‘We still hadn’t hit our stride’: Eric Wedge reflects on WSU baseball’s 13-2 start
Eric Wedge was beginning to see change in the Wichita State baseball program and not just in the winning column.
The Shockers were riding a 12-game winning streak, their longest since 2008, and starting to gain national recognition for their 13-2 start until the season was canceled last week due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In his final meeting with the team before they all went their separate ways, Wedge told them how proud he was of them starting to change the culture within the program.
“I came in here and tried to change the mindset right away, but culture, now that takes time,” Wedge said. “That could take years and that’s where the kids have to take that mindset and start living up to it and acting out on it, not just verbally. It’s physically, it’s emotionally, it’s mentally. These guys were right in the midst of doing that and in time they will establish the right culture that we’re looking for and the culture that will allow us to be a championship-caliber team again.”
WSU was picked to finish last in the American Athletic Conference in Wedge’s first season as manager. But the Shockers were off to a strong start, highlighted by a sweep of a Louisiana Tech team that skyrocketed the Shockers to No. 16 nationally in the final RPI projections.
The pitching staff was throwing phenomenal with the staff earned-run average down to 2.91 and WSU’s offense, led by freshman Couper Cornblum batting .354, was coming through in the right moments to extend the winning streak. Wedge wasn’t pleased with the last two wins over Louisiana Tech, but commended his players for finding a way to win the game when he admitted that they were out-played.
Wedge would have liked to have seen if this group could have figured it out this season. He knows when the team met for the final time last week, it was likely the last time this same group would be together again. WSU has five seniors on its roster and juniors in Jake Hamilton and Paxton Wallace who could be high MLB Draft picks.
“I was just really proud of the way the kids competed and worked hard to get better and learn and focus,” Wedge said. “We still hadn’t really hit our stride. I was excited to keep going and get to that point, but now obviously that’s changed.
“I feel bad for the players, feel bad for the kids. I told them the last time we talked that this group may not be together like this again. I think the majority of us will be together again, but rarely do things stay the same in life. Next time we’re together, we’re probably going to have some different faces.
The NCAA is meeting on March 30 to finalize a vote that would grant senior student-athletes in spring sports an additional year of eligibility. They will also work out details, like if all student-athletes will receive an additional year of eligibility and also how that might impact the financial aid details for programs.
Division I baseball teams are given 11.7 scholarships to offer to a maximum of 27 players. Wedge said that WSU was well under that limit this season, so the team is probably better equipped than most programs to handle up to five seniors returning to next year’s roster. But that’s a decision that each senior will have to make, either to return to school for an additional year or graduate this spring and pursue a professional career.
Those are discussions that will occur in April after a final ruling is made, Wedge said.
“Sometimes life gets int he way and we’ve talked to them all this time about being the best version of themselves on and off the field,” Wedge said. “Well, now they have to be the best versions of themselves off the field. They showed themselves very well on the field and more importantly, they have a chance to be leaders off the field with their families and the people they care about now.”
Having a season ended by something out of their control is a familiar helpless feeling for the WSU softball team, which less than one year ago had inclement weather cancel the AAC tournament right as the Shockers were beginning to peak.
But this time, the team will take a “glass half-full” approach to the situation after an 11-16 start to this season which coach Kristi Bredbenner admitted was not up to the team’s potential.
“It hasn’t been the best season, but we feel like we were starting to play a little bit better softball and up to our potential lately,” Bredbenner said. “I think we can kind of look at this like a do-over. We had a really good team this year and we didn’t play up to our potential every game, even though we did have a pretty tough schedule. Now it’s kind of a waiting game to see what they’re going to do with the seniors’ eligibility.”
The softball team had three seniors, all star players, on its roster this season: catcher Madison Perrigan, infielder Ryleigh Buck and ace pitcher Bailey Lange. Bredbenner said all three players want to come back and play again next season if possible, as Perrigan and Buck were already planning on staying at WSU to attend graduate school.
“We haven’t sat down yet, but all indications are that they want to come back and they’re looking at this as kind of a second chance, a do-over year,” Bredbenner said. “Hopefully we can go out and compete and take advantage of a second chance.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
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