|
Post by Raider Country on May 29, 2006 8:35:32 GMT -5
May 28, 2006 (News Release/Baseball) Baseball Heading for the Big Dance, Defeat Butler 4-1 for Horizon League Championship Behind a three-run second and solid pitching performances from Chris Snyder and Joe Smith, the Wright State baseball team captured the Horizon League championship Sunday morning with a 4-1 decision over the Butler Bulldogs at Nischwitz Stadium. Butler posed a threat in the first as Stephen Gill led off with a double to right center and Joe Pauley walked with two out, but Snyder kept the game scoreless as he induced Joe Dempsey to fly out to right. WSU scored what turned out to be all the runs it would need with three in the second. Justin Wilson started the frame by smacking a 1-2 pitch over the fence in left for his seventh home run of the season. Brian Shoup followed with a bunt single along the third base line and Justin Parker walked, tournament MVP Ross Oeder delivered the key hit, a two-out, two-run double down the left field line to make it 3-0. Dempsey cut the margin to 3-1 with his 10th home run of the year in the fourth, but Snyder was able to work out of the Bulldogs having a run at second in both the third and fifth. Joe Smith took over in the sixth and setting down Butler in order in that inning, saw the leadoff batter reach in the seventh on an error. Catcher Aaron Garcia, though, came up with the defensive play of the game as he pounced on a bunt attempt by Joel Matheny and fired a strike to Parker at shortstop, who then turned it to Jeremy Hamilton at first for a double play. That double play gave the Green and Gold 62 total DP's on the season, setting a new school record for a single season. Wright State closed out the scoring in the seventh as John Kopilchack doubled to left center and, after being sacrificed to third by Oeder, scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Dan Biedenharn. Pinch-hitter Kyle Cox doubled with two outs in the eighth for Butler (21-36), but Smith got Jeff Brown to ground out to end that inning. In the ninth, Pauley led off with a hit and Dustin Bucalo reached on an error with one out, but the Raiders closed out the game in dramatic fashion as Hamilton and Parker turned a 3-6-3 double play. Snyder (5-7) picked up the win as he went five innings, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out three. Smith picked up the four-inning save, his 13th of the season, as he gave up just two hits in fanning two. Wright State takes a 32-25 mark into next week's NCAA Regionals as the Raiders will be making their second Division I appearance and first since 1994. The 16 regional sites will be announced on ESPNews at 3:30 Sunday afternoon with the 64-team field to be revealed on ESPN at 12:30 Monday afternoon. 2006 Horizon League All-Tournament Team Ted Rosinski, Sr., OF, UIC Rob Brockel, Jr., OF, UW-Milwaukee Stephen Gill, Sr., OF, Butler Jeff Brown, Sr., 2B, Butler Brian Deter, So., P, Butler Jeremy Hamilton, Fr., 1B, Wright State Amin Abusaleh, Sr., OF, Wright State Aaron Garcia, Sr., C, Wright State Justin Wilson, Sr., OF, Wright State Robert Barrett, Sr., P, Wright State Ross Oeder, Jr., 2B, Wright State (MVP) www.wsuraiders.com/cgi-bin/athletics/news.cgi?action=features&id=2857
|
|
|
Post by Raider Country on May 29, 2006 8:36:47 GMT -5
Wright State wins 2006 Horizon League Baseball Championship Raiders claim first title since 1995 with 4-1 victory over Butler, advance to NCAA tournament May 28, 2006 Game 10: (#3) Wright State 4, (#5) Butler 1 (Wright State wins championship) Ross Oeder drove in a pair of runs with a second-inning double and Wright State pitchers Chris Snyder and Joe Smith combined on a five-hitter as host Wright State edged fifth seed Butler 4-1 to claim the 2006 Horizon League Baseball Championship. The third-seeded Raiders won the League summit for the first time since 1995 and will enter the NCAA Championship at 32-25 while Butler saw its season come to an end at 21-36. Oeder's double---his 13th hit in four tournament games this week---capped a three-run flurry against Butler starter Bryan Bokowy (5-7). WSU left fielder Justin Wilson opened the inning with his seventh home run of the season, and Brian Shoup followed with a single. Justin Parker drew a one-out walk and Oeder followed two batters with a shot just inside the third base line to plate both teammates for a 3-0 advantage. Butler got on the board in the fourth when Joe Dempsey belted his tenth home run of the year---and second of the tournament---over the left field fence, but could get no closer. The Bulldogs threatened in the top of the seventh when Dustin Bucalo reached on an error but WSU answered the challenge as Aaron Garcia fielded Joel Matheny's bunt attempt to start a 2-6-3 double play. The twin killing was Wright State's 62nd of the season, setting a single-season program standard. WSU pushed the margin to 4-1 in the bottom of the frame when John Kopilchack