WSU Baseball | Photo by Monica Brutto | The Wright State Guardian
Pitching troubles for Wright State University baseball have cost the Raiders its win streak, as the team fell in its midweek matchup against Xavier 8-16.
Pitching rundown
Seven pitchers would take the mound for the Raiders, but none could hold off the Musketeer offense for long, as 11 runs in the first three innings quickly killed the Raider spirit.
While WSU’s hitters did find some success with eight runs, it was not enough to deal with the problems on the mound.
“We’ve just got to keep improving,” Alex Sogard, head coach for WSU, said. “I think on the mound, we’ve done a much better job lately, and we’ve just got to keep going.”
Trouble on the mound
Of all the pitchers WSU put on the mound, none truly lasted longer than two innings. Ty Roder started for the Raiders but gave up two runs in the first inning and three runs in the second with no outs.
Sogard would switch twice more within the next inning and find some success in Tristan Haught. Haught would pitch two scoreless innings but give up four runs in the next.
From there, three pitchers would close out the last three innings, only giving up two runs but against second-string Xavier hitters.
Missing from the rotation was left-handed pitcher Alex Theis, who threw six scoreless innings against Ohio State. Garret Simpson and Warren Hartzell would pitch some of the pitchers’ first innings of the season for the Raiders, getting some much needed time on the mound.
Overall, WSU’s pitching staff would have no trouble getting two strikes or to a full count but struggled to translate those chances into strikeouts.
Looking forward
It is a quick turnaround from this loss for Wright State, as the team has conference play beginning on Friday night.
WSU will head to Highland Heights for a three-game series against Northern Kentucky and will look to continue its conference play success. The Raiders sit on top of the conference at 5-1, but NKU is close behind at 4-2.
WSU also has a big Ohio matchup against Cincinnati on Tuesday, April 4, as the Raiders will try to rebound from the loss to Xavier.
The RaiderGang is still in prime position to continue its dominance from previous years and dominate the Horizon League for another championship title.
