NCAA Banners | Photo by Adam Campbell | The Wright State Guardian
After winning its third consecutive Horizon League Championship, the Raider team earned an automatic bid to its eleventh NCAA Tournament. This past weekend, the RaiderGang’s 2023 campaign came to an end in the Terre Haute Regional.
Game one
The Raiders would open the tournament by facing off against the No.14 Indiana State Sycamores. ISU earned the right to host its first regional tournament in program history.
Wright State tapped Horizon League pitcher of the year, Sebastian Gongora, to take the mound in the opening game.
WSU jumped ahead early in the second inning after sophomore Boston Smith hit a double that would bring two runs across to score.
The Sycamores would respond in the second by scoring one run to cut the deficit in half.
In the top of the third inning, senior Gehrig Anglin would launch a two-run homerun out to left field, giving WSU a 4-1 advantage.
The Sycamores would add one more in the bottom of the third, bringing the deficit to two runs once more.
In the top of the fifth inning, sophomore Andrew Patrick crushed a pitch that flew for a solo homerun over the left field wall and into the graveyard.
The Sycamores would find their first homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning, cutting the Raider lead to 5-3.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the game took a downward spiral for the Raiders.
After giving up a leadoff single that was followed up by a double, head coach Alex Sogard pulled Gongora for the afternoon.
Gongora finished the game throwing seven and one-third innings, giving up five runs on nine hits while recording seven strikeouts. Although his line shows five earned runs given up, Gongora had a dominant outing that kept the Raiders afloat until the end of the game.
“I know that not many people predicted us to go far or win this regional, so pitching with that underdog mindset fueled me and the rest of the team,” Gongora mentioned after his start on the mound.
Senior Tristan Haught would come in to replace Gongora, where Haught ran across bad fortune.
In his first batter faced, Haught would give up a sacrifice fly that brought the lead to just one.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Haught gave up a bloop single into right field that scored two runs and gave the Sycamores their first lead of the afternoon.
The Raiders were unable to draw even in the ninth inning, giving the Sycamores a 6-5 victory and putting the Raiders on the brink of elimination.
“I just think it’s foolish to count us out,” Anglin added following the heartbreaking loss. “Our whole team has been fighting our entire lives. We’re not out of this thing yet.”
The Raiders would be tasked with taking down the Tar Heels from the University of North Carolina in a do-or-die matchup on Saturday afternoon.
Elimination game
The Raiders’ bats came out flat in the second game, as WSU only found one hit from junior Sammy Sass.
Junior Luke Stofel took the mound for the Raiders in the second game. Stofel threw six and two-thirds innings, giving up four earned runs while recording four walks and four strikeouts. Stofel kept the Raiders afloat for most of the game and threw a season-high 116 pitches.
“I want to go out there and compete and leave it all on the field,” Stofel stated following the loss in game two.
After trailing 1-0 in the fifth inning, junior Julian Greenwell connected on a shot to right field with one runner on, but the Tar Heels robbed Greenwell’s hit at the wall to maintain a 1-0 lead.
“That’s just a good baseball play all around,” Sogard stated after the game. “That was definitely a game-changing play on his end.”
The Tar Heels would open the game up after a three-run homerun in the seventh inning followed by an RBI single in the eighth.
WSU was unable to capitalize on the offensive side, falling 5-0 to the Tar Heels and seeing its 2023 campaign draw to a close.
“I am proud of our guys and the way they competed,” Sogard stated. “The last two days don’t define the type of players they are. I’m just proud of everything they invested into the program.”
Looking ahead
Although WSU failed to capture a regional title, the team still has a lot to be proud of from this past season. The Raiders closed the season with a 39-23 overall record, which was its best since the 2019 campaign.
WSU saw six players earn All-Horizon League honors along with two on the All-Horizon League freshman team.
The Raiders will return a strong core of players next season in hopes of winning its fourth consecutive HL title and return to the NCAA tournament to win its first regional title.
WSU Baseball Huddle | Photo by Adam Campbell | The Wright State Guardian
