Columbus East graduate and Wright State senior Julian Greenwell, right, celebrates with teammates after a win this season.
Submitted photo
Julian Greenwell’s senior baseball season at Wright State didn’t start out the way he had hoped.
But for the Columbus East graduate, things have picked up quite nicely the past three weeks.
Greenwell has gone on a tear, raising his batting average from .174 to .293. Last week, he was named the Horizon League’s #HLBASE Batter of the Week.
“I’ve felt really well lately, just staying on it,” Greenwell said. “It was kind of a slow start to the year for me, but just kind of trusting the process and still believing who I am was a big part of it.”
Greenwell, ranks second on the team with seven home runs and 27 RBIs following his two-homer, five-RBI game in Sunday’s 11-5 win at Purdue-Fort Wayne. He said he did not change anything mechanically in his approach.
“The biggest thing for me was just trusting my abilities every pitch and having elite focus every single pitch, as well, not taking any pitches off, being ready to hit when I want to hit every pitch,” Greenwell said. “Once you start hitting good, your confidence goes up a lot, so that has definitely helped throughout the past few weeks.”
Columbus East graduate and Wright State senior Julian Greenwell stands on third base.
Submitted photo
The hot streak for Greenwell has coincided with the Raiders’ going on a streak of their own. Following a 16-16 start, Wright State has won seven of eight heading into this weekend’s Horizon League series at Oakland (Michigan).
The Raiders are 13-5 in the Horizon League.
“We dropped a few early that we wished we would have won, and right now, we’re just focused on winning our league,” Greenwell said. “There’s still about a month left in Horizon League play, so right now, we’re just focused on winning every series and trying to get a sweep every time we can.”
Columbus East graduate and Wright State senior Julian Greenwell holds a runner on at first base.
Submitted photo
A hitting and pitching standout at East, Greenwell went to Wright State as a two-way player. He did some pitching as a freshman, but then had Tommy John Surgery on his left elbow 2 1/2 years ago and hasn’t pitched since then.
“I’m only focused on hitting right now,” Greenwell said. “I can definitely work on hitting a lot more. There’s definitely more time to think about what I need to do better, how I can get better. It’s been nice just to focus on that.”
Greenwell did not play summer baseball last year after having foot surgery and rehabbing through the fall. He hasn’t decided if he will play baseball, get an internship or just train at Wright State this summer, but if he does play, it will be with the Wilson (North Carolina) Tobs in the Coastal Plain League.
Greenwell is set to graduate in May with a business management degree. He is planning to use the extra year that the NCAA granted its athletes after the COVID pandemic to come back and play his fifth season with the Raiders.
“I’m going to come back next year and start on my MBA, so it will be nice to come back and get another year of school in,” Greenwell said. “I’m excited that I still have another year of baseball left with the guys. Getting drafted would be a bonus, but I really enjoy my time playing in college. That’s pretty much all I’m focused on right now.”
That includes trying to help lead Wright State back to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
“The first goal is to win our league,” Greenwell said. “Next is to win the Horizon League (tournament) championship. Then, we’ve all wanted for a long time to win a regional. That’s never been done at Wright State before, so that’s something that we all want to do.”
