How Wichita State baseball executed its plan for dramatic walk-off win over Kansas
From his spot in the on-deck circle, Mauricio Millan watched as the Kansas pitcher fed the Wichita State batter three straight sliders for a strikeout.
With the winning run on second base and two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Millan had a plan at the plate late Wednesday evening at Eck Stadium.
“I told myself that I was going to sit on a first-pitch slider,” Millan said. “If I get a fastball, I’m taking. But if I see any spin up, I’m going to stay short, not try to do too much and just take it back up the middle.”
And that’s exactly what Millan did, as he laced a first-pitch slider to center field to walk it off for Wichita State in a dramatic 7-6 win over KU — and set off a raucous, water-soaked celebration.
When Millan was contemplating his future this summer following a coaching change, the second of his brief career at WSU, he envisioned moments like the one that unfolded at Eck Stadium on Wednesday. It helped him decide to remain a Shocker.
“To be able to do it for the guys and for our team, that did mean a lot to me,” Millan said. “We’ve got a really good group this year and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to come back. We’ve got an A1 coaching staff who really cares about their players, we’ve got guys who care about each other and I’m just really happy right now. That definitely made the moment a little bit more sweet.”
More importantly for WSU, it snapped a four-game losing streak to Big 12 teams in midweek games this season.
Rallying from a 6-4 deficit in the final two innings not only scored WSU a nice RPI win (KU was ranked No. 60 entering the week), but it also gave the first-place Shockers momentum ahead of this weekend’s American Athletic Conference road trip to South Florida.
“We’ve been in a handful of really close midweek games, but we just couldn’t find a way to pull out a win,” Millan said. “The first thing that ran through my mind (after the game-winning hit) was how big this was for the team going into the weekend. If we lost another close one (after a Tuesday loss to Oklahoma), it could have been bad for us.”
After KU broke a 4-4 tie with two runs in the top of the eighth inning, WSU answered back with two runs in the bottom-half of the inning with a pair of solo shots.
Seth Stroh drilled a line drive that barely landed over the fence and inside the right foul pole for his fifth homer of the season, then freshman Camden Johnson, the team’s leading hitter, turned on a fastball to deliver a game-tying blast for his first career home run.
WSU manager Brian Green opted to stick with reliever Nate Adler for the ninth inning, which proved to be a wise decision when the Andover native struck out the side to keep the wave of momentum going.
KU brought on its ace reliever, Hunter Cranton, for the bottom of the ninth inning, and Jordan Rogers sparked the rally by taking a 98-mph fastball to the opposite field for a lead-off single.
Maize graduate Jaden Gustafson advanced Rogers to second base with a well-executed bunt, then Millan gathered all the information he needed by watching Cranton strike out Derek Williams on three straight sliders. Rogers easily beat the throw home for the winning run, as WSU’s dugout emptied with the celebration leaving Millan without a jersey and soaked with water.
Millan’s walk-off RBI hit was the first earned run Cranton has allowed in 12-plus innings of work so far this season.
“I knew as soon as I hit it, I hit it well. And I knew with Jordan’s speed and the jump he got, he was going to score,” Millan said. “I’m just really happy for our team. Our team did a really good job of answering back after a tough loss and this was just a really good team win.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2024 at 5:01 AM.
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