The Wright State Raiders are making the 8 hour 45 minute bus ride down from Dayton Ohio, probably as I'm typing this. I thought it would be more like 10-11 hours. We played Wright State in a midweek set back in 2009 as I recall. Wright State University, again according to my recollection, is where John McCain introduced Sarah Palin as his running mate almost eight years ago.
Wright State comes in at 5-4, having dropped 4 straight. They started the year with a bang, sweeping Elon in a four game set, then returning to North Carolina and beating NC State on Friday night. They lost the next two at Raleigh and then dropped a disappointing mid week series at High Point. So, they've played all 9 games so far in North Carolina (and contrary to my initial paragraph, they're probably coming straight from High Point down here).
These guys can really swing the bats. In their 9 games, they've hit 11 home runs and have already carded 32 extra base hits. They're also 24/30 in stolen bases, so they run, A LOT. Stricklin this morning labeled their catcher, Sean Murphy, as the top catcher in the nation. I'm not sure that's 100% accurate, but he is the #1 overall draft eligible prospect in the Horizon League and is a top 35 overall such player according to Baseball America. Murphy, a right handed hitting junior from Dayton, comes in at .259/.429/.778... He has 7 hits on the season and 5 have gone for extra bases (4 HRs and 1 triple). This guy was a walkon at Wright State, apparently, and has the chance to make a lot of money here in several weeks. His 4 HRs this year already match his season total from last season.
Their CF Ryan Fucci can really rake, also. The junior righty hitter hails from Lexington KY and I imagine that the Wildcats wish he'd slid right in for Austin Cousino in CF last year. He is hitting .351/.455/.541 with 2 HRs this season also is also a perfect 8-8 in steals. He homered 15 times a season ago and is on pace to shatter last season's steal mark of 11.
Wright State's SS is Mitch Roman. Another right handed hitting junior, Roman comes from Fishers Indiana. Roman is hitting .321/.500/.321 and has already posted a perfect 11/11 steals number in 8 games played, already more than the 9 steals he had a season ago. He is the #8 draft eligible prospect in the Horizon League.
Friday night, we'll see Jessie Scholtens, a big senior righty from Fairfield California. Scholtens is the #5 draft eligible prospect in the Horizon League, according to Baseball America (seeing as how Wright State owns 40% of the top ten in draft prospects, it's not much of a surprise that they're picked to win their league by Baseball America). Scholtens has gotten off to a slow start this year. He's started both weekends and posted an 8.44 ERA in 10 2/3 innings pitched. He has a 13/3 K/BB, but the opposition is hitting .326 against him. Not great numbers, but he's been around the block and is a talented player.
On Saturday, we'll face off with junior lefty Robert Sexton (not to be confused with his brother Danny Sexton, another junior left handed pitcher for them). I think that Robert got hurt last year. He only made 3 starts on the season after being a regular starter in his first two seasons, and apparently earned a redshirt last season as a result. Saturday afternoon will mark his 31st career start for the Raiders. On the young season, Sexton has started twice, thrown 7 1/3 innings, and allowed a 3.68 ERA. He has 8 strike outs against 1 walk, and the opposition is hitting .333 against him.
Wright State has left things TBA for Sunday. I reckon they'll cross that bridge when they get there.
They haven't pitched overly well this year. As a staff, Wright State has allowed a 6.46 ERA and .300 average against. They've also allowed 10 HRs.
Wright State went to a regional last season and knocked off Notre Dame there before ultimately losing to Illinois. They have a lot of experience back this season. I'm very impressed with what they're doing offensively, especially on the bases. They stole 77 bases a year ago, lost their top base stealer, as should shatter that mark this season. This is going to be a good test for our pitching staff. Ryan Cleveland is a good hitter, but when Ga Southern came here, we could basically handle him in isolation.... It'll be good for us to see Murphy, Roman, and Fucci together in the lineup. That's the kind of sequence you get into into the SEC where pitching around a guy gets awfully tricky sometimes.
