The Oakland Golden Grizzlies men’s baseball team suffered multiple conference losses this past weekend, losing all games in a three-game series on the road against the Wright State Raiders.
Despite staying in the first game until the very end, the Raiders were red-hot this series, as the team tallied 33 hits on 97 at-bats, good enough for a batting average of .340.
Game 1: Oakland 2, Wright State 3
The series’ first game was the most competitive for the Golden Grizzlies.
After five innings of no scoring action from both teams, Wright State got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the sixth inning. After a single from Hunter Warren, JP Peltier hit a home run, putting the Raiders up 2-0.
The Golden Grizzlies responded in the following inning, as Carter Hain and Taylor Tomlin made it to base. With two outs and two men on, Trent Rice singled to right field, bringing home Hain to make the ball game 2-1.
When the ninth inning came around, the Golden Grizzlies showed they weren’t going down without a fight. Back-to-back doubles from Tomlin and Aidan Schuck put Oakland back in the baseball game, tying the score up at 2-2.
However, with a chance to win the game without going into extra innings, Wright State did just that. With Peltier up to bat first in the final inning of regulation, he hammered his second home run of the game, making the Raiders the winners of game one while handing Oakland its first conference loss of the season.
Game 2: Oakland 3, Wright State 13
Wright State came to play in the second game of the series, quickly scoring four runs in the first inning before adding another run courtesy of a Warren double in the second to jump ahead 5-0.
As the game continued, the Golden Grizzlies struggled to make contact with the baseball, only recording a single hit, courtesy of Jack Lux, in the fifth inning.
Meanwhile, the Raiders looked at building their lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Wright State notched three more runs after a double from Cam Gilkerson and a single from Will Cook. In the following inning, the Raiders scored again after a sacrifice fly from Gilkerson, extending their lead to 9-0.
The Golden Grizzlies managed to tab on three runs of their own in the seventh inning after a string of hits from Rice, Sam Griffith, and John Lauinger brought the score to 9-3. However, it didn’t deter Wright State from cutting Oakland’s afternoon short.
After the Raiders loaded the bases in the eighth inning, the runs continued to pour in, forcing the 10-run rule in the process while giving the Golden Grizzlies their second loss of the series.
Game 3: Oakland 10, Wright State 17
In the final game of the series, Wright State wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. The Raiders scored nine runs in the bottom of the first off of just four hits, leaving the Golden Grizzlies with lots of ground to make up the rest of the game.
Despite the large deficit to make up, Oakland kept themselves in the game, as the Golden Grizzlies scored in every inning following a Wright State score except for the eighth inning.
However, despite Oakland’s efforts, Wright State’s hot start was too much for the Golden Grizzlies to overcome, giving the Raiders a sweep.
Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will hit the road to play the Michigan State Spartans on Wednesday, March 19, before hosting the Northern Kentucky Norse for a three-game series at the Oakland Baseball Field starting Friday, March 21, and ending Sunday, March 23.
