WSU baseball completes weekend sweep to begin season

Throwing 90 mph and debuting with Wichita State’s baseball team as a trusted eighth-inning reliever has allowed senior right-hander Landon Holifield to cultivate a persona that complements his ability.

Holifield holds his glove directly in front of his face as he sets and pitches from the stretch. He celebrates teammates who make strong defensive plays behind him and pumps his fists after recording a strikeout.

Holifield personifies a budding identity for the Shockers, who earned a season-opening three-game sweep over Utah Valley with a 6-5 win on Sunday at Eck Stadium.

With big hitters at the top of the order and big arms at the back of the bullpen, WSU is working on an intimidating presence that can tilt the outcome of games. On Sunday, the Shockers scored four runs in their final four turns at bat to turn a 5-2 deficit into a win.

“We have to not only look the part but we have to be the part,” said Holifield, a transfer from Abilene Christian who sat out last season.

“I think that’s what we’ve worked so hard on doing, going through our crucible, as we called it. It was just a tough test, but I think that not only physically are we ready … but mentally, too.”

Those traits may be most valuable from the middle innings on, when games often see a shift in momentum. Utah Valley starter Kaden Schmitt didn’t survive his third time through the order, which started with an RBI single from Greyson Jenista to cut the Shockers’ deficit to 5-3.

Dayton Dugas forced Schmitt’s exit with a double, but the rally continued against reliever Logan Hold, who surrendered a game-tying two-run single by Alec Bohm on his second pitch.

WSU scored the go-ahead run in the seventh, already in the midst of a dominant stretch by the bullpen. Adam Keller, Holifield and Ben Hecht combined to allow one hit in four innings.

After being led by the bottom of the order in Saturday’s 16-2 win, WSU got nine hits and six RBIs from the powerful top four – Jenista, Dugas, Alec Bohm and Luke Ritter. Solo home runs by Ritter and Jenista provided the only two WSU runs through four innings.

“We’ll see how the season goes, how intimidating we get,” WSU coach Todd Butler said. “But I thought we did a good job coming from behind. In the past it has taken us almost 40 games to come from behind, so to do it in the first weekend … I woke up this morning and said it would be nice to come from behind, just to see if we can do that.”

WSU’s relievers combined for 14 1/3 innings this weekend, and Codi Heuer’s two runs allowed on Sunday were the only two Utah Valley scored against them. Holifield, Hecht and Reagan Biechler, who saved Friday’s 4-3 win, totaled 10 strikeouts in five innings.

Their intimidation factor comes not only from the confidence their teammates feel when they enter games, but from the dread they want the opponents to experience.

“You want them to know that if they see a guy, or in our case three or four guys that come on the mound in the late innings, you want them to know that your presence is felt,” Holifield said. “That gives you an advantage right off the bat.

“That’s kind of our motto – get us a lead to the seventh inning, make them go home, the game is over. That’s what we’ve talked about all fall. Get to that seventh inning, it’s over.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2017 at 5:42 PM with the headline "WSU baseball completes weekend sweep to begin season."