What Wichita State baseball coach liked the most about Shockers’ first AAC series win
Stacking series wins is the name of the game in conference play, so the Wichita State baseball team considered Round 1 a success.
After losing the opener, the Shockers strung together two straight complete victories to take the season-opening American Athletic Conference series on the road against UAB and improve to 15-8 overall in the process this past weekend.
No team registered a sweep on the opening weekend, leaving WSU in a five-way tie for the lead atop the conference standings.
“Our guys were maybe a little over-amped for Friday’s game,” WSU head coach Brian Green told The Eagle. “I felt a little tension in the dugout, which we’ve never really had all year. But these guys came roaring back and we played some really good baseball the last two days. We played a really good defense, we pitched well and the bats came alive. To go on the road and win back-to-back games, that’s an experience we’ll put in our back pocket.”
The team strength of UAB (11-12) this season has been its starting pitching, which Green said lived up to its billing. WSU’s goal at the plate was to make the starters work and try to reach the bullpen as early as possible. It’s not a coincidence that 11 of the 16 earned runs scored in the final two games came against UAB’s bullpen in the final three innings of the game.
For the weekend, the Shockers’ offense generated 21 runs on 33 hits with 14 of those coming on extra-base hits, including five home runs.
“Our guys are doing a good job of making adjustments as the game progresses,” Green said. “If you look at our body of work this year, you’re seeing a lot of scoring in the fifth, sixth, seventh innings. Our guys are paying attention to how guys are getting them out, then they’re making adjustments, sitting on pitches and being more aggressive. Our guys have done a great job with all of that.”
Friday starter Caden Favors (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season, as he was touched up for five earned runs in six innings in a 5-3 loss. Solo home runs by Derek Williams and freshman Kam Durnin weren’t enough for the Shockers to mount a comeback in the later innings.
In Saturday’s 9-2 win, WSU scored seven of its runs in the final three innings. A three-run shot by Dayvin Johnson, his third home run of the season, and a sacrifice bunt by Mauricio Millan capped a four-run seventh inning to put WSU on top 6-1, then Jaden Gustafson and Millan added RBI hits in the ninth inning for even more cushion.
Freshman Brady Hamilton joined the weekend rotation for the first time this season and earned his first collegiate victory, scattering seven hits across five innings and limiting UAB to one earned run while striking out three. Fellow freshman Lane Haworth also made his first start in the outfield this season and responded with a 2-for-4 outing with two runs scored.
In Sunday’s 9-1 win, WSU fell behind 1-0 after the first inning and then dominated the final eight innings. Josh Livingston hit his fourth home run of the season, Gustafson added a pair of RBI doubles, while Williams and Millan also had RBI hits. Freshman Tommy LaPour improved to 2-1 on the mound this season, striking out nine hitters in five innings, while the bullpen combination of Hunter Holmes, Caleb Anderson, Daniel Zang and Ryan Geraghty kept UAB scoreless.
But what the coach liked the most about his team’s performance on Sunday came in the dugout.
“Our volume was a lot louder than theirs and it was consistent for all nine innings,” Green said. “The energy was by far the best (Sunday) and that’s where it needs to be on a Sunday.”
Freshman Camden Johnson continued his breakout season with three straight multi-hit games to up his season average to a team-best .385, while Gustafson, a Maize graduate, finished 4-for-5 at the plate on Sunday to up his average to .343 on the season.
“Gus is swinging it right now,” Green said. “He’s nothing but quality, consistent at-bats. He steps in the box, he’s aggressive, he swings it and he’s always competitive.”
WSU returns home for a big week at Eck Stadium, where the Shockers will host Oklahoma State (15-9) at 6 p.m. Tuesday and then Rice (9-15, 1-2 AAC) for a conference series beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday with Friday and Saturday afternoon games.
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