Wichita State handles Stephen F. Austin with more solid pitching by a freshman

First one freshman, then another, calmed Wichita State’s pitching rotation.

The Shockers defeated Stephen F. Austin 12-4 on Wednesday at Eck Stadium to complete a sweep of the two-game mid-week series and win two straight games for the third time this season.

While WSU produced nine straight two-out hits in the first inning, that oddity gives way to another solid starting effort by a rookie pitcher as the most pleasing development for coach Todd Butler.

Freshman Clayton McGinness threw a season-high four innings and allowed five hits and three runs before leaving with a 10-3 lead. He walked one batter to follow the path set by freshman Connor Lungwitz in Tuesday’s 10-2 win. Lungwitz walked one in six innings and WSU pitchers walked five in the two games, a significant reduction for a team that averaged 4.7 walks a game in its first 23.

“It always gives you some confidence coming in after someone does so well,” McGinness said. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to about approach, what they’re chasing, what they’re hitting.”

WSU (9-16) won for the third time in five games, its best period of mildly sustained success this season. Stephen F. Austin (12-15), which entered Wednesday’s game with a .302 batting average and two-game splits with Oklahoma State and Kansas State, lost for the fourth time in five games.

On Tuesday, Lungwitz struck out 10 with heavy use of breaking pitches that baffled the free-swinging Lumberjacks. McGinness kept his pitches down in the strike zone to produce a series of groundballs, an approach made possible because he threw eight first-pitch strikes to the 17 batters he faced and didn’t go to a three-ball count until the fourth inning. He struck out two and ended the fourth with a double play to end a growing threat.

“You get ahead in the count and you set yourself up for more success,” he said. “When we’re playing catch, we’re focusing on throwing strikes and hitting the target and I think it’s starting to carry over more into the game.”

If Lungwitz did indeed set an example that McGinness followed, Butler is thrilled. The Shockers didn’t commit an error in the two games, the first such stretch since the first games of the season.

“It goes to concentration, being into every pitch, not being out there for 30 minutes,” he said. “Every positive thing we get right now can help our confidence level.”

McGinness enjoyed a 7-0 lead in the second inning after the Shockers batted around in the first against two Lumberjacks pitchers. With two outs, freshman Greyson Jenista doubled on the first pitch from starter Cody Adams to start the outburst. Ryan Tinkham tripled him in and the next seven Shockers singled before Jenista grounded out to end the inning.

“I knew I couldn’t let him have a quick inning in the first and let him get comfortable,” Jenista said. “My whole approach is ‘If they’re going to give me a good pitch to hit early in the count, I’m going to hit it.’ I’m not going to let them get deep into counts and I don’t want to get into two-strike counts.”

The Lumberjacks left their top three starters at home for the trip and the Shockers kept adding runs against the back end of the bullpen. Gunnar Troutwine doubled in Tinkham in the second inning. Tanner Kirk hit a two-run home run in the third inning, his second homer in two games and fourth of his career.

“That was something new,” Butler said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen every guy in the lineup get a base hit with two outs.”

Worth noting — Butler set his weekend rotation with Willie Schwanke starting on Friday, followed by lefty Cody Tyler on Saturday and Zach Lewis on Sunday against No. 8 TCU. Tyler (0-1, 4.15 ERA) will make his first start since 2014. He started at Kansas and injured his elbow on the third pitch, leading to ulnar collateral ligament surgery (known as Tommy John surgery) on May 31, 2014. He redshirted last season and made 10 relief appearances this season.… The nine straight hits were the most by the Shockers since seven straight batters recorded hits in a 2014 game against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.… Reliever John Hayes bounced back from a bad outing on Saturday to throw two scoreless innings. He struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. On Saturday, he hit a batter and walked a batter against Cal Poly before coaches pulled him.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Wichita State handles Stephen F. Austin with more solid pitching by a freshman."