doubled to open the frame. Oeder followed with a sacrifice bunt and Dan Biedenharn lifted a sacrifice fly to right field as Kopilchack narrowly beat Stephen Gill's throw to the plate. Butler mounted one final comeback attempt in the ninth with Joe Pauley's bad-hop single and an error on Bucalo's grounder with one out, but Matheny's ground ball to first baseman Jeremy Hamilton turned into another double play as the Raiders raced onto the field to celebrate their first title in 11 years. Snyder (5-7) allowed only three hits in five innings before turning the game over to closer Smith, did not allow a run in 28.1 innings against Horizon League opponents during the regular season. The Raider closer, a NCBWA Stopper of the Year candidate, allowed only two hits to register his 13th save of the year with the four shutout innings. Wright State outscored its opponents 52-5 in its four appearances during the week, setting a Championship single-game record with 26 hits in a 20-3 victory over UW-Milwaukee on Thursday. The Raiders opened their tournament by defeating sixth-seeded Cleveland State 16-1 on Wednesday and posted a 12-0 shutout against Butler on Saturday. Oeder was named the Championship's Most Valuable Player, leading a group of six Raiders on the All-Tournament Team. The WSU second baseman was 13-of-20 at the plate, scoring eight runs and driving in four. Amin Abusaleh, Aaron Garcia, Hamilton and Justin Wilson also earned All-Tournament honors for their offensive prowess, while Barrett allowed only eight hits in 13 shutout innings (five versus Cleveland State and eight in the initial meeting with Butler). The Raiders earned the Horizon League's automatic entry into the 64-team NCAA field, and will learn their opponents and destination Monday as the NCAA announces the pairings at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern time) on ESPN. horizonleague.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/052806aaa.html
|
|
|
Post by Raider Country on May 29, 2006 8:38:02 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Raider Country on May 29, 2006 8:39:02 GMT -5
Wright State celebrates league title Snyder and Smith pitch the Raiders past the Bulldogs 4-1 and give WSU an automatic bid to the NCAA baseball tournament. By Marc Katz Staff Writer FAIRBORN | About a dozen Wright State University students standing atop a dirt mound behind the right-field fence at Nischwitz Stadium — a place they call Cooperville after WSU coach Rob Cooper — hung over the boards to pound on the metal advertising signs Sunday. Maybe it was just an exercise to keep them awake for the 9 a.m. Horizon League championship game after they camped out all night in center field, only to be awakened by the grounds crew wanting to give the area one more mowing. Certainly no one went back to sleep as WSU's Chris Snyder, a senior from Northmont High School, and Joe Smith, a junior from Amelia High School, shut down the Butler Bulldogs 4-1. Justin Wilson and tournament MVP Ross Oeder provided most of the offense during Wright State's quest for the championship and automatic NCAA tournament bid, which will be offered today (12:30, ESPN). "We just got hot at the right time," said Oeder, a junior from Sandusky whose two-run double completed a three-run second inning for the Raiders, leaving Butler out of reach. Wilson, a junior from Franklin-Monroe High School, led off the inning with a homer to left, and the Raiders added an extra run in the seventh on Dan Biedenharn's sacrifice fly. "There are three things you need to win," Cooper said. "You need to score runs. You need pitching. And you need to play defense. When you play good defense, your pitching looks a lot better." Wright State made two errors, recovering from both by turning double plays on the next batter. In the seventh inning, catcher Aaron Garcia quickly fielded a bunt in front of the plate to start one double play to shortstop Justin Parker. In the eighth inning, after one double play opportunity was botched, first baseman Jeremy Hamilton began the game-ending double play with Parker again the middle man. www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0529wsubase.html
|
|
|
Post by Raider Country on May 29, 2006 8:40:05 GMT -5
