Joe Kennard
Sports Writer
kennard.8@wright.edu
Chicago is called the Windy City, but the only thing that blew away this past weekend was the Raiders’ season. Wright State (37-21) expected to be playing long into June, but those plans were erased after an early exit from the Horizon League tournament.
The Raiders dropped their tournament opener 19-9 to Illinois-Chicago on Thursday. Though WSU held an early 2-0 lead after the first inning, UIC responded with 13 runs in the next two innings to put the game out of reach.
A five run rally in the third inning cut the lead to 13-7, but UIC’s offense continued to put runs on the board.
For pitchers Taylor Braun and Jordan Marker, the game turned into a nightmare. Both pitchers were Cooper’s most reliable arms all year which made their struggles surprising.
Braun started the game, but left after allowing seven earned runs in two innings. Marker, the team’s top reliever, pitched five and a third and also gave up seven earned runs.
Pitching overshadowed a solid day at the plate for the Raiders. Each starter collected at least one hit, while Ryan Ashe (2-3, RBI), Corey Davis (2-5, 2 RBI) and Tristan Moore (2-5, RBI) all had multi-hit games.
But the loss didn’t knock WSU out of the tournament.
They returned Friday for an elimination game with Wisconsin-Milwaukee and won 2-1 in 12 innings. The win gave WSU life and revenge for a season-ending sweep to UWM.
A wild pitch in the third inning led to WSU’s first run of the game, which UWM didn’t match until an RBI single by Solberg in the ninth.
They went to extra innings, but the Raider’s stranded two runners on base in the eleventh. In the twelfth, Jake Hibberd led off with a double and eventually scored on a Garret Gray walk off single.
On a day when the offense struggled at the plate and left 14 runners on base, the pitching stepped up. Starter Andrew Elliot (6.1 innings, 5 hits) shut out the Panthers in his best performance of the year. While closer Michael Schum (5.2 innings) couldn’t hold the lead, he earned the win and gave up only one run.
The victory kept WSU’s season alive and set them up with a showdown later that day with Youngstown State, but their run ended with a 5-4 loss.
The Raiders started off well, scoring four runs in the first two frames. From there, the bats fell silent and WSU failed to score another run.
YSU rallied with three runs in the third before eventually taking the lead in the sixth inning. Penguin starter Blake Aquadro shook off his early troubles and shut down the Raiders to close out the win.
Though his counterpart, Joey Hoelzel, pitched well for WSU (7 innings, 4 ER), it wasn’t enough.
Hibberd (2-5 RBI), Gray (2-4 RBI), Ashe (2-3) and Zach Tanner (2-3) each collected two hits. But WSU left eight runners on base, including one in the ninth and three in the fifth when they left the bases loaded with no outs.
WSU’s season ended with the loss, as did their hopes for a return to the NCAA tournament. It’s a disappointing result for a team picked to win the Horizon League, but Head Coach Rob Cooper will turn his attention towards next year.
Nine seniors will leave, but the rest of the team has experience to build on as they seek retribution for a season that slipped away.
