Shockers survive cold, sloppy play and complete series sweep

By the middle of a long top of the sixth inning on Saturday, Wichita State shortstop Trey Vickers just had to accept that it was cold.

Four Shocker pitchers combined to hand a lead to Illinois State while issuing two walks and throwing two wild pitches as the Redbirds scored two runs to break a tie.

WSU’s tolerance, for the long inning and less-than-ideal conditions, helped it rebound from prior disappointments in the top of the seventh. WSU scored seven runs on the way to a 12-7 win at Eck Stadium, earning a three-game series sweep.

The Shockers watched ISU have its own difficulties, with three errors – all by right fielder Noah Sadler – two wild pitches and two walks in the bottom of the sixth inning. Vickers’ fourth hit was an opposite-field double that plated two in the sixth.

“With the rain and everything, eventually you get cold and you just embrace it,” Vickers said. “This is what it is. The pitchers got it done and we scored runs for them, and it worked out.”

WSU (21-22, 6-6 Missouri Valley Conference) trailed 5-3 when it started the bottom of the fifth inning with Alec Bohm’s single and a Willie Schwanke double against Redbirds starter Jeffrey Barton, who made 33 total pitches in the previous three innings.

The haste with which Bo Durkac replaced Barton after early fifth-inning trouble seemed to suggest that better options were available. Both teams went on to prove that wasn’t the case, as Vickers and Luke Ritter notched RBI singles to tie it 5-5.

The Shockers had a chance for more, loading the bases with one out. But Jordan Boyer struck out and Alex Jackson grounded out to end the inning.

That failure looked to be a significant missed opportunity when Illinois State scored two in the seventh. One came when Josh DeBacker, the third WSU left fielder of the day, threw up the line with a chance to nab a runner at the plate.

Original left fielder Travis Young was replaced after turning a routine fly ball into a four-base error that allowed two runs to score. His replacement, Dayton Dugas, was removed following a fourth-inning strikeout.

“I have five guys” for left field, including Luke Ritter and Jacob Katzfey, WSU coach Todd Butler said. “There’s five guys, waiting to see. Moved in three today and played almost five this weekend one game. We need someone to just have quality at-bats, make the plays in the outfield and be a complete player.”

WSU quickly erased the deficit with five sixth-inning hits. Those efforts were aided by ISU’s inept fielding, with throws from the outfield badly missing the cutoff man and eluding all other fielders entirely.

The inning was first extended, after WSU had already scored five, when Sadler dropped a fly ball and allowed two runs to score. Alec Bohm, who had three hits along with Greyson Jenista, walked, before Schwanke struck out as the 12th batter in the inning.

The sixth inning provided plenty of rough moments for both teams, but WSU emerged from it in a dominant position against a team that swept the Shockers two years ago, the only MVC team to do so at Eck Stadium.

“It was awesome to see,” Vickers said. “Battling one through nine, I think we hit through the order that inning. Everybody was having good at-bats and putting together quality at-bats, and that was really good to see that everybody was getting rolling.”

This story was originally published April 29, 2017 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Shockers survive cold, sloppy play and complete series sweep."