WSU BASEBALL NOTES UIC did Wright State a favor by saving its ace, then losing By Marc Katz Staff Writer FAIRBORN | Top-seeded University of Illinois-Chicago was the only team Wright State had a losing record against during the regular Horizon League baseball season, but that didn't matter during the league tournament at Nischwitz Stadium. The two teams didn't meet, which may have been the result of UIC's calculated decision not to start staff ace Zach Peterson in game one vs. No. 5 Butler. Instead, the Flames started Joe Skinner, a fine pitcher during the regular season, but no Peterson. UIC lost the game and had to play in the losers' bracket of the double-elimination event, and No. 3 seed WSU never lost on the way to the championship and its second NCAA tournament berth. The other came in 1994. • Senior WSU catcher Aaron Garcia had only one season left to play, and he knew he wasn't going to play much at Oral Roberts, where he appeared in just eight games last season after going to junior college. He knew WSU coach Rob Cooper, who had recruited him to ORU. "I came out here to do this," said Garcia, nodding toward the Horizon League championship trophy and his own all-tournament selection plaque. "I wanted to play the game and play for this team." Garcia hit .311 during the regular season and .500 (9-for-18) in the tournament. He also started an important double play in the seventh inning on a Butler bunt attempt. • Only once before this season did Cooper call upon closer Joe Smith to pitch more than three innings, and that was early on in a game at Texas Christian in which Smith went four. Sunday, after starter Chris Snyder — a Northmont High School graduate and grandson of former longtime Meadowdale baseball coach Ron Brookey — held Butler to just one run and three hits over five innings, Smith was called upon again. "He had not pitched in the tournament," said Cooper, mindful the Raiders had won their three previous games in routs. "And when you have a trump card like that, you don't want to keep him in the bullpen." As soon as Smith took the mound, several scouts pulled out the radar guns and notebooks. The first-year player draft is June 6-7. Smith, a senior with junior eligibility, is expected to go within the first five rounds. • Second baseman Ross Oeder, who hit .349 during the regular season and did not make either the first or second all-league teams, was named tournament MVP after hitting .650 (13-for-20) with four RBIs and eight runs scored in four games. "He was on a mission," Cooper said. "You could make a case he was our most valuable player during the season." Oeder is a junior from Sandusky High School. • In addition to Oeder making the All-Tournament team, five other WSU players were named, including outfielders Amin Abusaleh and Justin Wilson, pitcher Robert Barrett, catcher Aaron Garcia, and first baseman Jeremy Hamilton. Also named to the team were Butler second baseman Jeff Brown and outfielder Stephen Gill, Milwaukee outfielder Rob Brockel, and UIC outfielder Ted Rosinski. www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0529wsunotes.html
|
|
|
Post by Fastbreak on May 29, 2006 16:12:57 GMT -5
May 29, 2006 (News Release/Baseball) WSU Baseball Heads to Oregon for NCAA Regional Play Fairborn, OH – For only the second time in the schools history and the first time since 1994 the Wright State baseball team will compete in the Division I NCAA Tournament. The Raiders garnered the fourth seed in the Corvallis (OR.) Regional hosted by Oregon State University. The NCAA Corvallis Regional will run Friday though Monday at OSU’s Goss Stadium at Coleman Field and include the host Beavers, Kansas, Hawaii and the Raiders. The first game of the regional will be second-seeded Jayhawks (42-23) taking on third-seeded Hawaii (43-15) at 4:00 and the fourth-seeded Raiders (32-25) will square off with top-seeded Oregon State (39-14) at 8:00. The remainder of the bracket play will continue with games on Saturday at 4:00 and 9:00 and then games will be played at 4:00 and 9:00 on Sunday to conclude Regional Play. If needed the tournament would spill over into Monday with that game scheduled for a 5:00 start. The Raiders will head to Oregon this week and for information about tickets visit www.osubeavers.com or call the ticket office at Oregon State at 541-737-4455. www.wsuraiders.com/cgi-bin/athletics/news.cgi?action=features&id=2860
|
|
|
Post by Raider Country on May 30, 2006 5:55:47 GMT -5
WSU's baseball hopes begin in Oregon The Raiders will meet No. 1 seed Oregon State in the NCAA tournament. By Marc Katz Staff Writer FAIRBORN — All the anticipation was for the sites, not the selection, for teams in the NCAA baseball tournament. Wright State, Sunday's winner of the Horizon League championship and automatic NCAA invitation, knew it was in. The Raiders just didn't know where, and gathered at the Setzer Pavilion on Monday to watch the NCAA show on ESPN. Hope — especially among the WSU administration — was for a nearby site, but only Lexington, Ky., fit that criteria, and the tournament show quickly named four other teams for that location. Eventually, with only two sites left, a cheer went up when Wright State's name appeared for Corvallis, Ore., where the 32-25 Raiders, seeded No. 4, meet host and No. 1-seeded Oregon State (39-14) in Friday's first game. The other two teams in WSU's double-elimination bracket are No. 2-seed Kansas (42-23) and No. 3-seed Hawaii (43-15). "Honestly, I'm just excited," second-year WSU coach Rob Cooper said when he saw the pairings. "We're facing off against a team that played in the College World Series last year." Since WSU has advanced to the