Things just seemed to fall into place for Wichita State pitcher Cale Elam this weekend.
Elam was supposed start Saturday against Stephen F. Austin, but this potentially posed a problem because his wife, Kelby, was due to give birth.
When bad weather postponed the game and created a doubleheader Sunday, Elam was able to start Sunday’s first game, his newborn son Kaden having arrived safely.
“We had talked about ‘If you have him in the morning, am I going to pitch or not going to pitch?’ It made it a lot easier decision when the game got (postponed) and I knew that’s where I wanted to be,” Elam said.
Cale and Kelby welcomed Kaden at about 9:15 a.m. Saturday.
“Yeah, it was my family, but these guys are kind of like my family, too,” he said.
His Shocker teammates brought gifts, scoring their first runs in the past 23 innings. WSU (9-4) pushed across three runs in the sixth and one in eighth for a 4-3 first-game victory.
“He’s probably one of the only players I’ve ever coached who could have a child and go out and pitch the next day like he did,” WSU coach Todd Butler said. “He was focused, he had a little bit of rest, and he wanted the ball today, and I think he did a good job.”
Elam (2-0) gave up just two runs (one earned) in seven innings, striking out seven with no walks.
In the nightcap, freshman Sam Tewes (3-1) pitched seven strong innings in a 7-0 shutout.
“(A shutout) is hard to do in college baseball, and he did a really good job,” Butler said. “He’s going to be really special.”
The doubleheader victories couldn’t have come at a better time.
Tuesday’s game at Oklahoma State begins a six-game road trip that includes games at UC Santa Barbara and Arizona State. WSU will return home to begin Valley play March 21 against Missouri State.
In the opener, the Shockers trailed 2-0 entering the bottom of the sixth when Casey Gillaspie sent a high popup into the swirling south wind that Lumberjacks shortstop Will Vest couldn’t handle. By the time he corralled the ball, Gillaspie was sliding into second base.
Chase Simpson followed with a single to right field that scored Gillaspie, then Micah Green got a towering fly ball up in the wind, which carried it over the left-field fence for a 3-0 lead.
Green was 4 for 7 with four RBIs on the day with two more singles in the opener and a double in the nightcap.
“He’s really confident right now,” Butler said. “He’s going up there, hitting with two strikes, he hit the big home run, he pulls his hands inside and gets it and hits it out. He’s a much-improved player.”
Once the scoring monkey was off their backs, the Shockers kept up the offense in the second game, scoring six runs on 12 hits – four off Lumberjacks ace Dillon Mangham, who entered the game with a 0.86 ERA.
WSU had four doubles and two triples –back-to-back by Joe Haddox and Garrett Bayliff in the seventh – among its 12 hits in the nightcap.
First game
| Stephen F. Austin | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | AVG |
| Dickey cf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Sanchez rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .383 |
| Olson dh | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .255 |
| Handel lf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .295 |
| Ramos 2b | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .283 |
| K. Thornell 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .225 |
| Marberry c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .300 |
| O’Neill ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| B. Thonell 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .239 |
| Vest ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .176 |
| Fikes ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .273 |
| Totals | 36 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wichita State | |||||||
| Bobbit dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .300 |
| Bayliff rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .260 |
| Gillaspie 1b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .455 |
| Simpson 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| Green cf | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .348 |
| Baker c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .222 |
| Kihle lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .364 |
| Parker 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 |
| Phillips ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .364 |
| Totals | 31 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| Stephen F. Austin | 010 | 100 | 001 | — | 3 |
| Wichita State | 000 | 003 | 01x | — | 4 |
E — Vest, Phillips.. DP — SFA 3. LOB — SFA 7, WSU 5. 2B — Handel (4), Kihle (3). 3B — K. Thornell (1). HR — Green (2). SB — Bayliff (1). CS — Dickey, Baker.
| Stephen F. Austin | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Cross L,0-3 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4.07 |
| Thompson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4.50 |
| Ledet | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Wichita State | |||||||
| Elam W,2-0 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0.98 |
| Palmer | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.17 |
| Vielock S,3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.80 |
WP — Thompson, Elam. HBP — Marberry (by Elam). Umpires — home, Conan Sterobel; first, Terry Harrison; third, Travis Olson. T — 2:04.
Second game
| Stephen F. Austin | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | AVG |
| Dickey cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| Sanchez rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .353 |
| Handel lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .298 |
| Jackson lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .154 |
| B. Thornell 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .224 |
| Ramos 2b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .300 |
| Fikes dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .214 |
| X. Smith dh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Olson c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .260 |
| K. Thornell 1b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .244 |
| O’Neill 1b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
| Vest ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .189 |
| Totals | 30 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Wichita State | |||||||
| Harbutz dh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .167 |
| Koeiman dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .185 |
| Haddox dh | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 |
| Bayliff rf | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .296 |
| Gillaspie 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .438 |
| Simpson 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .275 |
| Green cf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .347 |
| Kihle lf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .370 |
| Dearman lf | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .231 |
| Parker 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .182 |
| Zimmerman c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Arens c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Kirk ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .211 |
| Totals | 32 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Stephen F. Austin | 000 | 000 | 000 | — | 0 |
| Wichita State | 010 | 003 | 11x | — | 6 |
DP — SFA 2, WSU 3. LOB — SFA — 6, WSU — 7. 2B — Bayliff (3), Green (3), Simpson (4), Gillaspie (5). 3B — Haddox (1), Bayliff (1). S — Dickey, B. Thornell, Kihle. SF — Green. SB — Dickey (6), Bayliff (2), Kihle (1), Dearman 2 (9). CS — Parker.
| Stephen F. Austin | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Mangham L,2-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Keith | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.67 |
| Bishop | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6.59 |
| Wichita State | |||||||
| Tewes, W,3-1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2.70 |
| LaBrie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.48 |
| Tyler | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
WP — Mangham, Bishop. HBP — Parker (by Mangham), Kirk (by Bishop). Umpires — home, Terry Harrison; first, Travis Olson; third, Conan Strobel. T — 2:14. A — 2,352.
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