Wright State Raiders baseball to face Tennessee in NCAA Tournament

The Wright State baseball team will open NCAA Tournament play at 6 p.m. Friday against host Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in the Knoxville Regional.

The Raiders are the No. 4 seed in the double-elimination regional. Tennessee is the top seed, while Duke is No. 2 and Liberty No. 3.

Wright State (35-11) punched its ticket to the postseason by winning the Horizon League title. The Raiders, seeded fourth in the regional, outscored three opponents 40-10 to win the tournament, including a 21-3 rout of Milwaukee in the title game Saturday at Nischwitz Stadium.

See you soon, Knoxville. #RaiderUP | #RoadToOmaha | #Raidergang pic.twitter.com/Kf3Mu4QCks
— Wright State Baseball (@WSURaidergang) May 31, 2021

It will be the ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2018 for the Raiders, who have never advanced past the regional level but believe they can make some noise.

“Honestly, I think we’re a sleeping giant,” WSU’s Damon Dues said Saturday. “(WSU coach Alex) Sogard’s told us that – we all believe it. We can go do something.”

Wright State leads the nation in six offensive categories -- batting average (.342), on-base percentage (.451), sluggin percentage (.578), doubles per game (2.74), scoring (10.6 runs per game) and total runs (488).

Duke (32-20) and Liberty (39-14) face off at noon, Friday.

That's a Raider Championship win!!

Wright State 21, Milwaukee 3 #RaiderUP | #HLBASE | #Raidergang pic.twitter.com/8K33r1AbEF
— Wright State Baseball (@WSURaidergang) May 29, 2021

Tennessee is the No. 3 national seed in the 64-team field.

Wright State last met Tennessee early last season, taking two of three games from the Vols in a weekend series before the season was canceled due to COVID-19. Tennessee took two of three from Wright State in a three-game series in 2019.

The winner of the Knoxville Regional will face the winner of the Eugene Regional (Oregon, LSU, Gonzaga, Central Connecticut) in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional. The eight teams who win super regionals advance to the College World Series June 19-30 in Omaha, Nebraska.

“I think we can make some noise in the regional no doubt,” Sogard said Saturday. “We talked this whole year about trying to do something that’s never been done in this program and that’s win a regional.”

NCAA KNOXVILLE REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Friday, June 4

Game 1: Duke vs. Liberty, Noon

Game 2: Wright State vs. Tennessee, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Saturday, June 5

Game 3: G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser, Noon

Game 4: G1 winner vs. G2 winner, 6 p.m.

Sunday, June 6

Game 5: G3 winner vs. G4 loser, 2 p.m.

Game 6: G4 winner vs. G5 winner, 6 p.m.

Monday, June 7 (if necessary)

Game 7: G6 winner vs. G6 loser, 1 p.m.