Junior Tyler Hill led the Shockers at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two RBI and two walks. Conor Gillaspie and Blake Hurlbutt each had a double and Damon Sublett and Josh Workman had one hit apiece.
Seven WSU pitchers combined on the mound in today's effort, three of them making their Shocker debut. Starter Travis Banwart (0-1) was tagged with loss, going three innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and three walks. Max Hutson went 2.1 innings, gave up one earned run on three hits and struck out three. Others making appearances were Kyle Touchatt, Khol Nanney, Tyson Fugett, Andy Womack and Ronnie Morales.
The Waves started early with a lead-off triple in the right field corner by Adrian Ortiz. Danny Worth brought the run home with a hit to right field and advanced to second with a stolen base. With one out, Ryan Heroy was hit by a pitch to get on board and Donald Brown followed with a single to right. A throwing error allowed all runners to move up and pushed Worth across the plate. A sacrifice fly by Chase d'Arnaud made it 3-0 before the inning ended.
Hill delivered Wichita State's first runs of the season on a two RBI single in the top of the second. The bases were full of Shockers after Wave pitcher Brett Hunter issued three free passes, a walk and consecutive hit batsmen. Noah Krol was thrown out stretching to third while Ryan Jones and Hurlbutt scored on the hit.
Andy Dirks reached on his second walk of the day and the bases were again loaded with an infield single by Workman. The runners were left stranded as Sublett hit into a fielder's choice, but the Shockers had cut the lead to 3-2.
Pepperdine got one back in the bottom half after Ortiz reached on a one-out walk. A ground out moved the runner to second and Eric Thames drove the run home on a single up the middle.
Hutson relieved Banwart to start the bottom of the fourth and mowed the Waves down in order with two strikeouts and a foul fly ball to first base.
The fifth looked like a promising inning for the Shockers with a lead-off double down the right field line by Gillaspie. The sophomore advanced to third on a deep fly ball to the centerfield wall hit by Derek Schermerhorn, but was left on base with back-to-back strike outs. The Shockers again threatened in the sixth with a walk to Noah Krol and single by Hill. Both runners were put in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt from Dirks. Once again Wichita State could not convert the runs with a strike out and ground out ending the inning.
Hutson pitched out of trouble in the bottom half after giving up consecutive singles. A double play gave the Shockers two outs and Hutson sat down his third hitter on a 2-2 count.
The Waves increased their lead with a four-run sixth. Three Shocker pitchers combined to give up four hits, a walk and two sacrifices in the inning. Pepperdine tacked on two more in the bottom of the eighth to put the game out of reach. A walk juiced the bases after back-to-back hits and a single right field crossed the runs.
In the Shockers' last chance, Sublett led off with a hit in the right-center gap. The first baseman, Heroy, speared a Gillaspie line drive and tagged the frozen Sublett for a double-play before a ground out ended a hitting streak, dating back to last season, for Schermerhorn and the game, 10-2.
The Shockers will take on the Waves at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be broadcast live on KNSS 1330 AM with Shane Dennis and Terry Elliot calling the action.
Pepperdine now leads the series between the two teams 3-1.
The Shockers open the 2007 season with 11-straight games on the road. It is the longest roadtrip to start a season since the 1980 team went on the road for the first 14 games. The 11-game roadtrip ranks third all-time at WSU behind the 1980 team and the 1978 team which played its first 17 games away from Wichita.
Probable Pitching Matchup
Sun. ? Rob Musgrave (LHP, Jr., 0-0, 0.00) vs. Robert Dickmann (LHP, So., 0-0, 10.57)
-Wichita State-
