Wichita State baseball can’t stave off series sweep at Cincinnati

The Wichita State baseball team couldn’t find the pitching it needed to stave off an American Athletic Conference series sweep this weekend at Cincinnati.

The Shockers only led for one inning in three games, as they lost 11-9 late Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday afternoon. The sweep drops WSU’s season record to 20-23 overall and 5-10 in conference play, while Cincinnati improved to 22-22 and 11-7 in AAC play.

The final two games saw the WSU pitching staff allow a combined 16 earned runs on 19 hits, seven walks, seven wild pitches and two hit batters.

Saturday’s 11-9 loss was WSU’s best chance at stealing a victory. The Shockers led 7-4 after the top of the second inning, thanks to a six-run explosion in the second inning that featured a three-run home run by Jordan Boyer and two-run double by Noah Croft.

But WSU starter Preston Snavely failed to record an out in the second inning and he was pulled after allowing seven earned runs. Cincinnati scored five runs in the second inning for a 9-7 lead.

WSU trimmed the deficit to 10-8 in the fifth inning on a solo home run by Paxton Wallace, then 10-9 in the sixth inning on a solo shot by Boyer, as he became the first Shocker to hit two home runs in a game this season. The Shockers had three runners in scoring position in the final two innings, but failed to produce a two-out hit.

After Snavely and reliever Aaron Haase failed to record an out in the second inning, Clayton McGinness closed out the final seven innings and allowed just one earned run with six strikeouts.

WSU actually had a lead in Sunday’s game as well, 3-2 in the third inning on a Luke Ritter home run. WSU manager Todd Butler decided to go with closer Mitchell Walters to replace starter Connery Peters in the fourth inning. That plan backfired, as Walters lost his control in the fifth inning, as he allowed six runs on four hits, two walks and a wild pitch.

Cincinnati was never threatened after the six-run inning. David VanVoorn added a RBI double in the sixth inning, but WSU went down in order the final three innings.

It will be a busy week for the Shockers, as they host their last midweek home game of the season against Missouri State at 6 p.m. Tuesday. WSU also plays at Kansas State on Wednesday, then travel to Connecticut for another road AAC series starting Friday.

WSU softball drops series finale — The Shockers had the bases loaded in the final inning, but could not come up with a two-out hit and lost 3-1 to Tulsa in the series finale on the road Sunday.

WSU lost the last two games of the series, a disappointing finish after beating No. 25 Tulsa on Friday. The Shockers (29-23) dropped to 10-8 in American Athletic Conference play, while Tulsa (33-16) improved to 14-4.

For the second straight day, WSU struggled to generate offense. Ryleigh Buck smashed her team-high ninth home run of the season in the fourth inning, which was WSU’s only highlight of the game. WSU did make a two-out rally in the seventh inning, as Bailee Nickerson walked, Adi Reese singled and Neleigh Herring was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Lauren Mills popped out to end the game.

Erin McDonald (12-11) took the loss after allowing three earned runs on six hits, while striking out seven hitters. Tulsa took a 3-0 lead in the first innings, then held on for the victory.

Cincinnati 10, WSU baseball 4 (Sunday)

WP: Murray (3-1). LP: Walters (1-3). E: WSU, Wallace 2; UC, Schoenle. LOB: WSU 5, UC 6. 2B: WSU, Croft, Wallace; UC, Santiago, Mercer. HR: WSU, Ritter. SB: WSU, Ritter, Croft; UC, Wiemer, Mercer, Johnson. CS: UC, Mercer. HBP: WSU, Ritter (by Murray); UC, Mercer (by Marley). Umpires: Michael Duffy, home; Daniel Cricks, first; Grady Smith, second; Pete Pedersen, third. T: 2:50. A: 1,062.

Cincinnati 11, WSU baseball 9 (Saturday)

WP: Colvin (2-1). LP: Haase (2-2). SV: Thompson (7). E: WSU, Jackson; UC, Bellini 2, Kullman. LOB: WSU 8, UC 6. 2B: WSU, Croft; UC, Santiago, Bellini, Stapp. HR: WSU, Boyer 2, Wallace; UC, Bumpass. SB: WSU, Katzfey, Gibson; UC, Bumpass. CS: None. HBP: WSU, Ritter (by Shawver); UC, Johnson (by Snavely). Umpires: Pete Pedersen, home; Michael Duffy, first; Daniel Cricks, second; Grady Smith, third. T: 3:28. A: 2,083.

Tulsa 3, WSU softball 1

WP: Pochop (11-6). LP: McDonald (12-11). E: None. LOB: WSU 4, TU 5. 2B: TU, Neal, Spell. HR: WSU, Buck. SH: None. SB: TU, Whitten. CS: None. HBP: WSU, Herring (by Pochop); TU, Seaney (by McDonald). Umpires: Brian Nava, home; Mindy Villa, first; Michael Parker, third. T: 1:58. A: 345.