Why Wichita State baseball expects 'upper hand' against Tulane in first home AAC series
Take it from Wichita State junior Dayton Dugas, a Lake Charles, La., native: The Tulane baseball team is in for a weather shock this weekend for its upcoming series with Wichita State.
Game One on Friday has already been moved up to a noon start time in an attempt to beat the possibility of snow later in the afternoon, while Saturday's 2 p.m. game is expected to be played in chilly temperatures.
It's not ideal weather for the first American Athletic Conference series at Eck Stadium, but Dugas believes it actually could give WSU (20-6, 1-2 American) an advantage over Tulane (12-18, 3-3).
"It's going to be cold and they're not going to be used to the cold," Dugas said. "Trust me, I'm from Louisiana and it took me until now to get used to it. So we'll have the upper hand there and we'll be ready to go."
Wichita State, ranked as high as No. 22 in the national polls, took one of three on the road against a nationally ranked East Carolina team last weekend. The Shockers will have some momentum following a 7-5 victory over Big 12 foe Oklahoma State that gave them their 20th win of the season.
Tulane has lost five of its last six games and was picked to finish eighth in the nine-team AAC by the conference coaches before the season. The Shockers have won nine straight games at home, the third-longest home winning streak in the nation.
Codi Heuer (5-0, 3.23 ERA) will start Friday's game with Liam Eddy (5-1, 2.06) scheduled for Saturday and Tommy Barnhouse (2-2, 2.95) slated to pitch the finale on Sunday.
"This team is confident and we've already hit one of our goals (reaching 20 wins at this point in the season)," WSU manager Todd Butler said. "We have some momentum and now we've got to carry it into Tulane."
Butler said it was an eye-opening experience traveling to Greenville, N.C., for the team's first road trip in the AAC.
"It was a great atmosphere at ECU and a great learning experience for us to go on the road and play in front of a hostile crowd at a nice park and a nice facility," Butler said. "It was kind of fun being the new team. I would like us to get a nice crowd like ECU has and Houston has and some of the other teams in our league.
"I want to see (Eck Stadium) filled up like that before the season is over."
Wichita State's potent offense should be in line for a big series against Tulane's pitching, which ranks last in the American in staff ERA (5.57), opposing batting average (.269), walks (5.0 per game) and home runs allowed (22).
In 15 home games this season, WSU is hitting .306 as a team.
"We're playing some good baseball right now and it's going to be a lot of fun to have our opening weekend here," said senior catcher Gunnar Troutwine, who is batting .407 in his last 10 games. "I feel like in Wichita, we're always battling with the weather. So we'll be prepared for that, no matter what."
This story was originally published April 5, 2018 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Why Wichita State baseball expects 'upper hand' against Tulane in first home AAC series."