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The 2014 team reeled off 13 league wins in a row en route to winning the championship at 25-4 in Greg Lovelady’s first season as coach.
In Jeff Mercer’s first season as coach, WSU leads the league in 10 pitching categories (ERA, opponent batting average, strikeouts, strikeouts looking, wins, fewest hits allowed, fewest runs allowed, fewest earned runs allowed and fewest home runs allowed).
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That dominance on the mound has led to the Raiders outscoring their league foes 54-18 during the 9-0 start.
Junior left-hander Danny Sexton has been the ace of the staff, going 6-0 with a 0.57 ERA that ranks fifth in the nation. Five other WSU pitchers with at least four appearances have sub-2.00 ERAs – reliever Derek Hendrixson (1.04), Jeremy Randolph (1.66) and Evan Moores (1.80), and starters Zane Collins (1.22) and Ryan Weiss (1.51).
WSU will face YSU in a single game at 3 p.m. Saturday, followed by a Sunday doubleheader that begins at noon.
Despite the hot start, the Raiders are clinging to a one-game lead ahead of UIC (18-7, 8-1) in the HL standings.
The Raiders and Flames won’t meet until May 12 when they square off for the final five games of the season. After a May 12 doubleheader in Chicago, there will be a three-game set May 18-20 at Nischwitz Stadium.
Heckman honored: Sophomore Maria Heckman was named the Horizon League Field Athlete of the Week for her performance at the Miami Duals on April 1.
Heckman set a school record in the pole vault with a height of 3.65 meters while beating outing 11 other participants for first place. Heckman held the previous WSU record of 3.64 meters, which she set nearly a year ago at the Ball State Challenge on April 16, 2016.
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The Minster native also owns the team’s fourth fastest time in the 100-meter run and is part of the 400 relay team.
Heckman and the Raiders will be back in action next weekend at the All-Ohio Championships in Cincinnati.
Softball: The Raiders (9-18) are in the middle of an 11-game road trip that has seen them start 3-3. The three wins came in a sweep of Wisconsin-Green Bay last weekend that moved them within a game of first place in the HL at 4-2.
WSU will play a three-game series at Cleveland State (4-31, 0-6) this weekend, beginning with a 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.
The next home game for the Raiders will be Friday against Oakland in the first of a three-game series.
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Golf: The Raiders finished second at the six-team Wright State Invitational this week as Wittenberg ran away with a 22-stroke victory.
Freshman Blake Hale and senior Ryan Wenzler finished tied for fifth at 2-over-par 215, while senior Austin Sipe tied for 11th at at 5-over 218.
WSU will compete in the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational in Muncie, Ind., this weekend in the final regular-season tuneup before heading to Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., for the Horizon League Championships April 23-25.
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