Baseball suffering through slump

While clocks sprung forward over the weekend, the Wright State baseball team took another step backwards.

After winning their first three games of the season, the Raiders dropped their ninth in ten games on Sunday against Bryant. That game served as the low point of the skid, as WSU fell 12-0 and managed only five hits. Bryant blasted Raider reliever Trevor Swaney with six runs in two innings, compounding a gloomy day.

The weekend home stand started off with a whimper when Bryant shutout WSU 7-0 on Friday, a game where the Raiders managed only two hits. On Saturday, WSU split a double-header with Bradley, winning the first game 7-6 and dropping the second 12-3.

The upcoming schedule should provide the Raiders solace as their next six games are at home. In the friendly confines of Nischwitz Stadium and at neutral sites, the Raiders are a respectable 4-3. But when they hit the road (0-6), the woes set in.

Clemson swept the Raiders in South Carolina during a late February road trip, and the Raiders haven’t recovered. During that series, WSU managed only three runs—all in the first game in a 5-3 loss—and was shutout 7-0 and 6-0 in the last two games.

During a Los Angeles road trip to kick off March, the Raiders were swept by UCLA, and dropped the final game 10-2. March may bring madness to college basketball in the form of thrilling upsets, but for the WSU baseball team it’s been a different kind of madness. The Raiders sit 1-6 during the month and momentum keeps fading away.

But there are still positives the team can build on to reverse their skid. A 5-1 home victory over rival Dayton on Feb. 18 showed they can win in tense matchups. Junior outfielder Mark Fowler is batting a stout .378, while senior infielder Sam Picchioti has a .360 average. On the mound, reliever Travis Hissong leads the bullpen with a miniscule 1.08 ERA.

Though it’s been a rough winter for the Raiders, a change of season to the spring may save their own.