Wichita State rallies to knock off No. 21 UC Santa Barbara

Wichita State second baseman Jordan Farris smiled as a trickle of blood clotted on his lip. A teammate caught him with an elbow during the victory mob near first base.

“Totally worth it,” Farris said. “Any day of the week.”

Friday wasn’t just any day for the Shockers. They hit their way into a two-run rally in the ninth inning for a 3-2 victory over No. 21 UC Santa Barbara at Eck Stadium. Farris’ single drove in Sam Hilliard with the winning run after Daniel Kihle tied it with a single that scored Tanner Dearman.

“Much needed,” WSU coach Todd Butler said. “Much needed.”

WSU (6-10) earned its first come-from-behind win of any substance, won two games in a row for the second time this season and managed to get Gauchos ace Dillon Tate out of the game and work on a short-handed bullpen. The Gauchos (11-5) led 2-1 entering the ninth, but had to go to freshman James Record because closer James Carter isn’t available because of an unspecified injury.

“This can get us on a roll, get us all together,” Farris said. “That’s a good team and a great pitcher.”

Tate, a 6-foot-2 junior, entered the game with a 0.96 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 28 innings. He held the Shockers to four hits and struck out six, without a walk, in eight innings. The Shockers scored a run in the third after Tate hit two batters and gave up two groundballs.

Tate, Gauchos coach Andrew Checketts said, told him he was done after throwing 98 pitches. In the ninth, Record retired WSU’s Chase Rader on a foul ball. He walked Ryan Tinkham to start WSU’s rally.

“He’s got a chance to be a millionaire here in a few months, so I don’t push guys when they say that,” Checketts said. “He’s a competitive guy, so usually they don’t say how they’re doing unless they’re really done.”

Record fell behind Sam Hilliard 3-1 before Hilliard smacked a single to right field. Dearman, running for Tinkham, got to third base. Hilliard moved to second on a wild pitch and Kihle’s 2-0 single to center tied the game 2-all.

“It looked like (Record) started to nibble,” Checketts said. “Once he walked Tinkham, he started to get on the defensive.”

Record missed on a slider and a fastball to Kihle. He threw a slider with the third pitch and Kihle resisted the urge to swing big and dumped the ball into shallow center.

“I was really thinking it would take two hits to get (the winning run) in,” Kihle said. “When you try to do too much, that’s when you get yourself out. Coach has been on us for quite awhile about that. It’s a team game.”

Connor Baits replaced Record with a 1-0 count to Farris, who hit Baits’ first pitch to left field. Hilliard scored easily and the Shockers players and coaches streamed out of the dugout, paper, clipboards and stopwatches flying, to celebrate with Farris.

“I was looking for a fastball and got it,” Farris said. “Very exciting.”

WSU’s Willie Schwanke, subbing for Sam Tewes, made his second start and limited the Gauchos to eight hits and two runs over 6 2/3 innings. Freshman Taylor Goshen pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings in relief.

“Dillon Tate has a chance to be a first-round pick,” Butler said. “Willie matched him and that’s what Willie had to do.”

The Gauchos scored both runs in the fifth inning on Woody Woodward’s RBI single and an RBI double by Luke Swenson. In the seventh, Schwanke got two outs and then walked the next two batters. Goshen walked the bases loaded before striking out Dalton Kelly.

That preserved WSU’s comeback chances. Now it is up to the Shockers to turn Friday into something more than one win.

“This can get us rolling,” Kihle said. “We’ve got to start getting win after win together. It was good to see what this team had.”

Worth noting — Butler said Tewes will not pitch this weekend due to shoulder inflammation. Tewes (1-1, 2-14) will rest and may pitch next weekend. He last pitched on March 6 … Mikel Mucha’s five-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-4 day … WSU evened its home record at 5-5.

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Wichita State rallies to knock off No. 21 UC Santa Barbara."