tournament only once before — in 1994 — it seemed a long shot to do it again this early in the Cooper regime. Not all the players felt that way. "We knew from the start we could do this," said second baseman Ross Oeder, the Horizon League tournament MVP. "This is a big stepping stone for the program. We've played teams all year (like this). We played Wake Forest, TCU, Miami (Fla.). We beat TCU in the first game of the year." The Raiders must hold onto and try to build on memories like that. Cooper did away with a spring trip to schedule top-ranked teams from time to time to give his players a chance to see what playing against the best was like. After beating TCU 6-4 on Feb. 25, the Raiders lost two more games to the Horned Frogs, then three to Wake Forest and recently three to Miami, although some games were close. Only TCU among those three teams made the NCAA field. Two other teams WSU played this year — Ball State and Notre Dame — also are in. The Raiders beat ND, 4-2, and lost to Ball State, 2-1, both on the road. In the Horizon League tournament, Cooper stressed playing every pitch. "We did not want to take a pitch off," Cooper said. "We wanted to concentrate on the pitch in front of us. It raised everything, our hitting, our pitching performance, our fielding performance." Wright State not only went 4-0 in the tournament, the Raiders out-scored the opposition 52-5. "What got lost in that was our pitching," Cooper said. "We only allowed five runs in four games." That might not happen in the NCAA tournament, but at least the Raiders have a chance. Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com. www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0530wsubase.html
|
|
|
Post by Raider Country on May 31, 2006 6:13:22 GMT -5
Romping Raiders off to Corvallis with theme song and more Wright State puts pieces together en route to baseball NCAA Tournament berth. By Marc Katz Staff Writer FAIRBORN | Players romped around Nischwitz Stadium Tuesday as the Wright State Raiders went through their final practice before heading today to Corvallis, Ore., to play in the NCAA Tournament beginning Friday against Oregon State. Wright State is the No. 4 seed in the four-team, double-elimination regional, behind Oregon State (39-14), Kansas (42-23) and Hawaii (43-15), but those other three teams may not have what the 32-25 Raiders have. For instance: • A team theme song. Sophomore outfielder John Kopilchack and soph pitcher Chris Nighland wrote a song for skit night at the beginning of the season that has every teammate's name in it, plus coaches and some WSU administration. Nighland, who plays the guitar while the two are singing, said it took about a week to write. The song was such a hit — and had no offensive language — when the authors burned it into a CD, it became a song played before every home game at the stadium. • A shortstop drafted by the Twins last season, as a pitcher. Freshman Justin Parker of Fort Wayne, Ind., was taken in the 43rd round by the Twins as a pitcher out of high school, but didn't sign, instead joining the Raiders, where he hasn't pitched at all. Parker hit .299 this season, and .412 (7-for-17) in the Horizon League tournament. • An outfielder who never played the sport in high school. Senior Amin Abusaleh, from West Hills, Calif., saw himself as a football player, but after only a few practices at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, figured he wasn't good enough to play that sport. He then went to Pierce Junior College for two seasons before joining WSU last year. He hit .312 and this year .308 plus .556 (10-for-18) in the tournament. • A catcher who played in the Little League World Series. Aaron Garcia will be playing in a big-time championship event for at least the second time. He played for the Moorpark, Calif., Little League team that went to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., in 1996. • A top-flight closer who was cut as a freshman. Walk-on Joe Smith of Amelia (near Cincinnati) walked on following arm surgery as a prep player and his arm strength was so bad, then-coach Ron Nischwitz told him he couldn't make the team. Smith asked if he could stay and practice, and Nischwitz told him he could. Smith improved so much that Nischwitz used him as a redshirt freshman. Last season, under coach Rob Cooper, Smith dropped his arm slot and improved some more. This season he has been so good he is expected to be an early pro draft pick next week. Contact the reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com. www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0531wsubase.html
|
|
|
Post by Fastbreak on Jun 1, 2006 6:14:44 GMT -5
