kicked off a Sunday doubleheader. The Raiders found their bats that were missing from game one, scoring 14 runs from 15 hits.
Raiders RF Alec Sayre began his four-rbi game in the bottom of the first with a double following a walk to Justin Riemer.
The real massacre began in the bottom of the third with the raiders notching seven runs against the Grizzlies. WSU put up six hits including three home runs by Julian Greenwell, Gehrig Anglin and Justin Mcconnell to blow the game open.
Oakland scored single runs in both the fourth and sixth for their only two scores of the game.
Wright State scored four more runs in the bottom of the fifth after their offense hit for the cycle. Alec Sayre continued his four-hit performance by hitting a two-run home run down the left-field line.
WSU scored two more off a two-run homer by Jay Luikart in the bottom of the sixth to conclude all scoring at 14-2.
The Raiders evened the series at one apiece after their offensive explosion early Saturday afternoon.
Game three
In the series-deciding matchup, WSU fell to an early four-run deficit. In the bottom of the fourth, the Raiders put up two from a home run by Gehrig Anglin.
With WSU bringing the score within two runs, Oakland added two more runs in the fifth to go up by four.
In the bottom of the ninth, WSU notched two runs to bring the score within one but was unable to complete the late comeback.
Oakland won this series because of its ability to capitalize on WSU errors.
A quick trip to Columbus
Following their series loss to Oakland, the Raiders made a trip to Columbus for a single-game matchup with the Buckeyes of Ohio State University.
Before the game, the Buckeyes honored former OSU All-American and WSU coaching legend, Ron Nischwitz, by having him throw the ceremonial first pitch.
Down seven runs in the seventh inning, the Raiders notched four runs to start a promising comeback.
Relief pitcher Alex Theis was dealing late in the game for WSU, recording five strikeouts in just two and a third innings thrown.
Despite their late rally, WSU fell to the Buckeyes by a final score of 7-5. A lack of timely hitting proved costly for the Raiders in this game as they left 12 runners stranded on base.
