Home Plate | Photo by Monica Brutto | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State baseball had a night full of hitting up I-75, as the Raiders took down the Toledo Rockets 18-4 on Wednesday night.
Hitting and pitching
The matchup featured 19 hits for the Raiders and five home runs, as Wright State’s hitting and pitching staff got a big confidence boost from the dominant win.
Ty Roder and Joey Valentine both shined on the mound, Andrew Patrick was a menace on the bases, Julian Greenwell had four hits and Patrick Fultz hit a personal first career home run.
Home run derby
The Raiders had a great read of Toledo’s pitching and defense, shown in base running and confidence from the batter’s box.
Leadoff hitter Patrick had three hits, batting in three teammates and scoring three runs personally. Patrick also had one of Wright State’s home runs and a stolen base, showing off every angle of the sophomore’s game in a confident performance.
Greenwell had another homerun and four hits, batting in three as well as scoring two runs personally. Freshman Patrick Fultz had a breakout performance, looking like a future star with two RBIs, two runs scored and a first career homer.
Overall, the Raiders hit five dingers, as Patrick, Greenwell, Fultz, Sammy Sass and Jay Luikart all blasted one over the fence. The Rockets’ starting pitcher Patrick Dillon was in trouble from the start, giving up six runs in just over two innings.
The Raiders were confident on base as well, giving big lead offs to pressure opposing pitchers and stealing several bases when left unchecked. The RaiderGang got ahead early off of that aggression and put its foot on the gas.
Confidence before big games
The dominant win comes in a leadup to two big opponents for WSU, as the Raiders have a home conference weekend to look forward to and a showdown against the Dayton Flyers on Tuesday.
After dropping all three games against the Milwaukee Panthers, the Raidergang sits at 7-5, second in the HL standings. The Raiders will try to reverse that record on Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the Youngstown State Penguins, who currently sit at the bottom of the table.
Next, WSU has the Dayton Flyers to look forward to, facing its cross-town rival at a professional stadium. The rivals will play at a neutral location in the Dayton Dragons’ stadium, bringing in a local crowd to the big match.
The Raiders have had the Flyers’ number for the past few years and will try to continue its dominance this season against fellow Ohio schools.
The matchup begins Tuesday at 7 p.m. with streaming live on ESPN+. Fans can listen in on WWSU 106.9 FM.
