Issue date: 4/12/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Matt Vanover Freshman Justin Parker has had a productive season on offense. However, the Raiders' offense was never able to get the swing of things against Youngstown State as they scored just five runs in the three games against the Penguins.

It took two unfortunate losses for the Wright State baseball team to step to the plate this weekend as the Raiders traveled to Youngstown State for a 2-1 series loss.

Saturday proved that one inning can make all the difference as game one was lost 9-1 with seven runs scored in the fourth inning, and game two was a 6-1 loss with five runs being scored in the fourth inning as well.

In game one, YSU made it home first in the second inning for a 1-0 lead. Then in the fourth inning, starter Garrett Holleran retired the first two batters before allowing seven straight runs to cross the plate.

In the fifth inning, the Raiders scored with the combination of a Ross Oeder double and a Brian Shoup groundout.

The Penguins answered back with a run in the sixth inning, and due to good pitching on both sides for the remainder of the game, the score remained locked at 9-1.

Holleran fell to 3-4 on the season, and Kyle Kearcher, Chris Nighland, and Chris Coleman stepped up to finish the game, allowing one run and amassing four strike outs in the combined effort.

Game two found Chris Snyder, now 2-4 for the season, being handed his first Horizon League loss for the season. However, only two of the five runs that were allowed in the fourth inning were earned.

The Raiders had eight hits and left nine on base in the game, with Jeremy Hamilton scoring the only run in the ninth inning on an RBI single from Jack Leopard.

Hamilton went three for four while Dan Biedenharn recorded two hits, Oeder collected a hit, and Aaron Garcia also had a hit.

Game three was a slightly different story as the pitching expertise of Robert Barrett helped the Raiders snap back with a 3-2 victory.

Sunday exhibited great pitching from Barrett, who held the Penguins scoreless until the fifth inning and allowed just one run until the seventh.

Garcia, with a 1-1 tie in the fifth, slammed a double to left field, and moved to third on a wild pitch while John Kopilchack sacrificed a fly to center field to bring him home. In the seventh, Garcia scored again, this time on an Amin Abusaleh drive. Biedenharn also capitalized on a throwing error and a Brian
Shoup bunt put the Raiders in final position for the win.

Barrett, now 4-0 for the season, threw 6.2 innings and earned seven strike outs, while Jason Bennion retired one batter on his only pitch, and Joe Smith closed things out with two scoreless innings and recording his sixth save for the season.

The Raiders ended the weekend with a 15-12 overall record and a 7-5 Horizon League record. The Raiders continued their ten game road trip on Tuesday with a double-header against Butler at noon, but the results were not in for publication.

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