I like that they have a veteran presence up the middle as well with each of those players. I think that we can hit their staff. I have no idea for "how" they're going to play this weekend, but I expect some higher scoring, longer type games. I'm very interested to see how we handle this it certainly appears to be our most challenging weekend to date.
Wright State comes in at 5-4, having dropped 4 straight. They started the year with a bang, sweeping Elon in a four game set, then returning to North Carolina and beating NC State on Friday night. They lost the next two at Raleigh and then dropped a disappointing mid week series at High Point. So, they've played all 9 games so far in North Carolina (and contrary to my initial paragraph, they're probably coming straight from High Point down here).
These guys can really swing the bats. In their 9 games, they've hit 11 home runs and have already carded 32 extra base hits. They're also 24/30 in stolen bases, so they run, A LOT. Stricklin this morning labeled their catcher, Sean Murphy, as the top catcher in the nation. I'm not sure that's 100% accurate, but he is the #1 overall draft eligible prospect in the Horizon League and is a top 35 overall such player according to Baseball America. Murphy, a right handed hitting junior from Dayton, comes in at .259/.429/.778... He has 7 hits on the season and 5 have gone for extra bases (4 HRs and 1 triple). This guy was a walkon at Wright State, apparently, and has the chance to make a lot of money here in several weeks. His 4 HRs this year already match his season total from last season.
Their CF Ryan Fucci can really rake, also. The junior righty hitter hails from Lexington KY and I imagine that the Wildcats wish he'd slid right in for Austin Cousino in CF last year. He is hitting .351/.455/.541 with 2 HRs this season also is also a perfect 8-8 in steals. He homered 15 times a season ago and is on pace to shatter last season's steal mark of 11.
Wright State's SS is Mitch Roman. Another right handed hitting junior, Roman comes from Fishers Indiana. Roman is hitting .321/.500/.321 and has already posted a perfect 11/11 steals number in 8 games played, already more than the 9 steals he had a season ago. He is the #8 draft eligible prospect in the Horizon League.
Friday night, we'll see Jessie Scholtens, a big senior righty from Fairfield California. Scholtens is the #5 draft eligible prospect in the Horizon League, according to Baseball America (seeing as how Wright State owns 40% of the top ten in draft prospects, it's not much of a surprise that they're picked to win their league by Baseball America). Scholtens has gotten off to a slow start this year. He's started both weekends and posted an 8.44 ERA in 10 2/3 innings pitched. He has a 13/3 K/BB, but the opposition is hitting .326 against him. Not great numbers, but he's been around the block and is a talented player.
On Saturday, we'll face off with junior lefty Robert Sexton (not to be confused with his brother Danny Sexton, another junior left handed pitcher for them). I think that Robert got hurt last year. He only made 3 starts on the season after being a regular starter in his first two seasons, and apparently earned a redshirt last season as a result. Saturday afternoon will mark his 31st career start for the Raiders. On the young season, Sexton has started twice, thrown 7 1/3 innings, and allowed a 3.68 ERA. He has 8 strike outs against 1 walk, and the opposition is hitting .333 against him.
Wright State has left things TBA for Sunday. I reckon they'll cross that bridge when they get there.
They haven't pitched overly well this year. As a staff, Wright State has allowed a 6.46 ERA and .300 average against. They've also allowed 10 HRs.
Wright State went to a regional last season and knocked off Notre Dame there before ultimately losing to Illinois. They have a lot of experience back this season. I'm very impressed with what they're doing offensively, especially on the bases. They stole 77 bases a year ago, lost their top base stealer, as should shatter that mark this season. This is going to be a good test for our pitching staff. Ryan Cleveland is a good hitter, but when Ga Southern came here, we could basically handle him in isolation.... It'll be good for us to see Murphy, Roman, and Fucci together in the lineup. That's the kind of sequence you get into into the SEC where pitching around a guy gets awfully tricky sometimes.
I like that they have a veteran presence up the middle as well with each of those players. I think that we can hit their staff. I have no idea for "how" they're going to play this weekend, but I expect some higher scoring, longer type games. I'm very interested to see how we handle this it certainly appears to be our most challenging weekend to date.
