Wright State falls in NCAA Tournament opener

Wright State's Andrew Patrick hit a home run in the fifth inning against Indiana State in an NCAA regional game in Terre Haute, Ind. Wright State Athletics photo

Wright State's Andrew Patrick hit a home run in the fifth inning against Indiana State in an NCAA regional game in Terre Haute, Ind. Wright State Athletics photo

Wright State’s baseball team was in position Friday to pull off an upset in the NCAA Tournament.

But host Indiana State, the top seed in the Terre Haute Regional and the 14th seed nationally, rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to beat the Raiders 6-5 in the opening game of the double-elimination regional at Bob Warn Field.

Gehrig Anglin and Andrew Patrick both hit home runs and Boston Smith had two RBIs to lead Wright State, which grabbed the lead in the second inning and led 5-3 heading into the eighth.

The Sycamores got a leadoff single and a one-out double to put runners on second and third off Wright State ace Sebastian Gongora. Indiana State cut the lead to 5-4 on a sacrifice fly off reliever Tristan Haught. Haught then walked two straight to load the bases and Grant Magill blooped an 0-2 pitch into right to drive in two and make it 6-5.

Smith’s one-out double to right off Matt Jachec plated Sammy Sass and Julian Greenwell to put WSU up 2-0 in the second. The Sycamores got a run back in the bottom of the frame, but Anglin’s two-run bomb to left made it 4-1 in the third. ISU made it 4-2 in the bottom of the third, and Patrick hit his 20th homer of the second in the fifth to make it 5-2. Adam Pottinger’s solo home run in the sixth cut WSU’s lead to 5-3.

Anglin, Patrick Fultz and Luke Arnold all finished 2-for-4 for the Raiders. Gongora allowed nine hits and five runs, while striking out seven in 7 1/3. Haught look the loss in relief.

Wright State (39-22) will face No. 3 North Carolina in an elimination game at noon Saturday. ISU (43-15) will play Iowa at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Raiders are making their third NCAA appearance in a row and 10th overall.

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