Wright State Captures 2023 #HLBASE Championship
DAYTON, OHIO – No. 1 seed Wright State defeated No. 2 seed Oakland over the course of two games on Saturday to capture their tenth #HLBASE Championship, earning the trophy for the sixth time in the last eight championships.
No. 1 Wright State 9, No. 2 Oakland 8
The first game on Saturday featured the top-seeded Raiders winning a must-win game to force a winner-take-all game to determine who the #HLBASE Champion would be. The Raiders were led by Jay Luikart, who went 3-for-6 with two home runs and a triple. Luikart drove in four runs in the process.
With the game tied 8-8 heading into the ninth, Wright State’s Andrew Patrick led off with a solo home run to put the Raiders back in front by one, which proved to be the deciding run.
Wright State’s Tristan Haught earned the win as he went 2.1 innings, allowing only one hit and struck out three. Oakland’s Brandon Decker took the loss as he went 2.0 innings, surrendering only one run on one hit, while striking out two.
The Golden Grizzlies jumped out to an early three-run lead in the bottom of the second. Reggie Bussey, who earned All-Horizon League Freshman Team honors, drove in two runs with his double to left field. Bussey came in to score on Brandon Heidal’s sacrifice bunt.
The Raiders bounced back in the top of the third as Luikart hit his first home run of the day to put the first run on the board for Wright State. Julian Greenwell drove in Gehrig Anglin with a fielder’s choice to bring the Raiders within one.
Wright State tied the game up in the top of the fourth as Luikart hit his second solo shot of the day.
Oakland jumped back out in front in the bottom of the fifth as Ian Cleary singled through the right side of the field, driving in two runs. Lucas Loos followed that up with a sacrifice fly to give the Golden Grizzlies another three-run advantage.
Wright State immediately responded in the top of the sixth as they saw four runs cross the plate to give them a one-run lead. Luikart got his third and fourth RBIs on the day as he hit a triple. Anglin followed that up with a sacrifice-fly to plate Luikart to tie it up. Boston Smith walked with the bases loaded to bring in the Raiders fourth run of the inning.
The Raiders added another run in the top of the seventh to take an 8-6 lead as Patrick came into score on a wild pitch from second base.
The Golden Grizzlies came back in the bottom of the seventh as Loos hit a RBI single through the left side of the infield to bring Oakland within one. Ryan Dykstra followed with a triple to left field, bringing Loos in to make the game even at eight.
No. 1 Wright State 14, No. 2 Oakland 0
In the final game of the 2023 #HLBASE Championship, Wright State took control early and did not look back as they captured the #HLBASE Championship title behind strong pitching and some electric at-bats. Haught took the mound to start the game, and he went 7.0 innings, allowing only four hits while striking out five en route to the win and quality start.
In the bottom of the second, Wright State’s Boston Smith hit a RBI single to right to bring in the first run of the game. The #HLBASE All-Tournament MVP, Andrew Patrick, came to bat with the bases loaded, and he capitalized as he hit a grand slam to give the Raiders a five-run advantage. Sammy Sass doubled later in the inning to cap-off Wright State’s six-run inning.
Wright State went right back to work in the bottom of the third as they added seven more runs in the inning, highlighted by a Gehrig Anglin two RBI single, a Sass RBI double, and a Julian Greenwell two run home run.
The Raiders added one more run in the bottom of the seventh as Patrick hit a RBI double down the left-field line to score Smith, who got on base with an one-out walk.
Oakland’s Sean Fekete took the loss on the mound as he allowed six runs on six hits.
With the win, the Raiders punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. They will find out their Regional site during the NCAA Selection Show, scheduled for noon ET on Monday, May 29 on ESPN2.
2023 #HLBASE All-Tournament Team
Andrew Patrick, Wright State (MVP)
Tristan Haught, Wright State
Jay Luikart, Wright State
Luke Stofel, Wright State
Julian Greenwell, Wright State
Brandon Heidal, Oakland
Brandon Nigh, Oakland
Ian Cleary, Oakland
Mark Connelly, Milwaukee
Marcus Cline, Milwaukee
Adam Schneider, Northern Kentucky
Colton Kucera, Northern Kentucky