Wichita State baseball hopes do-or-die win can spark American tournament run
Wichita State has spent most of May watching the safety net disappear beneath its baseball season.
A month that began with hopes of securing a top-four seed and a direct pass into the double-elimination portion of the American Conference tournament instead became a slow slide toward the edge. The Shockers lost eight of their final 10 games, dropped their final three conference series and arrived at the final day of the regular season needing one win just to keep their season alive.
That is the complicated reality WSU carries into its trip to BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla. this week, where the Shockers enter the conference tournament as the No. 7 seed after finishing the regular season 28-27 overall and 12-15 in league play.
WSU will open the tournament at noon Central time Wednesday against No. 6 seed Florida Atlantic in a single-elimination game. The winner advances to the double-elimination portion of the bracket and will face No. 3 seed Rice on Thursday.
It is not the path WSU envisioned after a 13-3 run-rule win over Rice left the Shockers 10-8 in conference play and two games clear of fourth place entering May. At that point, a bye was realistic.
Instead, the Shockers were swept at UTSA, lost a home series to Florida Atlantic and then dropped a road series at South Florida, a team that did not qualify for the tournament. The final weekend in Tampa became a snapshot of WSU’s late-season frustration.
Coach Brian Green was disappointed with WSU’s energy in a 4-1 loss in the series opener. He thought the Shockers responded better in the second game, only for USF to walk them off in a 7-6 defeat that left WSU’s season hanging on the final game.
Win, and the Shockers would stay in Florida and make the short trip from Tampa to Clearwater.
Lose, and a season that once appeared headed toward a comfortable postseason seed would end with a collapse.
“I think it helps because you can’t replicate that experience,” Green said. “It was literally win or go home and we fought back on the road to win in extra innings. I’m glad we have that experience, but obviously I would have loved to wrap this up earlier and change our seeding. But I do think it’s an experience that cannot be replicated and now we’ve got one under our belt.”
The Shockers earned that experience the hard way.
WSU led South Florida 5-3 entering the bottom of the ninth and had its best reliever, Brady Pacha, on the mound. But USF strung together three hits, scored twice and had the winning run at third base with two outs. Heitaro Hayashi coaxed a pop-up to escape the jam and send the game to extra innings.
In the 10th, Kaleb Duncan started the decisive rally with a one-out single. Nolan Ganter followed with another single, moving Duncan to third. Alex Ulloa then put down a squeeze bunt back to the mound and an errant throw from USF allowed Duncan to score the go-ahead run.
The Shockers caught another break later in the inning when Ethan Gonzalez lifted what appeared to be a routine fly ball to right field. USF lost it in the sun, allowing two more runs to score in an 8-5 WSU win.
It was a messy, stressful and necessary survival act.
“There was some pressure of, ‘Hey, don’t screw this up’ that I think got to us a little bit,” Green said of WSU’s play in May. “I think that certainly crept into the minds of the players. But after what we did on Saturday to get here, I think that’s going to shift us into a different mindset. I really do believe that’s going to get our minds out of the rearview mirror and get us into the present because now we don’t have a choice.”
That reality will shape WSU’s pitching plan Wednesday.
Green is expected to hand the ball to 6-foot-5 junior Matthew Cuccias, who is 4-3 with a 3.09 ERA this season. Cuccias threw 92 pitches and lasted 6 2/3 innings in Friday’s series opener at USF, then was warming up in the bullpen Saturday in case WSU needed him to help finish off the season-saving win.
Cuccias also has recent success against FAU, striking out eight and allowing no earned runs in seven innings against the Owls less than two weeks ago at Eck Stadium.
Green said it will be all hands on deck, with nearly every pitcher available outside of Johnny Nuanez, who started Saturday and threw 83 pitches. That could include Caleb Reed, who started Friday’s game in Tampa, if the Shockers need him.
“We’re going to treat it like there’s no tomorrow,” Green said. “We’ve got to find a way to make it to Thursday, so we’re going to unload everything.”
WSU’s pitching has not been the main issue during its late-season fade. Green said the coaching staff has focused heavily on the offense entering the tournament, particularly the Shockers’ struggles to cash in with runners in scoring position.
“Our pitching has been good enough to win a lot of games in the last month, so we really focused on our offense,” Green said. “Hitting with runners in scoring position has been an issue. I truly believe (Clearwater) is a hitter’s park and we’ve seen everybody and know how they’re going to pitch everybody. So it’s just about our hitters getting relaxed, getting loose and being aggressive and executing.”
WSU does have experience making a tournament run under Green.
In 2024, WSU reached the American championship game as the No. 4 seed, beating top-seeded East Carolina twice before falling to Tulane on a walk-off home run in an 11-10 title-game loss.
The difference is that team entered the postseason surging, having won seven of its final eight regular-season games. This year’s team arrives scuffling and would need to win four games in four days to reach Sunday’s championship game.
Given WSU’s limited pitching depth and spotty hitting, that kind of run appears unlikely. Green also knows postseason baseball does not always follow the regular-season script. The 2024 run included unexpected performances from players who found another gear when WSU needed it most.
The Shockers will need a similar spark this week.
“We’re going to need some guys on the mound to do some things that maybe they haven’t done all year,” Green said. “We’re going to need some hitters to get really hot. Those are things that you just have to have. In that 2024 run, we had some guys who took it to another level in the tournament for the team. There are guys in this locker room who can do that. We’re going to need some to step up. I don’t know who that’s going to be yet, but it’s going to be necessary to make a run.”
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