Here's a preview of Wright State, Vanderbilt's opening weekend baseball opponent on Feb. 19-21.

2020 record / RPI: 6-9 / 19

2019 record / RPI: 42-17 (22-8 Horizon) / 89

Coach: Alex Sogard (2 years, 48-26)

Rank in preseason polls: Not ranked; received votes in Collegiate Baseball

Rank in Horizon preseason forecasts: 1st (D1)

Last NCAA tournament appearance: 2016 (second in Louisville Regional)

Thirty-two-year-old coach Alex Sogard begins his third year in Dayton, Ohio, leading a program that from 2015-19 has ranked ninth in the NCAA in wins per season (41.6) over that span. He replaced Jeff Mercer, who spent two years at WSU before taking the Indiana job.

The Raiders entered 2020 picked second in the Horizon League, following a 2019 season during which they won the league's regular-season title by 3 1/2 games before a 1-2 showing in the conference tournament resulted in a hasty exit. Wright State was flattened by Mississippi State and Auburn (in three-game sweeps each time) to open last season, coming no closer than three runs in any defeat.

Perhaps the Raiders were hitting their stride in early March, however. Wright State handed Tennessee its only two defeats of the season on the 6th and 8th, then, smacked Miami (Ohio) by a 16-5 count on the 10th in its last game of the season.

That slow start was predictable. The Raiders returned just two of their two of their top eight hitters from the prior year (losses included 2019 Horizon player of the year Peyton Burdick, the 82nd overall pick of the MLB Draft, and two other top-10-round selections) , and lost the only two pitchers who'd made all 15 weekend starts, though they did return the best part of their bullpen.

This year brings more familiarity. Wright State returns every hitter who had an at-bat last season, and on the pitching side, lost only Friday night starter Daniel Kreuzer (0-3, 6.20 ERA).

The Raiders averaged 5.0 runs per game last year, down from the 8.5 the year before. That was probably to be expected given the loss of six players who started at least 35 games.

It wasn't a power-ladder bunch a year ago. The Raiders slugged just for home runs and slugged .366, though they did smack 33 doubles and six triples.

Tyler Black comes off a down year, but appears to be Wright State's best hitter. The 6-foot-2 Canadian struck out just 18 times in 170 at bats as a freshman in 2019. D1 Baseball named him the preseason Player of the Year in the Horizon League.

First baseman/DH Zane Harris, a 6-foot-5, 250-pounder, could compete with Black for that title. Harris has started 69 games over three years and has smashed seven career home runs.

Konner Piotto, who transferred to Wright State in 2019, led the team in average a year ago.

Veteran Alex Alders has played 138 career games, hitting .228 with 59 RBIs for his career.

Wright State posted a 5.75 ERA last year, which was significantly worse than the 4.31 the year before. The Raiders return 13 of the 14 players who threw a pitch in 2020.

The headliner of the staff is probably closer Jake Schrand, who's touched the mid-90s with his fastball and has fanned 29 hitters in 25 1/3 innings the last two seasons.

Bradley Brehmer, a 23rd-round pick out of high school in 2018, was the Friday night starter a year ago. Brehmer is a 6-foot-6 right-hander who made 11 starts as a freshman.

Right-hander Austin Cline should return to the rotation. Cline threw 154 innings at Dayton from 2016-17, striking out 110 hitters, before missing the next two years entirely. He's made 28 career starts.

Six-6 righty Sam Wirsing projects as the other starter. Wirsing's made 11 collegiate starts.

Lefty Julian Greenwell is a two-way player who struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings as a freshman in 2020.