Baseball Preview, Part 7: Wright State

Feb. 21, 2008

The Green and Gold enter the 2008 season with a youthful group of student-athletes and a solid core of returning players to guide the team into the fourth season under head coach Rob Cooper. Over 50-percent of the 2008 squad will be new to the WSU program and the Raiders return only 19-percent of their wins on the mound from a season ago. On thing the Raiders can rally around this season is the fact the Horizon League coaches have tabbed WSU as the preseason favorite.

Wright State will enter the 2008 season as one of only 18 Division I baseball programs to have appeared in their conference/league championship game in each of the past two seasons. WSU will also have a solid group of veteran players to guide the 19 newcomers to the Raiders roster this season.

Catchers
A pair of returning players highlights the platoon behind the plate and one newcomer joins the group as a junior college transfer.

Gerald Ogrinc was an All-Newcomer selection and Second Team All-Horizon League honoree last season as he started 40 games behind the plate. He posted a .291 batting average and drove in 19 RBI's. Tony Scott appeared in nine games last season and walked twice with one run scored during his freshman season.

Taylor Loop joins the Raiders after playing two seasons at Saddleback (Calif.) College and was a .280 hitter with three home runs.

First Base
Jeremy Hamilton returns to anchor the right-side of the WSU infield this season. The left-handed hitter will head into the season with a career .332 batting average and 93 RBI's. Last season, Hamilton drove in 62 RBI's, good for fifth on the single season charts, and set new school marks for putouts (529) and fielding chances (569). The First Team All-Horizon League performer was a member of the USA Collegiate National Team this summer and won a silver medal at the Pan Am Games.

Middle Infield
After losing Second Team All-American Ross Oeder, the Raiders will return a trio of veteran player with experience in the middle infield, as sophomores Aaron Fields and Sam Mote join junior Justin Parker. Fields garnered All-Newcomer Team honors last season as he batted .239 with 14 RBI's and 17 runs scored during his rookie campaign. Mote posted a .254 average in 29 games, driving in 15 runs and scoring 11. Parker will enter his junior campaign after being an All-Horizon League First Team selection in 2007. The Indiana native will enter 2008 with 45 career extra base hits, 68 RBI's and a .342 career clip at the plate. Parker was a Second Team All-Region performer last season as he set the school record for doubles in a season and ranks second in single season doubles in Horizon League history.

Joining the Raiders this season will be a pair of Junior College transfers in R.J. Gundolff and Kory Twede. Gundolff joins WSU after one season with American River College in California. The shortstop boasted a .379 batting average and drove in 29 RBI's while garnering First Team All-American honors from the California Junior College Athletic Association. Twede will enter WSU after two seasons at Big Bend Community College in Washington. The two year starter comes to WSU after owning a .284 batting average last season with the Vikings.

Third Base
The Raiders lose Rawlings Golden Glove winner Dan Biedenharn, but add a pair of newcomers to the hot corner. Jeff Mercer joined WSU after three seasons with cross-town rival Dayton and Kyle Mossbarger will begin his first season at the collegiate level.

Mercer comes to WSU as a junior and will enter with a career batting average of .307. Mercer started 67 games in two seasons of play at UD and has recorded 51 RBI's over two seasons at Dayton. Mossbarger will join the Raider program after a stellar prep career at Urbana High School. The three-time All-Central Buckeye Conference selection joins Wright State after boasting a .486 batting average during his senior campaign.

Outfield
WSU will enter 2008 with five experienced outfielders and a solid core of newcomers. John Kopilchack, Casey McGrew, Kris Steffen and Ross Vagedes will return for WSU, with Fields also having experience in the outfield.

Kopilchack returns for his senior season with a career .261 average. One of the most reliable outfielders in the Horizon League, Kopilchack ranks sixth in school history in triples (9) and has smacked 12 home runs and scored 81 runs. McGrew returns for his sophomore season after garnering All-Freshman honors from PingBaseball.com last season. The rookie posted a .295 batting average with 20 runs and 20 RBI's on his way to All-Newcomer Team accolades from the Horizon League. Steffen will enter his senior season with WSU after appearing in 23 games in 2007. He posted 22 hits, scored nine runs and drove in 14 RBI's last season in 23 games for the Green and Gold. Ross Vagedes returns to the outfield this season after spending the past two seasons on the mound. He owns a career .282 average with nine home runs and 42 RBI's in 77 starts in the outfield. He also has 21 outfield assists and has scored 47 runs in two seasons in the field.

Brian Adams joins WSU after sending one season at Florida International, local product Ryan Ashe joins the Raiders from Wayne High School, and Zach Strauss begins his first season with WSU after a solid career at Northview High School. Adams appeared in 34 games for the Golden Panthers last season with a .227 batting average and 14 runs scored. Ashe and Strauss each enter WSU as three time All-Conference performers as preps.

Pitching
The Raiders lost their top three starting pitchers and their two top bullpen threats after 2007, but WSU has a talented group of mound workers heading into 2008. WSU returns six pitchers and added eleven players to their roster during the summer.

Dan Barker is the most experienced starter on the club heading into this season with six starts while Alex Kaminsky, Scott Ruthven and Jordan Wolfe each posted at least one starts in 2007. Jon Durket, with seven appearances last season, and Greg Robinson, with 14 appearances, will anchor the Raiders bullpen in the spring.

Joining the staff via transfer will be Bryce DeWeese (Wilmington College), Billy Kitchen (Indiana), Rylan Ostrosky (Saddleback [Calif.]), Ryan Portwood (Charleston) and Chris Walden (Kentucky). Joining WSU from the high school ranks are Jordan Marker, Michael Meintel, Michael Schum, Lee Valencheck and Michael Woytek.

Schedule
The Green and Gold will kick off the 2008 season with 11 games on the road, play 25 games at Nischwitz Stadium and close out the season with the Horizon League Championships. WSU will enter the season with a solid offensive group that will be tested early as they travel to play at Arkansas, Washington State and Louisville who ended their season at the 2007 College World Series. After bearing that test, the Raiders will play in The Citadel Challenge in Charleston, S.C., taking on The Citadel, Evansville and UNC-Asheville. After a quick trip to Miami (OH), the Raiders will co-host the UD/WSU Tournament which features Dayton, Eastern Michigan and a non-league game against Valparaiso. After opening the home portion of their schedule against Bowling Green, WSU will open Horizon League play against Valparaiso, who enter their first year as a member of the league. WSU will then play eleven of their 24 Horizon League games at Nischwitz Stadium. After an eight game home stand to end the month of March, the Raiders will play 17 of their next 24 games on the road.

Wright State will end the season with seven of its last eight games at home, including double-headers with Cleveland State and Youngstown State and a three-game series with NJIT - the New Jersey Institute of Technology - to close out the regular season. The home portion of the schedule includes in-state rivals Cedarville, Cincinnati, Dayton and Xavier as well as league foe's Cleveland State, UIC, Milwaukee, Valparaiso and Youngstown State. WSU will contest their only Horizon League series with Butler on the road and also square-off against Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Toledo and Xavier away from home.

Story provided by Wright State Office of Sports Information