Wright State pushes top-seeded Stanford to extras, falls to Baylor to conclude 2018 campaign
Lance Rinker
NCAA BRACKET
Saturday, June 2
Baylor 11, Wright State 5 | BOX SCORE
(Courtesy of WSURaiders.com) — Wright State fell 11-5 to #2 seed Baylor Saturday afternoon at Sunken Diamond. The Raiders were eliminated from the NCAA tournament as a result of the loss.
The Raiders clawed back against the Bears after being down all game. But, defensive blunders did them in late.
For the second consecutive game both teams got on the board in the first inning. Back-to-back doubles by Richard Cunningham and Davis Wendzel put the Bears up 1-0. The Raiders matched it with an RBI double from Horizon League Player of the Year Gabe Snyder.
A leadoff walk to Davion Downey came back to haunt Raider starter Caleb Sampen in the second. Downey advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on a single to right by T.J. Raguse.
The Bears extended their lead to 4-1 in the fourth on two Raider errors. Defensive mistakes would become an issue late in the season, with seven errors committed here in Stanford, on top of four committed at last week's Horizon League championship game against UIC.
The Raiders chipped away at the Baylor lead beginning in the bottom half of the fourth. Snyder reached second on a ground rule double, advanced to third on a ground out to second, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chase Sloan.
In the fifth, catcher Brandon Giltrow collected his second hit of the game with a double down the left field line. Giltrow scored on a two-out single to left by JD Orr.
The Raiders chased Baylor starter Hayden Kettler in the sixth. This time it was DH Zane Harris, who delivered an RBI double over the right fielder's head with two outs, scoring Snyder from first base. The Raiders left a runner stranded at third base, but had tied the game 4-4.
Meanwhile, Sampen settled in during the middle innings. Like Raider starter Ryan Weiss the night before, Sampen struggled early with his location. After issuing three walks in the first three innings, he walked none the rest of the way, and gave up only one earned run over his last four innings of work.
Things fell apart for the Raiders in the eighth. The Bears batted around, reeling off four runs on seven hits off relieverDerek Hendrixson. Two more Raider errors aided the cause. The Bears tacked on two runs in the ninth, and the Raiders countered with a run to get to the final of 11-4.
Wright State, which concluded an outstanding season at 39-17, was led by Snyder, who went 2-3, scored two runs and had an RBI. Orr and Brandon Giltrow each had two hits and scored a run.
Friday, June 1
Stanford 4, Wright State 3 (13 innings) | BOX SCORE
(Courtesy of WSURaiders.com) — Wright State and Stanford played an epic, four-plus hour game on Friday night that ended well after 2 am eastern. In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, the Raiders fell to the Cardinal 4-3 in 13 innings in the first round of the NCAA regional tournament for WSU's longest post-season game.
Both teams started quickly. Raider second baseman Matt Morrow put the second pitch of the game over the right field wall. It was Morrow's first home run of the year.
Stanford responded in the bottom half of the first, as Beau Branton led off with a single up the middle, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. He would score on a single to left by Nico Hoerner, who went to third on an error by J.D. Orr. Hoerner would score moments later on a second wild pitch by starting pitcher Ryan Weiss.
Stanford starter Tristan Beck settled in after the Morrow homer, allowing just one other hit over the first three innings and striking out five Raiders.
The Cardinal threatened in the third. Tawa led off with a double, and advanced to third on an infield hit by Hoerner. Weiss got out of the jam, the beneficiary of a baserunning blunder by Stanford and his own effective pitching.
Both teams put runners in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings. Only Stanford was able to convert, with Alec Wilson scoring in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Tawa.
Weiss's night came to an end with one out in the sixth, with runners on first and third. Mitch Gremling got out of a jam, getting Christian Robinson and Christian Molfetta to pop out.
Weiss's line: 5.1 innings, eight hits, three runs, three strike outs and three walks.
Toughness and perseverance are calling cards for the Raiders, though. Down 3-1 entering the seventh, the four seed posted a pair of runs as Bentley Jones and Zack Weatherford crossed the plate. Both were runners inherited by All-American Jack Little, who entered the game with one out. Little came into the game with opponents hitting just .170 against him.
Both bullpens were outstanding the rest of the way. Gremling and Jeremy Randolph kept Stanford scoreless for six innings, allowing only four hits. Stanford relievers were equally effective, throwing 6.2 innings of one-hit, scoreless baseball.
Wright State's best opportunity to score was in the top of the 12th. Orr and Burdick walked with two outs. Freshman left hander Jacob Palisch escaped, getting Gabe Snyder to line out to left.
The end came in the bottom of the 13th. Randolph hit the lead-off batter Andrew Daschback, then got Kyle Stowers to fly out and struck out Will Matthiessen. Centerfielder Robinson pulled an 0-1 pitch down the right field line that brought around Daschback to score the winning run.
Randolph took the loss, but was outstanding. He nearly doubled his longest outing of the year (3.2 innings), going 6.2, giving up four hits, one run, striking out six and walking only one batter.