Oakland to round out Ohio road trip with weekend series with Wright State

FAIRBORN, Ohio – Finalizing a span of seven-straight games in the State of Ohio, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies will square off with the Wright State Raiders in their second Horizon League series of the season on Saturday and Sunday, March 25 and 26 at Nischwitz Stadium.

Originally scheduled as a three-day series, heavy forecasted Friday rain in the Dayton area pushed the opener of this set back to Saturday at 2 p.m. and created a Sunday doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.

With the Raiders picked first in the 2023 #HLBASE Preseason Poll and the Golden Grizzlies second, these will be the first meetings between the two since a pair of battles in the 2022 Horizon League Tournament, which was hosted by Wright State.

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SERIES SETUP

Who – Wright State (10-10, 2-1) vs. Oakland (8-10, 2-1)
When – Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m. and approximately 4:30 p.m.
Where – Fairborn, Ohio (Nischwitz Stadium)
Watch – Sunday's first game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ (subscription required)
Live Stats – wsuraiders.com
Social Media - @OaklandBSB & @WSURaidergang

SERIES HISTORY

Overall Record – Wright State leads, 44-9 (2002-22)
Record in Fairborn – Raiders lead, 28-6 (2002-22)
Current Streak – Wright State W2 (May 27-28, 2022)

STARTING PITCHERS
Saturday

Oakland – Senior RHP Bryce Konitzer: 4 starts, 1-1, 5.54 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, .327 BAA, 13 IP, 17 H, 8 ER, 5 BB, 12 SO
Wright State – Junior RHP Jake Shirk: 5 starts, 1-3, 7.13 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, .327 BAA, 24 IP, 34 H, 19 ER, 6 BB, 17 SO

Sunday (Game 1)

Oakland – Sophomore RHP Hunter Pidek: 4 games (3 starts), 0-0, 2.65 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, .167 BAA, 17 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 9 BB, 17 SO
Wright State – Redshirt sophomore LHP Sebastian Gongora: 5 starts, 2-1, 3.00 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, .197 BAA, 21 IP, 15 H, 7 ER, 11 BB, 18 SO

Sunday (Game 2)

Oakland – Senior LHP Travis Densmore: 5 starts, 1-2, 9.00 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, .309 BAA, 23 IP, 30 H, 23 ER, 10 BB, 24 SO
Wright State – Junior RHP Luke Stofel: 6 games (3 starts), 0-2, 5.40 ERA, 1.91 WHIP, .296 BAA, 18.1 IP, 24 H, 11 ER, 11 BB, 18 SO

OAKLAND OVERVIEW

Their first game against a Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponent this season, the Golden Grizzlies defeated the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, 12-9, in Oxford in their last action on Tuesday, March 21
Oakland is 3-1 thus far on their current seven-game Ohio trip and will secure a winning record in the swing through the Birthplace of Aviation by taking one game from the Raiders
Pidek struck out a career-high seven two starts ago against the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles on March 10 and has gone five innings in each of his last two turns in the rotation
Densmore picked up his first victory of the year by throwing 7.1 innings of two-run baseball against the Youngstown State Penguins on March 17, matching a career-best with nine strikeouts in the process
Fireballing right-handed junior reliever Brandon Decker has appeared in nine games, the most on the club, and has tallied a 3-1 record, 5.23 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 20.2 innings of work
Having hit safely in four-straight games, graduate student first baseman Gabe Lux paces the Golden Grizzlies in batting average at .322 (19-59), with redshirt senior shortstop Thomas Green right on his heels at .315 (23-73)
Leading Oakland with five stolen bases in six attempts, redshirt sophomore left fielder Drew Collins is tied for the club lead with three home runs and is 3-9 (.333) over the last two games

WRIGHT STATE OVERVIEW

Including a victory over the Big Ten Conference's (B1G) Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus on Tuesday, the Raiders are on a four-game winning streak and are back to .500 for the first time since they were 1-1 on February 18
Wright State began Horizon League play by taking two of three from the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons in Fairborn on March 17 and 19. After dropping the opener, the Raiders won the last two in the series
One of two Wright State players hitting above .300, sophomore center fielder Andrew Patrick will enter Saturday at .358 (24-67) with three home runs and 12 RBI, followed by junior left fielder Jay Luikart, one of three Raiders to start all 20 games this season, at .325 (25-77)
Patrick, who has yet to be caught this year, and St. Clair, Michigan redshirt senior second baseman Gehrig Anglin are tied for the team lead in stolen bases at nine apiece
Freshmen Warren Hartzell and Joey Valentine, a lefty, and Indianapolis, Indiana sophomore right-hander Chris Gallagher have been top options out of the bullpen for fifth-year head coach Alex Sogard, combining to make 25 relief appearances

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