Wichita native delivers game-winning hit to extend Shockers’ baseball season
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wichita State rallied for two runs in the ninth to beat Florida Atlantic 3-2.
- Kaleb Duncan’s fly ball was lost in the sun and dropped, he reached second.
- Jacob Gutierrez delivered a first-pitch line drive to drive in the tying run.
The Wichita State baseball season was down to its final three outs Wednesday afternoon, stuck in the kind of tense, low-scoring elimination game where one break can change everything.
For eight innings, the Shockers had been largely silenced by Florida Atlantic, their only offense coming on a two-out single in the fifth. They trailed by a run in the ninth. They had not built any momentum at the plate.
Then one high fly ball disappeared into the Florida sun and WSU found the opening it needed to extend its season.
Seventh-seeded Wichita State rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning, turning a one-run deficit into a dramatic 3-2 victory over Florida Atlantic in the opening round of the American Conference tournament at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.
The win pushed the Shockers (29-27) into the double-elimination portion of the bracket, as they will play third-seeded Rice at noon Central time Thursday on ESPN+.
For a team that only clinched its spot in the conference tournament on the final day of the regular season, Wednesday’s win delivered another survival act.
Florida Atlantic led 2-1 entering the ninth when Kaleb Duncan lifted a high fly ball to right field to begin the inning. What looked like a routine out became the break WSU needed when the ball was lost in the sun and dropped. Duncan, running hard out of the box, reached second base and immediately put the tying run in scoring position.
The moment nearly slipped away just as quickly. Alex Ulloa struck out on a failed bunt attempt, leaving WSU with two outs to work with and its season still hanging by a thread.
That is when WSU coach Brian Green turned to Jacob Gutierrez off the bench.
Gutierrez was ready for the moment and ready for the pitch. Sitting on a first-pitch breaking ball, he attacked the first offering he saw and ripped a line drive back up the middle. Duncan scored from second, the WSU dugout erupted and the game was tied 2-2.
The Shockers still needed one more swing to avoid the uncertainty of extra innings.
They got it from a Wichita native.
After another strikeout, Jaden Gustafson stepped in with two outs and the go-ahead run on base. Gustafson, who has stayed with the Shockers throughout his college career, caught up to a fastball up and in and powered it through the left side of the infield to bring home the go-ahead run and put WSU in front for the first time.
The rally flipped a tense, low-scoring game that had belonged mostly to the pitchers.
Florida Atlantic struck first in the second inning, tagging WSU starter Matthew Cuccias for a run. When Cuccias ran into trouble again in the third, Green did not wait long. In an elimination game, there was no room for patience.
He turned to Caleb Reed, who helped guide WSU through the fourth inning and kept the deficit at one run.
The Shockers finally answered in the fifth with a rally that began quietly. Zeb Henry walked, Ethan Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and Jayson Jones, the American Conference Newcomer Position Player of the Year, came through with a two-out RBI single to tie the game 1-1.
FAU reclaimed the lead in the sixth when John Martinez led off the inning with a home run, putting the Owls back in front 2-1.
From there, Green shortened the game with the arms he trusted most. WSU used four of its best starters this season — Cuccias, Reed, Brady Hamilton and Johnny Nuanez — to piece together the elimination-game win.
Nuanez delivered the grittiest effort of the day.
Just four days after throwing seven innings and 83 pitches against South Florida, Nuanez was asked to take the ball again with WSU’s season in the balance. He entered in the eighth, then stayed on for the ninth after the Shockers seized the lead.
FAU made him work for the final three outs. The Owls drew a two-out walk, bringing the potential tying run aboard and one more layer of tension to an already tight afternoon.
Nuanez ended it himself, finishing the game with a swinging strikeout that sent the Shockers forward in Clearwater.
For the second time in less than a week, WSU had to fight through a do-or-die game just to keep its season alive. For the second time, the Shockers benefited from a lost fly ball in the sun.
Now, they get to play at least one more day.
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