Wright State baseball: Banged-up Raiders finding gems among backups
Wright State baseball: Banged-up Raiders finding gems among backups W Wright State baseball coach Alex Sogard has found gems among injured players among his team, including senior centerfielder Andrew Patrick, who broke his thumb five games into the season and has been sidelined since then due to injuries. The team has been playing without key players such as Sammy Sass, Julian Greenwell, and Sammy Sass due to various health issues. Despite these injuries, Soggard believes the team's talented players are finding value. Unsung players Ben Vore, who transferred from Cincinnati in 2022, and Drew Baker, who played 23 games last season, are performing well as emergency starters for the team. The pitching staff is led by all-leaguer Jake Shirk, who has a 1-2 record with the fourth-best ERA in the conference at 5.40.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Doug Harris in Sports
FAIRBORN — Wright State baseball coach Alex Sogard had a grand time in the offseason pondering the possibilities on what to do with Andrew Patrick, trying to figure out where the Horizon League tourney MVP could do the most damage.
The junior from Hilliard Darby, who is an ace centerfielder, set a school record last year with 20 homers, hit a team-best .326, had 59 RBIs in 61 games and led the conference with 31 steals in 35 attempts.
But he broke his thumb five games into the season after getting hit with a fastball at Oklahoma and has been sidelined since then.
The Raiders also have had to play several games without Sammy Sass, Julian Greenwell and other stalwarts because of various ailments and have limped to a 13-11 start.
“We’ve had more injuries than maybe all of our other years combined. That’s just part of baseball, unfortunately. Guys get hurt,” sixth-year coach Alex Sogard said.
“I’ve never been one to say, ‘That’s why we’re not doing great.’ Our team is talented and, in my mind, those injuries just give someone else opportunities.”
A couple of unsung players are thriving as emergency starters — so much so that Sogard may have a hard time pulling them from the lineup.
Fifth-year senior centerfielder Ben Vore, who transferred from Cincinnati in 2022, went into a three-game series with Oakland on Thursday batting .364 with eight homers and 33 RBIs.
He’s second on the team in all three categories behind star Jay Luikart (.370, 9, 34) and leads the league in slugging percentage,
Redshirt junior left-fielder Drew Baker, who appeared in just 23 games last season, is batting .356, helping the Raiders compile a .309 team average and rack up 8.7 runs per game.
Vore was a pitcher and pinch-runner through most of his career and felt as if his talents were being wasted.
“He didn’t get much opportunity on the mound, and he came to us and said: ‘I can hit a little bit. It’s been a while, but I may be able to help the team,’” Sogard said.
“He started to get BP about a year ago today, hitting again for the first time in five years. And he’s probably the best athlete on our team, one of the strongest hitters we have.
“He’s just as fast as Andrew Patrick — he’s just a little raw because he’s been a pitcher. It’s been cool to see.”
The pitching staff is led by all-leaguer Jake Shirk, who has a 1-2 record with the fourth-best ERA in the conference at 5.40.
But the rest of the group is untested.
“With less experience on the mound, we knew there’d be some growing pains there — and there’s probably been more than we expected,” said Sogard, whose team won two out of three games in their first two league series.
‘We’re still ironing some things out, but we definitely have the talent. It’s just a matter of getting guys comfortable and, more importantly, getting them confident again.”
Topics: Football, NFL, Baseball, Las Vegas Raiders