Kansas-born freshman sensation registers win in first start for Wichita State baseball
Hitters in Kansas struggled to score against Jace Kaminska in high school and it was no different on Tuesday in his highly anticipated collegiate debut for the Wichita State baseball team.
The 6-foot-2 freshman from Caney, a two-time Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year, earned his first collegiate victory in the Shockers’ 5-1 win Tuesday over the Kansas State Wildcats at Eck Stadium. The win pushes WSU’s record to 9-8 ahead of its final nonconference action in a three-game series against Omaha starting Friday at Eck Stadium.
Throwing for the first time in more than two weeks, Kaminska stole the show on Tuesday. He tossed five innings and allowed one unearned run and three hits with four strikeouts and two walks. After making two appearances this season in relief, Kaminska said it felt good to return to his starting role.
“It’s always different when you actually walk onto the field to pitch,” Kaminska said. “But not nearly as nervous as I had been out of the pen. Since I was starting, I had my own time to pace myself. I was way more calm and relaxed.”
WSU manager Eric Wedge and pitching coach Mike Pelfrey have deliberately taken things slow with Kaminska.
His high school statistics were outrageous — he once struck out 29 straight hitters and finished his junior season without allowing an earned run — but it came against Class 3A competition at Caney Valley. The WSU coaches knew the step up in competition would take time for Kaminska to adjust and they wanted to set him up for success in his first outings.
On Tuesday, Kaminska passed his first big test of his WSU career.
“I could tell early when he was just playing catch before the game that he was a little bit nervous, which is to be expected,” Pelfrey said. “But when he got into the game, he came out aggressive. He was attacking. Pretty encouraging start from Jace. Something we definitely can build on.”
After WSU’s pitching staff had allowed an average of 9.1 runs in the last eight games, a combined effort to not allow an earned run against K-State was a welcomed change. The Shockers combined to strike out 10 batters, as Ryan Stuempfig fanned five batters in 2 2/3 innings of relief and Aaron Haase registered his fifth save of the season and struck out one.
Those strikeouts were desperately needed in the top of the eighth inning when KSU loaded the bases with no outs and WSU clinging to a 3-1 lead. Needing perfection, Stuempfig delivered by coaxing two straight strikeouts swinging and then Haase came on for the final out to escape the jam with another strikeout.
WSU gained its early advantage in the bottom of the third inning when it capitalized on a K-State error for a run, then Couper Cornblum lined a 2-RBI single to left field for the 3-1 lead.
After the Shockers’ bullpen escaped the jam in the top of the eighth, WSU padded its lead in the bottom-half of the inning. Paxton Wallace scored on another K-State miscue after a lead-off walk, then Hunter Gibson delivered an RBI single through the left side to plate Corrigan Bartlett for a 5-1 lead.
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 5:41 AM.
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