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.