Wichita State’s pitching falters, leaves Shockers with ‘disappointing’ split
The bats were loud enough for a sweep. The pitching wasn’t nearly steady enough for one.
That was the frustrating reality for the Wichita State baseball team after scoring 49 runs and still settling for a split against West Georgia over four games at Eck Stadium this past weekend.
What should have been a resounding sweep, or at the very least a series win against a Division I newcomer, instead became a step backward for the Shockers. WSU overwhelmed West Georgia 22-4 in Friday’s opener, dropped a 5-4 game to start Saturday’s doubleheader, needed a significant comeback for a 12-7 win in the nightcap, then fell 13-11 in Sunday’s series finale.
“It’s definitely a disappointment,” coach Brian Green said. “Credit to West Georgia because they came in and competed and played hard and got after it. But yes, certainly a disappointment to go 2-2. I think we’re a better team than that. We should pitch better than that.”
West Georgia arrived in Wichita at 1-11 with an RPI hovering around 300 after averaging just 4.3 runs per game through its first 12 games. But against the Shockers, the Wolves scored 25 runs in the final three games and repeatedly forced WSU to play from behind. Losing two games to West Georgia dropped WSU 174 spots in the RPI to No. 245.
“In a four-game series, you’ve got to get good starts from your guys,” Green said. “If your starters are out in the second or third inning, you tend to pay for it.”
The Shockers were without weekend starter Johnny Nuanez and Brok Eddy, another potential option, who were both held out as a precaution because of arm tightness, according to Green. The coach estimated that cost WSU at least eight innings from its pitching staff in a compressed four-game series played over 72 hours.
“That caught up to us,” Green said.
Reese Kortum was pulled in the second inning in his Saturday start, while freshman Ethan Rogers didn’t make it out of the third inning in Sunday’s finale. That put pressure on WSU’s bullpen and on the coaching staff, as Green admitted WSU probably made the wrong decision to leave Caleb Reed in Sunday’s game when he was tagged for seven runs — because the Shockers were concerned about having enough arms to close out the final game.
Still, outside of that blow-up, WSU’s bullpen was largely solid over the weekend, allowing just one earned run over the other 16-plus innings it covered.
The offense, meanwhile, delivered more than enough.
Max Kaufer was superb, going 7-for-11 with five home runs and 12 RBIs in four games. The South Carolina and Texas A&M transfer now is hitting .432 with eight homers in his first 13 games as a Shocker after totaling just three home runs in 221 plate appearances over three seasons at his previous SEC stops.
His biggest swings came in Saturday’s nightcap when WSU trailed 7-1 entering the seventh inning. After the Shockers loaded the bases, Green and assistant Marty Lees were both ejected during a heated sequence over a foul ball call. Kaufer responded by blasting the next pitch for a game-tying three-run homer, then came back an inning later and crushed a go-ahead grand slam in WSU’s largest comeback win since 2016.
“Offensively, it was good to see that we can come back,” Green said. “We’ve got a lot of good pieces with the offense and we’ve got to find a few more, but we’re showing some toughness.”
That same toughness nearly rescued the Shockers again Sunday.
After trailing 13-2, WSU scored the game’s final nine runs and put real pressure on West Georgia entering the bottom of the eighth, which became the final inning due to the Wolves’ travel curfew. But a costly baserunning mistake changed the equation. Owen Washburn singled to lead off the inning, then was thrown out at second base. Kaufer homered on the very next pitch, but instead of a two-run shot that would have cut the deficit to one, it was only a solo blast that left WSU down 13-11.
That miscue drained the momentum, as WSU went down in order following the homer to end the game.
Green’s lone complaint about the offense came in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, a 5-4 loss where the Shockers went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
“The biggest takeaway for us has to be our consistency in our ability to be relentless competitors,” Green said. “We’ve got plenty of pieces here to be a great team. But we’ve got to find more consistency offensively and then just being tough and really competing one pitch at a time.”
WSU has one more four-game series next week against Butler before opening American play March 20 against Charlotte at Eck Stadium. The shorter conference series format should help ease the burden on the pitching staff.
But this past weekend brought some truths to the light about the Shockers. They have enough offense to put up crooked numbers and enough fight to make dramatic comebacks. What they have to prove now is whether they can pitch and defend cleanly and consistently enough to keep from needing those rallies in the first place.
Wichita State softball drops opening American series at ECU
Wichita State opened play in the American with a split personality kind of weekend.
The Shockers blasted their way to a 14-5 win over East Carolina in Friday’s conference opener, but couldn’t carry that offensive momentum into the final two games of the series, as the Pirates answered with an 8-0 run-rule win on Saturday and a 3-0 victory on Sunday at Joyner Stadium to claim the series.
After scoring 14 runs in the opener, Wichita State was shut out over the final 12 innings of the weekend and dropped to 11-10 overall and 1-2 in the American. East Carolina improved to 17-9 and 2-1 in conference play.
Friday offered just about everything WSU could have wanted to begin conference play. The Shockers jumped out early, answered every ECU push and then buried the Pirates with a seven-run seventh inning.
Jodie Epperson delivered the biggest swing of the weekend in the opener, finishing 3-for-5 with a career-high two home runs and six RBIs. Her three-run homer in the seventh helped turn a competitive game into a rout. Trinity Allen also homered, while Kammie Smith added three hits. Ryley Nihart went the distance in the circle to secure WSU’s first conference-opening win since 2022.
But the series shifted quickly on Saturday.
ECU took control with early pressure and capitalized on WSU mistakes, scoring two runs in the second, three more in the third and never allowing the Shockers to settle in. WSU managed only one hit, a single by Kinzey Woody, in the five-inning loss. Jade Sanders was charged with the defeat after ECU built a 5-0 lead through three innings.
The deciding game followed a similar script.
East Carolina scored twice in the second inning on a pickoff attempt error and an RBI single, then added another run on a bases-loaded walk in the fifth. That was more than enough support for the Pirates’ pitching staff, which again kept WSU’s bats quiet.
The Shockers recorded only three hits on Sunday — one each from Woody, Johnna Schroeder and Epperson — and put little sustained pressure on ECU after Friday’s breakout.
The Shockers are back in action for a 6 p.m. game Wednesday at Oklahoma State before returning home to host UAB for their first home conference series with games slated for 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 6:02 AM.
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