6/5/2021

The Wright State baseball team saw its 2021 season come to an end on Saturday afternoon in the Knoxville Regional, falling to Duke 14-6.
 
Wright State finishes the season with a 35-13 record and won their fourth Horizon League Championship in the last six seasons.
 
On Saturday afternoon, Duke scored multiple runs in three different frames, including four runs in the third and a six-run fifth inning. Wright State scored single runs in each of the first four innings, but left 12 men on base, including at least one in every frame and stranded two runners in three different innings.
 
Trailing by two heading into their first at-bat, the Raiders got on the board in the bottom of the first when Damon Dues reached with a leadoff single and advanced around the bases before scoring after a Duke throwing error on a ground ball off the bat of Sammy Sass. Wright State tied the contest in the second when Alex Alders walked and scored on Justin McConnell’s RBI double down into the left field corner.
 
Duke posted four runs in the top of the third on a pair of two-run homers before Tyler Black connected on his third home run of the weekend with his solo shot in the bottom of the third. A Raider error allowed a Blue Devil run in the top of the fourth before Wright State pushed across a run in the bottom of the frame when Konner Piotto scored on Quincy Hamilton’s RBI triple into the left-center gap. Duke responded with the six-run fifth behind three homers to open the margin up.
 
Wright State added a single run on Black’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the sixth on a would-be grand slam that was robbed by Duke’s R.J. Schreck, and then another in the eighth on Cameron Rountree’s RBI single to plate Hamilton, who had doubled earlier in the inning.
 
Hamilton and Piotto each finished with three hits to pace the Raider offense, while Dues finished with two hits. Wright State starter Bradley Brehmer was saddled with the loss after allowing six hits on five runs over the opening three innings. Seven total Raider pitchers saw action, including two scoreless innings from Austin Cline in his final collegiate appearance.

COURTESY WRIGHT STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS