Shockers bounce back, win series finale from Evansville

Jordan Boyer had two hits and a conversation with coach Todd Butler on Sunday, a day after the Wichita State second baseman struck out five times in a 17-inning loss to Evansville.

Boyer didn’t need any of it, or even any time to process his Saturday failures. He laughed when his five strikeouts were brought up following Sunday’s game, chalking them up to the humbling nature of baseball.

Boyer scored a pair of runs and helped the Shockers break through for a four-run eighth inning in Sunday’s 8-4 win over Evansville at Eck Stadium. Travis Young, who also struck out five times on Saturday, had a pinch-hit single, a stolen base and a run in the eighth inning.

WSU improved to 25-26 and 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“As soon as it was over, I knew it was in the past,” Boyer said. “It’s hard to leave something that big in the past, but it’s another day. That’s the way the game is, you’ve got to know one day is completely different from the next.”

Boyer and Young were hitless in 13 combined at-bats on Saturday and often came up with runners on base and a chance to win the game in extra innings. Their struggles prolonged that game, which stretched beyond six hours, but any long-term emotional effects were undetectable.

Boyer doubled in his first at-bat on Sunday and scored on Greyson Jenista’s RBI single in the second inning. In the eighth, he drove in a run with his second hit and scored on Alec Bohm’s two-run single.

Boyer only batted in the eighth because Travis Young extended the inning with a two-out single. He wasn’t in the lineup Sunday but came up in an important situation like several he faced a day before.

“They both had tough days yesterday with five strikeouts (each) between the two of them with a lot of at-bats,” Butler said. “It seemed like they came up every time with runners in scoring position and didn’t deliver. I met with them this morning and they responded today.

“…You just want each player to reach their potential, and as a coach that’s what you’re trying to do. You tell them that they’re better than what they’re playing at times. That’s the fun part of coaching, seeing a guy respond. That’s gratifying. We’re pulling for those guys.”

Young batted before the Shockers scored an eighth-inning run, and he drove in Alex Jackson with an infield hit to the hole near shortstop. Young stole second and scored on Boyer’s hit.

The fleeting nature of success – and often failure – in baseball has reached Young often this season. He has a walkoff hit and a two-homer game but has battled for regular playing time and moved throughout the order often.

“You want to get that next chance,” Young said. “There wasn’t a thought in my mind about what happened yesterday. All I wanted to do was get up there and be loose and just try and make contact. If I make contact, I’ve got a pretty good chance to leg it out. I was just trying to get back to my game.”

The Shockers returned to form after Saturday’s disappointment and won for the third time in four games. They had six hits with runners in scoring position and another RBI on a squeeze play in the sixth inning.

The game was close until the eighth, when WSU’s big inning was spurred by two players with tough games the day before that were memorable to everyone but them.

“I got back in this morning and I was working this morning to get better,” Boyer said. “I was just trying to clear my head to get back to where I needed to be at the plate, and I was able to get there my first at-bat today.”

This story was originally published May 14, 2017 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Shockers bounce back, win series finale from Evansville."