For the first time in two years, Wichita State baseball is back in conference play
For the first time in two years, the Wichita State baseball team will play American Athletic Conference competition.
WSU opens AAC play on the road this season, as it starts a four-game series at Houston on Thursday night. The Shockers will play a Friday doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m., then close with the series finale at noon Saturday.
The Shockers (12-8) enter on a four-game winning streak after beating Kansas State, 5-1, then sweeping Omaha by a combined score of 34-6, while Houston (12-11) has lost seven of its last 10 games entering conference play. The Cougars were picked one spot ahead of WSU in the coaches’ preseason poll in fourth place.
“I think any time you play in conference, it means a little bit more,” WSU manager Eric Wedge said. “Every game is important, but when you’re playing in conference, there’s a little bit more to it. I’m sure the guys are excited to get back out there.”
The most encouraging part of WSU’s winning streak entering conference play was the improvement on the mound. The Shockers’ pitching staff had been battered during two straight road trips that saw them lose five of seven games and allow 9.4 runs per game.
Ace Liam Eddy got the nod for Thursday’s opener, while junior Preston Snavely will start Game 2 and freshman Jace Kaminska will make his second career start in Game 3 after an encouraging debut in the K-State win. Junior left-hander Spencer Hynes, who transferred to WSU from Houston, will face the Cougars in Saturday’s finale.
“The only expectation I have is to continue focus on the process,” Wedge said. “I want us to be the best version of ourselves. If we’re not, then we’ll try to learn from it and adapt. We’re going to take things game-by-game around here, but also we’re going to keep the big picture in mind. We have a long conference season coming. Every game, every new team we play we’ll learn a little bit more about ourselves and we’ll make the adjustments we need to make.”
At the plate, WSU will look for more of the same that it saw in last week’s offensive explosion. Senior transfer Corrigan Bartlett has been WSU’s most steady hitter with a .408 batting average, which includes a team-high seven doubles. Garrett Kocis (.315 average) has already smashed 10 home runs with a team-high 28 RBIs, while Paxton Wallace (.346 average), Jack Sigrist (.329 average) and David VanVooren (.319 average) are all off to good starts this season.
Wedge said the key now is more consistency from more players up and down the lineup.
“We’re looking for more of the same, but even a little better,” Wedge said. “We can’t get complacent. We still want to grind out AB’s and do a good job in hitter’s counts and really fight with two strikes. I think we can still get better from that standpoint. Guys are much better now than they were at the start of the season and I expect that to continue.”
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