After starting an hour late due to poor field conditions, Wichita State (18-22, 6-4) and No. 20/17 Illinois State (29-9, 7-3) made a long day even longer with a 12-inning marathon in game two as the Shockers took a doubleheader sweep from the Redbirds on Saturday afternoon, snapping a five game skid. It marked the first Shocker wins over a ranked opponent this season.

The Shockers took game one in easy fashion, 5-1, before a grueling 12-inning battle ended with a Stephanie De La Riva double to right center, giving WSU a thrilling 4-3 win. The teams wrap up the series tomorrow at noon, with fans wearing Shocker colors receiving a discount admission for just $3.

Shockers 4, No. 20/17 Illinois State 3 (12 innings)
WSU got on the board first with three in the opening frame, thanks in part to a two-run homer by Cynthia Verhulst, her ninth of the season. Katie McGeeney led the game off with a single and came around to score on a fielder's choice by Britnee Barnett, just beating a very close play at the plate, diving under the tag of ISU catcher Casey Gorrell, giving the Shockers a 3-0 lead after one.

The Shockers threatened again in the third but left the bases loaded as leadoff singles by McGeeney and Jones caused ISU starter Shannon Nicholson (11-4) no harm, leaving the WSU advantage 3-0 after two.

Illinois State finally answered with three runs in the sixth after leadoff singles by Kara Nelson and Tiffany Prager and a two-run homer by Jessie Buker tied the game 3-3 going to to bottom of the sixth.

Neither team could manage to break the tie as Nicholson's changeup proved too much for the Shockers in the late innings, while Margo Pruis and Britnee Barnett (4-3) continued to hold the Redbird hitters in check. Barnett worked the final four innings to pick up the win, giving up just one hit while walking one and striking out three. Pruis worked 2.1 innings in the late going without giving up a hit and walking one. Starter Ashly Bright pitched well, striking out 11 in 5.2 innings of work, walking three. Bright was charged with all three runs, but continued to keep the Redbird hitters off balance all afternoon.

Barnett led the 12th off with a single through the right side and got to second on an infield single by Cynthia Verhulst. Verhulst's slapper back up the middle glanced off Nicholson's glove and died on the right side before any other Redbird could get to it, giving the Shockers runners on first and second with no outs. De La Riva, one of six Shocker seniors, then delivered the final run with a double to right center that brought Barnett around to score, winning the extra-frame thriller, 4-3.

Nicholson worked the complete game, going all 11 innings in the tough luck loss. She gave up four runs on 13 hits, while walking three and striking out seven.

Shockers 5, No. 20/17 Illinois State 1
The Shockers dodged the first threat from the Redbirds in the second when ISU put runners on the corners with a walk and a single by designated player Michelle Henderson, but Shocker catcher Kara L'Huillier picked Henderson off first to end the inning with no damage done.

A pair of singles by Lindsie Mitts and Elissa Zeches gave the Shockers a two-out rally in the bottom of the second, but ISU starter Stacy Birk (15-4) got Jamie Stanclift to ground out to end the threat, keeping the game scoreless after two.

WSU threatened again in the third with singles by Lisa Jones and Cynthia Verhulst, but Stephanie De La Riva's two-out fly ball to Kelsey Warning ended the third, and stranding the fifth Shocker runners of the afternoon.

Four hits in the fourth led to four Shocker runs, as doubles by Ashly Bright and Katie McGeeney helped fueled a Shocker rally to put WSU ahead 4-0. Stanclift drove in two with a wind-aided bloop double to left field before a sacrifice fly by Jones and a single by Barnett drove in two more to give WSU a four-run lead after four.

Zeches made an amazing grab to save the Shockers in the fifth, as the freshman robbed Birk off a home run in right field with a catch over the wall, keeping the Redbirds off the board and sending the game to the sixth with the Shockers up 4-0.

A leadoff single by De La Riva in the fifth chased Birk, as she turned over pitching duties to Amber Smith. Smith walked L'Huillier in her first batter faced, and allowed a fifth Shocker run a batter later after Mitts laced a single over the first baseman's head down the right line to score De La Riva, giving WSU a 5-0 lead. Birk finished the day working 4.0 innings, giving up nine hits and two earned runs, while walking two and striking out two. Smith worked the final two innings, giving up just one hit while walking one and striking out two.

Margo Pruis (9-9) got into her first real bout of trouble in the sixth as a leadoff walk to Jackie Williams and an infield single by Kara Nelson gave ISU runners on first and second with no outs. The senior turned her recent luck of late inning rallies around though, returing the next three hitters to end the inning and Illinois State's strongest threat of the afternoon to that point.

The Morrison, Ill., native lost the shutout in the seventh as back-to-back doubles by Casey Gorrell and Henderson provided the Redbirds their first run of the day. Pruis settled in to get the final out, securing the win. Pruis worked all seven innings, giving up just five hits and one run, while walking two and striking out seven.