Pitcher Sam Tewes injured in Wichita State’s loss to Central Michigan

Fielding mistakes doomed Wichita State again.

Errors, passed balls and mental bloopers were too much to overcome in a 5-3 loss to start a weekend series with Central Michigan on Friday at Eck Stadium. To make matters worse, starting pitcher Sam Tewes suffered an apparent hand injury.

It was that kind of day for the Shockers, who started strong but finished poorly. A disastrous sixth inning wasted an early 3-0 lead. Tewes, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, had already left the game, shaking his hand in pain. The offense wasn’t there to respond the rest of the way.

With a 3-8 record and two more games this weekend, answers were hard to come by after another disappointing loss.

“This has been tough. This is the biggest challenge that I’ve had as a coach,” WSU coach Todd Butler said. “I’m trying to stay positive, which I am and our coaching staff as well. I’m hoping that in time it’s going to change.”

The difficulty in remaining positive comes from the fact that three more Shocker errors Friday brought the season total to 22 in 11 games. The first one – a wild pickoff throw from relief pitcher Willie Schwanke in the sixth inning – led to a Chippewas run. Later in the inning, the right side of the Wichita State infield pinned down base runner Nick Regnier between first and second but a runner on third broke for home and in the panic both runners advanced, tying the game at 3.

The Shocker infield committed back-to-back, two-out errors in the eighth, but Schwanke saved the inning by striking out Zach McKinstry. Still, the offense failed to respond, and Central Michigan broke the game open with a three-run ninth.

“We’re just beating ourselves right now,” Schwanke said. “I can’t sit here and say any game that we’ve lost, honestly, we got beat by the opponent. Most of the games we’ve lost we’ve beat ourselves, and that’s a huge disappointing factor.”

Cody Leichman played the role of hero for the Chippewas. The designated hitter fought Schwanke for 11 pitches with the go-ahead run at third in the top of the ninth. Leichman lined the 11th pitch into the gap in left-center field for an RBI double to score Logan Regnier, who led off with a triple to right-center field.

The Chippewas’ comeback negated a 2-for-4, two-RBI day from Wichita State’s Daniel Kihle and a strong four innings from Tewes. Butler said he saw his starting pitcher shaking his throwing hand in the fifth.

“Of course, Tewes being the warrior that he is and competitor, he didn’t want to come out of the game,” Butler said. “But he has a future in this game, and we immediately took him out. That was the smart move and the right move to make.”

Butler said he wouldn’t be sure of the exact nature of the injury nor how much time Tewes will miss until more tests can be done next week. The right-handed sophomore has the best numbers on the starting rotation with a 2.14 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 21 innings.

Schwanke, who was supposed to start Sunday’s game, instead struck out five in four innings of work, giving up two earned runs on five hits and a walk.

Chippewa starter Nick Deeg allowed all three Wichita State runs on five hits over five innings. Reliever Sean Martens (2-0) got the win with three strikeouts in three shutout innings.

This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Pitcher Sam Tewes injured in Wichita State’s loss to Central Michigan."