Archdeacon: Raider has found his homefairborn — In a baseball odyssey that's spanned four years, three states and four colleges — an odyssey, he said, that left him "devastated" last season — the best advice Aaron Garcia got came from his folks. "We told him just one thing," Hector Garcia said of his son. "We said 'You quit when you're ready to quit. Don't let someone else make you do it.' " Aaron listened, ended up at Wright State, and now he's one of the surprising stars on a team that plays host Oregon State, Friday, in the Opening Round of the NCAA Regional Tournament. They say good things come to those who wait, and the Raiders' senior catcher is proof. After a solid prep career in Moorpark, Calif., Garcia played two years of junior college ball — platooning a season at Cuesta College, then playing a full season at Pierce College — before being relegated to the bench last year at Oral Roberts University. "It was the most depressed I've ever felt in my life," he said. "All I wanted was a chance." That's when WSU outfielder Amin Abusaleh — Garcia's former Pierce teammate — started the sales job. And while Raiders' second-year coach Rob Cooper knew of Garcia — as an Oral Roberts' assistant he'd seen him play in California — he also had questions. "Four schools in four years is normally a red flag," Cooper said. "But I called each coach and got nothing but praise for him. It's just he'd wanted to play." Cooper — who said he could offer Garcia nothing but books at first — said: "We had no idea he'd become our number three hitter and put up such great numbers." Starting 55 games — and making the Horizon League All-Tournament team — Garcia is hitting .328 and leads the team in doubles. "This is so different than a year ago," Norma, Aaron's mom, said. "Last year, doubt crept in. As a parent, it was very hard to watch. That wasn't him." When he was 12, Garcia helped lead the team his dad coached to the 1996 Little League World Series. He said that had been the high point of his career until now: "It's taken me four years, but I've finally found a home." His family feels the same about WSU. Norma and Hector — along with Aaron's grandparents, his brother and two cousins — made the trip here for last weekend's Horizon League tournament. "It was great," Hector said. "It's a parents' dream to see your son play Division I baseball, but this was even more than that. "Other parents we don't even know came up and told us, 'You have a great boy. The coach said, 'We couldn't have done it without your son,' — that brought tears to our eyes." While everyone else sang Aaron's praises, the players were partial to Hector and Norma, who made rice and beans and barbecue for them at Aaron's apartment the first night they were in town. Then on Memorial Day, Hector was in charge of the grill again, as several players had a get-together at Buck Creek State Park. "Man, they loved my barbecue," Hector laughed. "But the hot sauce I made them, that was 50-50. Some of the kids I couldn't even get to try it. I told them, 'C'mon just give it a chance, you'd be surprised how good it is.' " Which is the same thing Wright State found out about his kid. www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0601arch.html
|
|
|
Post by Fastbreak on Jun 2, 2006 6:12:06 GMT -5
Raiders' NCAA tournament plans came quicklyWright State baseball coach Rob Cooper set the goal for his players when he was hired almost two years ago. By Marc Katz Staff Writer CORVALLIS, Ore. — Not quite two years ago, when Rob Cooper was hired as Wright State University's new baseball coach after serving several years as an assistant at other places, he called his team together announcing plans to not only win, but to go to the NCAA tournament. "I'm thinking a lot of things have to change for us to do that," said senior Justin Wilson of Greenville and Franklin-Monroe High School. "It didn't take very long to see things were changing for the better." Things changed enough to get the Raiders to the NCAAs this season, Cooper's second. Today, Wright State plays host to Oregon State at 8 p.m., preceded by Kansas vs. Hawaii. Winners and losers meet Saturday in the double-elimination event. Ron Nischwitz, who coached 19 winning teams in 30 years at WSU — 18 of those winning seasons among his first 23 — decided to retire, but remains close to the program. His name, of course, will always be on it. The school's stadium is named in his and his late son Gregg's honor. Nischwitz also led the Raiders to their only other Division I NCAA experience, in 1994, when the team played in Knoxville, Tenn. • Cooper thinks playing so far from home actually helps the Raiders, and not just the team. "I'm glad we're here," Cooper said. "We have another stage to show what our program is about." Cooper also notes having players from California (catcher Aaron Garcia, outfielder Stephen Marquez, pitcher Robert Barrett, pitcher Erich Schanz, first baseman Paul Majestic and outfielder Amin Abusaleh) as well as from Arizona (infielder Travis Migliorini and pitcher Garret Holleran) also help spread the word. Cooper figures the word is getting around in Ohio, too. "We're the only team in Ohio still playing," Cooper said. • To advance from a Regional, a team