Wright State will play nation’s third-ranked team in first round of NCAA baseball tournament

Columbia and Gonzaga also will be part of the four-team double-elimination regional, which was announced Monday

“We talk about it all year — that’s why guys came here. They came here to win a (league title) ring and play in a regional,” fourth-year coach Alex Sogard said. “I’m glad the seniors are going to get to experience that again. This group as a whole is younger from an experience standpoint. But they were at Tennessee last year, and they saw that atmosphere. That’s why we play those games early.”

The regional winner will be crowned Sunday and advance to the Super Regionals the following week. The College World Series will be played June 16-27 in Omaha, Neb.

The Raiders have never advanced past the first stage in eight previous postseason trips, but they won’t be intimidated by the daunting competition — not after the way they played last season.

It may have taken a loss to realize they can win.

They appeared ready for a breakthrough victory against host Tennessee in their first game. They took an 8-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth before running into trouble. They gave up a pair of singles around a fly-out, bringing the tying run to the plate. Coach Alex Sogard then went with his day-two starter, Austin Cline, to try to preserve the all-important opening win.

Cline, though, gave up a walk to load the bases, and Tennessee clean-up hitter Drew Gilbert belted a grand slam for a 9-8 win before nearly 4,000 crazed fans.

The Raiders were bounced by Duke 14-6 the next day.

“That was a tough one,” Sogard said. “I was so proud of the way the guys played that game. It was like a heavyweight fight going back and forth. We know you’ve just got to play good baseball. In this sport, anybody can beat anyone if you show up and execute. We’ll go in with confidence. If we play our best, we can compete with anyone in the country.”

Virginia Tech (41-12) is rated third in the USA Today coaches poll and fifth in the RPI. The Hokies will be making their 11th appearance in the NCAA tourney. They were picked to finish sixth in the ACC Coastal Division, but after an 0-4 start, they won 30 of their last 35 games to claim their first league crown.

The Raiders are likely to face All-ACC freshman and Hokie ace Drue Hackenberg (10-2, 2.83 ERA) in the opener.

Columbia (30-16) is 54th in the RPI and will make its seventh regional trip. The Lions led the Ivy League in scoring this season at 8.1 runs per game and tied Penn for first with a 17-4 record.

Gonzaga (36-17), rated 18th in the coaches poll and 27th in the RPI, will make its 12th NCAA trip. The Zags put nine players on the All-West Coast Conference team, including pitcher of the year Gabriel Hughes (8-2, 2.84 ERA).

Though ranked only 141st in the RPI, the Raiders (30-25) almost certainly have gotten the attention of the other Blacksburg-bound teams with their romp to the Horizon League title. Their three wins came by a combined score of 56-7, and they pounded 11 home runs for a program record 79 this season. The run total and homers were the most in tourney history.

But as much as Sogard was thrilled to see the bats come alive, he was more pleased with the pitching. Jake Shirk, Sebastian Gongora and Alex Theis all had solid starts and will be counted on to do it again this weekend.

“All three of our starters gave us a chance to win, and in postseason baseball, that’s what it’s all about,” Sogard said.

Shirk and Theis were named second-team all-league, while Gongora, a Chaminade Julienne grad, was named to the all-freshman team.

“I don’t think we’d hit as well as we do if we didn’t pitch as well as we do,” Sogard said. “Our pitching is putting up zeroes early on, and it gives our hitters that much more confidence and allows them to play free. When our guys play free and relaxed, they’re a special group.”

Along with the Hokies, the Raiders lost two early-season games to No. 5 Oklahoma State and three to then-No. 11 Georgia Tech, but some of those were competitive. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, they upset No. 1 Louisville and No. 11 Tennessee twice — all on the road.

They’ve also had some NCAA success in the past.

Playing under the legendary Ron Nischwitz in 1994, they opened with a 14-12 win over North Carolina State in Knoxville, Tenn. They were eliminated after losing to Arizona and NC State.

They’ve reached the regional finals twice.

In 2015 at Illinois, they split a pair of games with Notre Dame and beat Ohio University before being eliminated by the fifth-ranked Illini, 8-4.

In 2016 at Louisville, they split with No. 20 Ohio State and thumped Western Michigan, but their season ended with a 3-1 loss to the second-ranked Cardinals.

They appear to be in peak form heading to Blacksburg. Their HL tourney crown was their ninth overall (four more than the next-highest total) and fifth in the last seven years.

“We recruit winners. We value that a lot,” Sogard said. “I always say we have the hardest workers in the country, and I think it shows on the field. They love to compete. They love the big stage.”