Six home runs power Wichita State baseball to first road win at K-State since 2012
After winning a series for the first time over Cincinnati and for the first time on the road at Tulane, the Wichita State baseball team added another “first” designation this season on Tuesday.
The Shockers snapped an eight-game losing streak at Tointon Family Stadium on Tuesday with a 10-4 win at Kansas State, the first time WSU has won in Manhattan since 2012.
WSU improved to 21-15 this season and extended its winning streak to three games with a victory over a red-hot K-State squad that is second in the Big 12 standings following a road sweep of Kansas this past weekend.
“I hope Shocker fans are watching and paying attention to this team,” WSU coach Loren Hibbs said. “I’m telling you, we are getting back to a program where we’re going to show up and compete every time. I know there are a lot of great Shocker fans that have been wanting Shocker baseball to do well for a long time. They really need to pay attention to this group because we’re getting back to that mentality that this program was built on. I hope people can see that this is real.”
After rallying to win the final two games in New Orleans to claim its first series at Tulane, WSU seemingly carried over the momentum on Tuesday.
The Shockers finished with 12 hits and six home runs, the most the team has had in a single game since April 26, 1998 against Indiana State. Brock Rodden and Garrett Pennington both hit two out of the park, while Payton Tolle and David Herring each had one round-tripper.
Tolle started the scoring in the top of the first inning by sending a long ball over the right-field fence to establish a 2-0 lead for WSU. The Shockers followed with three home runs in the third inning alone: back-to-back solo shots by Rodden and Pennington, then a two-run homer by Herring for a 6-1 lead. A three-run home run the next inning by Pennington put the Shockers up 9-1.
Hibbs said it’s a testament to the work ethic of the team this season. According to the coach, every WSU player showed up for individual work on a scheduled off-day on Monday.
“When you have that kind of commitment from the players, they’re going to improve,” Hibbs said. “Our guys have bought into what we’re doing and they’ve bought in since January 15 when we started with this group. This group is pulling off a lot of firsts this year and I’m really happy for them because no matter what the circumstances, no matter what they’re dealing with, they just keep showing up and they get the work done and it’s been really cool to see these players get rewarded.”
Sophomore Matt Boyer, typically a reliever, made just his second start of the season and was pulled after allowing two home runs in the fourth inning. He exited the game with WSU leading 9-4, which was more than enough cushion for Jace Miner, who has become WSU’s go-to reliever this season.
Miner pitched 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing no hits and omitting just one walk. He picked up the win to improve to 2-0 this season and lowered his season ERA to 2.92 in the process. Nate Snead closed out the game by striking out four of the final five outs.
Pennington finished 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and four RBIs, while Rodden was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Chuck Ingram, Tolle, Mauricio Millan, Herring, Kyte McDonald, Sawyre Thornhill and Jack Little all collected a hit at the plate.
Rodden’s hot streak has now lasted for the majority of the season, as he has upped his batting average to .357 with 12 home runs, 43 RBIs, 40 runs scored and 26 extra-base hits in 36 games. He also has nine stolen bases with a .462 on-base percentage and .720 slugging percentage.
WSU is 11-5 in its last 16 games and sits in second place in the American Athletic Conference standings entering a showdown against No. 7-ranked and conference-leading East Carolina this weekend at Eck Stadium. The Friday opener has a 6 p.m. first pitch, while Saturday’s game is slated for 2 p.m. and Sunday’s finale is scheduled for 1 p.m.
“We’re not a finished product and we’ve got a really tough opponent coming to us this weekend, but we’re going to keep showing up,” Hibbs said. “Our guys, no matter what, are going to keep showing up and continue to compete. I’m just really proud of our staff and of our players for getting the work done every single day.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
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