Wichita State baseball team loses pitcher Sam Tewes for second straight season

For the second straight season, Wichita State has lost its No. 1 pitcher Sam Tewes for the year with a right elbow injury. He’ll have ligament surgery March 31.

This season, Tewes got one out on March 11 at Cal State Fullerton then had to leave the game. Last season, Tewes was injured in his fifth start.

He compiled a 7.36 ERA this season with a 1-2 record in 14 2/3 innings. He walked eight and struck out 18.

“We really lost a warrior and a great competitor for the year,” coach Todd Butler said in a statement. “It is extremely disappointing to see what Sam’s been through, but he will recover from this surgery and hopefully be even better.”

The Shockers open a 10-game homestand Tuesday night with a single game against No. 19 Oklahoma State (13-7).

WSU (6-13) is 5-3 at home and 1-10 on the road.

The Shockers are hitting .325 at Eck and just .227 on the road. The ERA at Eck is 3.75 and 6.98 on the road. Opponents are hitting .236 at Eck and .293 on the road.

WSU will send Chase Williams (0-1, 8.49) to the mound. Williams will be making his third start and hasn’t allowed an earned run in his past 3 1/3 innings. However, opponents are hitting .327 against him in his 11 2/3 innings. He will oppose Michael Mertz (0-1, 5.93). Also on the OSU pitching staff is Joe Lienhard, son of Kapaun coach Steve Lienhard.

OSU (9-2 at home) had its season-best seven-game winning streak snapped Sunday in a 4-2 loss to Michigan.

The Cowboys are led in hitting by Donnie Walton at .333. He is the son of OSU pitching coach Rob Walton. J.R. Davis is next at .324. The third-leading hitter is Garrett Benge at .313. Benge was a juco all-American at Cowley County last season, setting the career record for most hits.

Catcher Gunnar Troutwine is WSU’s top hitter at .323. Mikel Mucha and Tanner Kirk are next at .317. Troutwine is 5 for 16 (.313) in his past four games. He is coming off an 0-3, two-strikeout game against Nebraska.

Mucha is 6 for 13 (.462) in his last four games. Kirk is 4 for 16 (.250) in his last four games.

All three have good on-base averages: Troutwine at .462, Mucha at .436 and Kirk at .423.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Wichita State baseball team loses pitcher Sam Tewes for second straight season."