WSU baseball keeps NCAA hopes alive with series split against No. 8 East Carolina
The hopes of returning to an NCAA Regional are still alive for the Wichita State baseball team following a series split with No. 8 East Carolina this weekend at Eck Stadium.
After WSU lost seven of eight games in its last two conference series on the road, the schedule didn’t ease up with a top-10 team traveling to Wichita. But the Shockers were up for the challenge, run-ruling ECU 12-2 on Friday before salvaging the series split with an 11-9 win on Sunday.
Not only did WSU improve to 22-17 overall and 10-9 in American Athletic Conference play, but the Shockers’ RPI is expected to jump 14 spots to No. 61 on Monday. WSU is currently fourth in the conference with a four-game road series at third-place Central Florida (22-22, 12-8 American) coming up next.
“I don’t say this much, but that was a big win,” WSU manager Eric Wedge said after Sunday’s 11-9 triumph over the Pirates. “We were playing a good team and I was really impressed with how our kids came out.
“The rest of the way, it’s going to be tough. We put ourselves in a decent position, not a good position, but a decent position if we can finish strong here. We’ll savor this one today and get back to work tomorrow.”
After ECU started out the series with a 10-0 run-rule victory on Friday, WSU returned the favor in the nightcap with a 12-2 walk-off win. The Shockers scored eight runs in the seventh inning as ECU took its first run-rule loss this season.
Hunter Gibson, Corrigan Bartlett and Chuck Ingram all homered, while Gibson posted a triple and drove in a game-high four runs and Ross Cadena added three hits. Freshman Jace Kaminska improved to 5-0 after pitching all seven innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and a walk.
Bartlett homered again in Saturday’s game, but ECU pounced on starter Liam Eddy for five runs in the first inning and never looked back in a 11-3 victory for the Pirates.
“We just keep our heads down and keep moving forward and don’t look at the scoreboard,” Cadena said. “Just keep moving forward. We take it one at bat at a time.”
WSU scored revenge in Sunday’s finale, as the Shockers answered ECU’s two runs in the top half of the first inning with six in the bottom half to take control of the game. Bartlett started the scoring binge with a bases-loaded walk, then Couper Cornblum and Seth Stroh each followed with 2-RBI singles and Andrew Stewart capped the inning with an RBI single through the left side.
The Shockers would extend their lead to 11-3 after four innings, as Cadena and Ingram both hit home runs and Jack Sigrist and Cornblum added RBI hits. ECU would score six runs off WSU’s bullpen, narrowing the gap to 11-9 after seven innings, but sophomore Aaron Haase registered his eighth save of the season in 2⅓ innings of work.
“Haase slammed the door, like he always does,” Cadena said. “He’s unbelievable.”
Senior Gareth Stroh replaced left-hander Spencer Haynes in WSU’s rotation as the Sunday starter. In his first action since February, Stroh allowed three earned runs in 3⅔ innings with four strikeouts in a no-decision start.
“We felt like Gareth was going to be a starter for us all along, but he’s been banged up,” Wedge said. “We gave Spencer a chance at it and he didn’t have as much success as he needed to have. I think he’s going to be really successful in the bullpen for us from the left side. Ultimately, it was good to see Gareth back out there and hopefully he can help solidify our rotation.”
Softball wins road series at Tulsa
The WSU softball team will be in wait-and-see mode next weekend as the Shockers could potentially win their first AAC championship.
WSU won three of four games on the road this weekend at Tulsa to finish the conference season 18-5-1, the most wins recorded in conference history. The Shockers will now wait to find out if that’s good enough for the conference crown.
If South Florida (15-4) wins at least three of four games at Central Florida (13-6-1) next weekend, then USF will win the conference title. But if USF splits or worse, then WSU will win the conference. The Shockers will be no worse than the No. 2 seed for the American tournament.
The long ball once again was the answer for WSU in its weekend series win over Tulsa. In an 11-1 win in the first game, Madison Perrigan and Bailey Urban each homered in the dominant victory. The Shockers rallied from a four-run deficit in the second game, as senior Kaylee Huecker blasted a three-run shot over the fence to spur a 7-6 victory.
WSU hit three more home runs in Saturday’s 9-5 win, as Huecker hit another three-run bomb to clinch the win with Addison Barnard and Perrigan also going deep. Sydney McKinney extended her career-long hitting streak to 14 games after a 3-for-4 day at the plate. Tulsa won Sunday’s finale 10-6.
The Shockers (37-10-1) will return home for their regular-season finale at 6 p.m. Tuesday against No. 1-ranked Oklahoma at Wilkins Stadium.
Two Shockers move into track record books
In one of the last regular-season meets before the AAC Outdoor Championships, the WSU track and field team wrapped up competition at the Rock Chalk Classic in Lawrence this weekend.
The highlight of the weekend came with a pair of top-10 performances in program history by Jed Helker (third, 14:26.66) and Clayton Duchatschek (sixth, 14:28.18) in the men’s 5,000 meters on Friday. Helker moved into No. 7 all-time, while Duchatschek moved him to No. 9 all-time.
The lone Shocker win of the weekend came on Saturday in the men’s high jump, as Davis Dubbert cleared a personal-best 6 foot, 9¾ inches to win the event.
Zack Penrod and Rebekah Topham represented WSU in an elite field at the Trials of Miles in Leavenworth on Saturday. Penrod finished seventh in a 1,500 meters field full of pro athletes in a time of 3:43.97, while Topham took 12th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 10:09.21. Both are currently in qualifying position to run at the NCAA Regionals.
The final regular-season tune-up will be on Friday when WSU hosts the Shocker Open. The team’s seniors will also be honored at the event at Cessna Stadium.
Men’s tennis welcomes fans to NCAA Selection Show party
Fans are encouraged to come join the WSU men’s tennis team to watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Monday at the Champions Club inside Koch Arena.
The No. 32-ranked Shockers are expected to receive an at-large bid to the tournament, which would be WSU’s first since 2016.
Doors will open at 5:15 p.m., 15 minutes before the show begins streaming on NCAA.com. Masks are highly encouraged at the event.
This story was originally published May 2, 2021 at 5:42 PM.
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