The year 2018 has been a phenomenal season for Wright State’s baseball team. The Raiders won the Horizon League title on Saturday beating the University of Illinois-Chicago, 11-9. It was their third Horizon League championship in the past four years. On Sunday, they found out they’ll be making a trip to Palo Alto, Calif., to face the No. 3 team nationally, Stanford, on Friday night in an NCAA Regional Tournament first-round matchup.
Wright State won 39 games this year and ended the regular season with eight straight wins. This will be its sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2006.
GREAT group – honored to work w/daily! @WSUBaseball@JeffMercer54@ASoggyBottom@coachtalarico @JacobBurk33@DiamynHall pic.twitter.com/ZGAE8SdDeR
— Nate Metzger ✝️🇺🇸 (@Metz180) May 27, 2018
RELATED: Wright State baseball coach Nate Metzger says his purpose is to help players grow as Godly men
Nate Metzger is Wright State’s assistant baseball coach. He’s also a man of faith and believes his calling is to glorify God through his coaching.
“I think God wants us to continue to grow and push in our faith and opportunities,” he told Sports Spectrum. “But we should be content in where we are as well; it’s a balance. You could be the greatest coach on the planet and fail as a husband or father, and that’s not good.”
“I do have to separate faith and baseball a bit sometimes, but really, I just try to be myself and be open and natural,” he said. “You can’t be forceful about your faith. When Christians come across as having an ego or try to force it on people, it turns people off. Look for opportunities to be a witness and have a conversation.”
Wright State’s game against Stanford will take place Friday night at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
RELATED STORIES:
— Minor league manager Michael Schlact says job is ‘worthless’ if he’s not pointing to Jesus
— Josh Mitchell on pitching in Royals organization: ‘God was every bit the reason I made it’
— Ethan Chapman: The Diary of a Minor League Baseball Player
