The Raiders won a hard fought series this weekend, taking two of three games from last year’s Horizon League champion UIC flames. While the past few weeks have been all about the Raider bats, the pitching for WSU stepped up against UIC to help grab the series win.
In game one, Raider starter Ryan Weiss and UIC starter Ryan Campbell competed in a pitcher’s duel. Weiss finished with 6.1 innings pitched and only allowed two runs, and was still out-pitched by Campbell as he went 6.1 innings and allowed a single run. The Flames would go on to win the game by that same final, 2-1. Gabe Snyder homered for WSU, as he continues to chase the WSU single season home run record of 16.
Game two saw the Raiders dominate on both sides of the ball. WSU starter Daniel Kreuzer tossed seven innings of one run baseball, and only allowed four hits the entire game. Zane Harris led the way offensively with three RBI’s and Quincy Hamilton added a home run to secure the 7-1 victory for WSU.
Game three as the rubber match between the two teams, and it was once again a very close game. Zane Collins took the rubber for Wright State, and he produced a solid 5.1 innings of shutout baseball. Snyder homered in the fourth to give the Raiders an early lead. Hamilton would add a sac fly in the eighth to increase the Raider lead to 2-0. This insurance run would prove to be very important as the Flames scored a run in the bottom of the ninth, trimming the lead to one. In the end, WSU pitcher Derek Hendrixson stayed composed and got the final three outs to pick up his fifth save of the season and a 2-1 victory for WSU.
The Raiders have won every conference series thus far this season, putting their overall conference record at 8-4. Their next conference match up is this coming weekend at home against in state rival Youngstown State.
