Wichita State baseball tries to right itself against Central Michigan

Todd Butler wasn’t most flummoxed last weekend by Wichita State being no-hit by Long Beach State on Sunday, though that has been addressed this week.

The Shockers’ coach is troubled by a statistic that isn’t confined to a single game – their 19 errors in 10 games.

WSU (3-7) made seven errors in three losses at Long Beach and has made 10 during a five-game losing streak, leading to 10 unearned runs during that stretch.

The Shockers, who begin a three-game series against Central Michigan on Friday at Eck Stadium, scored two runs in 27 innings last weekend, and handing runs to the opposition puts them at an even greater disadvantage.

“We did a lot of ‘27 outs’ the last couple of days, where you have to play 27 outs without making a mistake,” Butler said. “It took a while (Wednesday) to get through that. We’ve got to start playing clean baseball. We have not played good baseball after 10 games.”

Eighteen of WSU’s errors have been made on the infield, including by pitchers.

The return of third baseman Chase Rader following a five-game absence due to an inner-ear infection should help, as it allows Jordan Farris, who has made three errors, to move back to second base and closes the revolving door at second.

Some of WSU’s errors have come as a result of poor decisions, such as hurrying throws to bases at which there may not be a play, and some can be chalked up to a lack of concentration.

Butler has seen the Shockers improve on areas of focus already this season, and repetition may be the solution to WSU’s difficulties in the field.

“As a coach and a coaching staff, adjustments pop up during the season where you cover bunting or bunt defenses and work on it,” Butler said. “But you have to work on it more. So that’s what we’re trying to do is work on those things more that we haven’t executed.”

The Shockers managed two runs and nine hits facing the weekend rotation for a Long Beach State pitching staff that has held opponents to a .167 batting average through 12 games.

The competitive at-bats WSU had in earlier games, even losses, against Texas State, Omaha and Sam Houston State disappeared, as the Shockers walked four times and struck out 33 times last weekend. Their only extra-base hits were Ryan Tinkham doubles in the first two games of the series.

Butler saw a selective approach by WSU turn passive against the Dirtbags, who didn’t overpower the Shockers’ starting pitchers but didn’t need to. WSU starters allowed six earned runs in three games.

“Our pitching was very good out there,” Butler said. “Their pitching was great. They played good defense, we did not. They had their timely hitting and we did not hit the ball at all for the three-game series.”

The best part of the Long Beach experience is that it was, in fact, an experience. WSU was tested against a traditional powerhouse and came away with clear directions toward improvement.

“As a coaching staff, I think we’ve been very positive,” Butler said. “It’s the thrill of the challenge of knowing where we’re at – it’s not good enough for Shocker baseball, we all know that. But can we fight and make the adjustments and keep improving daily to be the team we need to be when it counts?

“It counts now.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Wichita State baseball tries to right itself against Central Michigan."