The RoundHouse | 4/21/2018 7:00:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Laurie Derrico gave little indication it was her big night, until she did in a big way in its final moments. 
 
There was a lot of that level of drama at Wilkins Stadium on Friday. 
 
Wichita State hammered two game-winning home runs to defeat Central Florida 9-8 in eight innings and 5-4. Two joyful jogs around the bases. Two triumphant arrivals at home plate into a crowd of screaming teammates. 
 
Pitcher Bailey Lange won the first game with a two-run home run to cap a four-run rally that trumped Central's Florida's three-run eighth. Ryleigh Buck's home run, off the glove of left fielder Denali Schappacher, cut UCF's lead to 8-7.
 
Derrico won the nightcap with a two-run home run. With 23 home runs in 14 American Athletic Conference games, the Shockers lead the conference by 11 over their nearest competitor and the long-ball carried them again Friday.
 
The Shockers (26-17, 8-6 American) led both games early. Defensive mistakes helped UCF (30-18, 8-6) rally in both. Then the Shockers powered up in their last at-bats.

More drama: The Shockers jumped from a four-way tie for third into a two-way tie for second with UCF in the conference standings on Friday. First-place South Florida (10-3) is Wichita State's final opponent of the regular season.
 
"Hopefully, this gets us fired up," Derrico said. "We should have put those (games) away, I think. Sunday, hopefully, we come out firing and get the sweep."
 
Wichita State will have the opportunity for its second sweep in conference play because of its bats and that made for a happy group of Shockers as they hustled to put the tarp down on the dirt infield. Coach Kristi Bredbenner wished for less drama. The Shockers led both games entering the sixth inning.
 
Wichita State committed three errors in the first game and another in the second. It stranded 11 runners in the first game. 
 
"I was pretty fired up, even though we won that game," she said. "We start coasting, instead of continuing to keep putting them away. We couldn't get the hits we needed."
 
In the second game, the Shockers led 3-0 after the second inning. Freshman pitcher Caitlin Bingham didn't allow a run until the sixth inning. UCF reliever Cierra Word got the final two outs of the second inning and limited the Shockers to four harmless singles until the seventh.
 
"I think we just get comfortable when we get ahead," Derrico said. 
 
Derrico's shot to center – her team-leading 10^th– ended the night minutes before rain started and with a lightning delay threatening. She went 1 for 5 in the first game and came to plate 0 for 2 with a sacrifice bunt in the nightcap. She mishandled a groundball at shortstop in the sixth which helped the Knights take a 4-3 lead.
 
When Asea Webber singled to lead off the seventh, Bredbenner huddled with her assistant coaches to discuss a bunt. Nobody really wanted a bunt, especially Derrico.
 
"I knew I needed to make up for that, because it was a bad error," Derrico said. "I was hoping they weren't going to make me bunt."
 
Bredbenner had almost every intention of letting her No. 3 hitter swing. Assistant coaches Elizabeth Economon and Ryne Stefankiewicz reinforced her decision.
 
"I didn't want to bunt," she said. "I just felt like (Derrico) was due and I needed somebody to give me a boost of confidence in my decision to let her swing away."
 
Derrico smacked the first pitch over the fence. 
 
In the first game, UCF rallied from a 5-1 deficit to tie it in the sixth, helped by a two-run error by second baseman Kaylee Huecker. The Knights took an 8-5 lead in the eighth, when a throwing error by Lange, at pitcher, contributed.
 
Derrico led off the bottom of the eighth with a single. Buck followed with her fourth home run of the season, one that might not have cleared the fence without bouncing off the left fielder's glove. Schappacher, on the run, reached up for the ball near the fence. She looked into her glove and looked on the ground before realizing the ball carried out of the park.
 
Paige Luellen singled to bring up Lange, who worked the count full before smashing the softball out to center field. 
 
"These are big wins for us," Lange said. "We'll definitely take that and bring it to Sunday."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.