Wichita State baseball under Eric Wedge is already gaining respect from AAC coaches
It didn’t take long for Wichita State manager Eric Wedge to earn the respect of the rest of the baseball coaches in the American Athletic Conference.
After being picked by coaches to finish last in the nine-team conference last season, WSU’s 12-game winning streak and 13-2 start last spring apparently made believers out of the rest of the conference before the Shockers have even played a conference game under Wedge.
On Wednesday, WSU — with the majority of the same players — was voted fifth in the preseason poll for the highest preseason ranking for the program since joining the American. The Shockers returned seven starting position players and four starting pitchers from last season.
East Carolina was once again picked as the preseason favorite with seven of the eight first-place votes, while Central Florida, Tulane and Houston were also picked ahead of WSU. Cincinnati, Memphis and South Florida followed behind the Shockers, respectively.
WSU junior ace Liam Eddy and freshman outfielder Couper Cornblum were also named to the AAC preseason all-conference team.
Eddy, a right-handed starting pitcher, was 2-0 with a 1.73 earned-run average and 22 strikeouts in 26 innings during the 2020 season. Cornblum was a breakout performer in WSU’s hot start, hitting a team-best .354 with 16 runs, four doubles, three triples, one home run, 12 runs batted in, 13 walks and a .492 on-base percentage in 15 games. He garnered Freshman All-American honors by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
WSU has not yet published its 2021 schedule.
Preseason Player of the Year
Hunter Goodman, so., C, Memphis
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Braden Olthoff, jr., Tulane
Preseason All-Conference Team
P—Colton Gordon, so., Central Florida
P—Evan Shawver, jr., Cincinnati
P—Jake Kuchmaner, jr., East Carolina*
P—Braden Olthoff, jr., Tulane*
P—Liam Eddy, jr., Wichita State
RP—Jack Sinclair, jr., Central Florida
C—Hunter Goodman, so., Memphis*
1B—Ryan Hernandez, jr., Houston
2B—Connor Norby, so., East Carolina
SS—Ben Brooks, jr., Memphis
3B—Eric Santiago, sr., Cincinnati
3B—Trevor Minder, jr., Tulane
OF—Thomas Francisco, so., East Carolina
OF—Bryson Worrell, jr., East Carolina*
OF—Couper Cornblum, fr., Wichita State
DH—Wyatt Stapp, sr., Cincinnati*
* denotes unanimous selection
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 4:24 PM.
.jpg)