Rain reset: How a Hawaii delay sparked Wichita State baseball to a Sunday sweep
Wichita State baseball’s frustration was starting to simmer in the Hawaiian humidity.
The Shockers had watched a 6-0 lead evaporate in the span of two innings in the series opener, a game where starter Matthew Cuccias no-hit Hawaii through six, only for the bullpen to get tagged for seven runs in a 7-6 gut-punch loss.
The next night brought a different kind of aggravation: 13 strikeouts at the plate and a 4-2 loss that left WSU starting at an 0-2 hole in the series.
“We felt like we had outplayed Hawaii in almost every inning of the series, but we were down 0-2,” coach Brian Green said. “And then the way we lost (Game 1), that kind of thing can destroy your confidence.”
Then Saturday’s rain in Honolulu flipped the weekend, and in turn, the series.
The postponement forced a Sunday doubleheader, but it handed WSU something it didn’t realize how desperately it needed: a chance to reset. Green treated it like a rare gift. He loaded up the hitters, drove them to a local high school with covered batting cages and kept them there for nearly three hours, stripping the offensive approach down to fundamentals.
“We just had to get back to process and approach,” Green said. “We did not look like the team from opening weekend. We were early, over-pumped, over-excited, just not playing process baseball. Really kind of immature and trying too hard. So we catch that break with the rain-out and that gave us a chance to basically reset. How often do you get that?”
Wichita State showed up Sunday looking like a different team.
Gone was the eagerness to yank pitches. Hitters sprayed the ball to all fields. If the pitch was outside, they took it the other way. If it was over the plate, they punched it back up the middle.
WSU exploded for 11 runs in the third inning of the first game, spurring a 13-3 win in seven innings, then the Shockers followed with a dominant 7-1 victory in the nightcap to finish off the sweep.
Considering the Rainbow Warriors have won 73% of their home games over the last three seasons, picking up a doubleheader sweep on Sunday felt impressive. It was the first time Hawaii has been swept in a doubleheader at home since 2022.
“This was an exciting day for Shocker baseball,” Green said. “Down 0-2, backs against the wall, and to sweep a doubleheader in Hawaii, that’s really hard to do. So we’re leaving with some real confidence, knowing that if we get punched in the mouth, we can respond now.”
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Shockers sent 16 hitters to the plate in one inning and turned the day into a rout, piling up eight hits, drawing four walks and scoring 11 runs. Senior shortstop Alex Ulloa delivered two bases-loaded triples in the same inning, clearing the bases both times for six RBIs in a blur. He was the first Shocker with multiple extra-base hits in a single inning since Jordan Boyer on March 23, 2018, against Furman.
Starter Johnny Nuanez handled the rest, improving to 2-0 by working six innings and allowing three earned runs on nine hits and a walk.
The second game required a different type of attack and WSU showed it could win that way too. The Shockers played small ball early and capitalized on a Hawaii error to build a 3-1 lead, then started mashing when the moment called for it. Jaden Gustafson hit a solo home run over the right-field fence in the fifth inning, then in the seventh, Owen Washburn deposited a three-run bomb to right to extend the lead to 7-1.
On the mound, Reese Kortum was once again sharp, scattering six hits across four innings while striking out six and limiting Hawaii to one run. Then Brok Eddy came in for long relief and turned the game into a strikeout clinic, fanning six over 4 2/3 scoreless innings before Brady Pacha struck out the final hitter.
Surprisingly, pitching continues to be the backbone early in the season for WSU. Through eight games, WSU’s starters have combined to allow 12 earned runs in 38-plus innings for a 2.79 ERA. And while the bullpen’s Game 1 collapse was glaring, it has otherwise been dominant: Remove the two-inning stretch where the relievers gave up seven runs and WSU’s bullpen has produced 21-plus scoreless innings this season.
“The pitching really felt like it stabilized us,” Green said. “You could feel we were playing baseball again. We weren’t concerned with what happened (in Game 1). We were just playing baseball and our guys responded. A lot of credit goes to our pitchers and to our dugout. I thought our energy was outstanding.”
Another adjustment that Green thought mattered for the Sunday explosion was sending assistant Marty Lees to coach third base, a job Green typically handles. That allowed the head coach to stay in the dugout and be in the hitters’ ears about approach before at-bats.
The offensive production followed, as WSU banged out 20 runs on 20 hits Sunday. Gustafson reached base in seven of nine plate appearances with five runs scored, while Jayson Jones collected four hits. Ulloa and Washburn drove in six runs apiece in the doubleheader.
“We basically went back to square one with mechanics, tee program, short toss,” Green said. “We had them hitting without a stride, just trying to get us back into our legs. And give credit to the guys. It wasn’t just, ‘Let’s do this in practice because coach wants us to.’ They brought it with them to the game.”
WSU returns to Wichita with a 6-2 record and now with some real momentum. The Shockers are off until Thursday’s 3:05 p.m. opener of a four-game series against Omaha at Eck Stadium, the first of three straight home weekend series against opponents they’ll be favored over in Omaha, West Georgia and Butler.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 6:01 AM.
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