must win three games. The winner of the Raiders' Regional will play (most likely) at the winner of the Austin, Texas, Regional (Texas, North Carolina State, Stanford, Texas-Arlington) in a best-of-three series. The eight teams remaining advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. • "Here's the thing," Cooper said. "We don't have to be better than Oregon State in a three-game series this weekend. We have to be better than them (today). If we played them 10 times, chances are they'd beat us eight out of 10. We only have to beat them one out of one." Oregon State advanced to the College World Series last year and won the Pacific-10 this year. • While the Raiders are excited about the games and have not complained about practicing indoors for two days while it rained, Wilson did say, "I wish the sun would come out once while we're here." It did come out briefly later Thursday afternoon. www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0602wsubase.html
|
|
|
Post by Fastbreak on Jun 2, 2006 6:13:11 GMT -5
WSU players feel like 'big-leaguers' Raider baseball team enjoys a first-class trip to Oregon for the NCAA Regional despite the rain and tough odds. By Marc Katz Staff Writer CORVALLIS, Ore. — Fun trip so far. "I'm on The Oregon Trail," Wright State University baseball coach Rob Cooper announced, and he was right. This trail leads to the NCAA tournament, which WSU competes in for the first time in 12 years, against regional host Oregon State tonight at Goss Stadium. "The kids thought we were big-leaguers coming here Wednesday," Cooper continued. "We had a charter flight to Eugene (about 50 miles down the road), and the bus picked us up right at the plane." Still excited about winning their Horizon League championship Sunday, the Raiders appeared to suffer no lethargy and went straight indoors at a nearby community college for practice. Thursday, the team also went indoors at Oregon State's football facility as two days of rain curtailed any hopes of outdoor baseball. Rain remains in the forecast, but not enough to postpone play. Now the bad news. Wright State is seeded No. 4 in the four-team field, behind Oregon State (No. 1), Kansas (2) and Hawaii (3). Never in the five seasons this 16-regional format has been used has a No. 4 advanced. The No. 1 team has advanced a whopping 56 of 84 times (67 percent), and only three No. 4 teams have won as many as two games. "First of all, we all understand it is going to be very difficult for us to win this tournament," Cooper said. Senior WSU right-hander Robert Barrett from Sacramento, Calif., 9-3 with a 2.52 ERA during the season, gets the start. Contact the reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com. www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0602wsubaseb1.html
|
|
|
Post by Fastbreak on Jun 2, 2006 21:54:48 GMT -5
Oregon State beat WSU 5-3 tonight.
|
|
|
Post by Fastbreak on Jun 3, 2006 7:21:23 GMT -5
Wright State falls in NCAA opener on two-run doubleTop-seeded Oregon State hangs on for 5-3 victory after Raiders rally from 3-0 deficit. By Marc Katz Staff Writer CORVALLIS, Ore. — Say "Pac-10" and everything seems bigger than it might be. For instance, Oregon State University. Hidden in a small tree-encrusted town of fewer than 60,000 about 45 miles from the Pacific Ocean and listing a student population of 19,000, the West Coast's OSU is just a couple thousand students larger than Wright State University. Early Friday evening, the two schools were about as even as could be until a two-out double by Chris Kunda in the eighth inning knocked in two in a 5-3 Oregon State victory over the Raiders in a first-round NCAA Regional game at Goss Stadium. OSU won the Pac-10 and has been a top-10 team all season. Still, the winning double was only the fifth extra base hit WSU reliever Joe Smith allowed this season; the runs moved his season's total to six in 51 innings. "If you give me a chance in the late innings with this guy on the mound," WSU coach Rob Cooper said, patting Smith on the shoulder, "I would take it any day. And I've been around guys who are in the majors." Smith said he threw a slider on an 0-2 pitch. "From my angle, it looked like it was down," Smith said. "It wasn't a mistake. It was a pitcher's pitch." Cole Gillespie, the Pac-10's Player of the Year, hit his 12th homer of the season in the first inning and OSU took a 3-0 lead in the fourth on a hit through a drawn-in infield that scored two. Amin Abusaleh's two-run single in the fifth and another run in the sixth tied the game for the Raiders, setting up OSU's decisive eighth. Contact this reporter at 937-225-2157 or mkatz@daytondailynews.com www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0603wsubase.html
|
|
|
Post by Fastbreak on Jun 3, 2006 7:31:38 GMT -5
Today Wright State plays Hawaii at 4 p.m.
|
|
|
Post by Fastbreak on Jun 3, 2006 18:15:20 GMT -5
Hawaii knocked Wright State out of the tournament with a 5-3 victory.
|
|