March 15-17 - Wichita State (11-5) at Long Beach State (6-11), 8, 4, 3 p.m. (Central)

Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes

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Date: March 15-17
First Pitch: 8, 4, 3 p.m. CST
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Stadium: Blair Field
Radio: KNSS 1330 AM
Talent: Shane Dennis
Series: WSU leads 24-22

Probable Pitching Matchups
 
March 15 — Cale Elam (RHP, 1-1, 3.26) vs. Shane Carle (RHP, 1-2, 1.82)
March 16 — Kris Gardner (LHP, 1-1, 4.91) vs. Jake Stassi (LHP, 0-1, 6.00)
March 17 — A.J. Ladwig (RHP, 2-1, 3.86) vs. David Hill (RHP, 0-1, 4.60)

Quick Hits
• All three games are scheduled to be on 1330 KNSS AM. They will also be on www.shockerradio.com.
• Wichita State leads the series with Long Beach State, 24-22.
• The Shockers are 11-2 in their last 13 games.
• Casey Gillaspie is this week's Valley Player of the Week.
• During the last 13 games, the Shocks are hitting .324 as a team with a .978 fielding percentage and a 2.87 ERA.
• During the last 13 games, Micah Green is 14-for-32 (.438), Taylor Doggett is 14-for-35 (.400) and Casey Gillaspie is 17-for-46 (.370).
• Casey Gillaspie and Erik Harbutz lead the Shocks with six multiple-hit games each, while Gillaspie also leads the team with six multiple-RBI games.
• Casey Gillaspie and Dayne Parker are both on five-game hitting streaks.
• Head Coach Gene Stephenson won his 1,800th career game on Feb. 28 at Arkansas-Little Rock.
• Johnny Coy is one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award.
• The Shockers are 69-3 all-time at home (Eck and Lawrence-Dumont) in the month of February.
• WSU is 135-37 all-time overall in the month of February.
• The Shocks were picked second in the MVC Preseason Poll.
• Senior Johnny Coy was named to the preseason all-Valley team at first base.
• WSU tied a school record with a .974 fielding percentage in 2012.  The entire infield returns for 2013.
• The Shocks set the school record for fewest errors in a season with 62 in 2012.
• WSU returns six starters and 20 letterwinners from the 2012 team.
• The Shocker pitching staff returns three starting pitchers including Kris Gardner, A.J. Ladwig and Tobin Mateychick.
• WSU has ranked in the top 20 in attendance since 1999.

Scouting Long Beach State
Long Beach State is 6-11 and coming off of a loss at Loyola Marymount on Tuesday.  Wins this season have come against Vanderbilt, Arizona, Valparaiso three times, and Seattle.  Losses have come against Vanderbilt twice, Arizona, USC, Seattle twice, UCLA, Arizona State three times and Loyola Marymount. As a team, the Dirtbags are hitting 232 with a team ERA of 3.79. Michael Hill leads LBSU offensively as he is hitting .340 on the year.  The Dirtbags are led by third-year head coach Troy Buckley.

Series History vs. Long Beach State
Wichita State leads the overall series with Long Beach State, 24-22. The Dirtbags lead the series in Long Beach, 11-9.  LBSU has won six of the last 10 meetings overall.

Last Meeting vs. LBS
The two teams last met in a three-game series in Wichita, March 23-25, 2012. The Shockers won game one 8-7, but the Dirtbags took the final two by scores of 13-1 and 3-2.  Dayne Parker went 8-for-12 in the series to lead the Shockers. Tobin Mateychick earned the win, while Albert Minnis and Cale Elam each took a loss.

Gillaspie Named Valley Player of the Week
Wichita State baseball student-athlete Casey Gillaspie has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player-of-the-Week for the week of March 4-10.
Gillaspie, a sophomore first baseman from Omaha, Neb., led the Shockers to a 4-1 week.  He went 7-for-16 (.438) with six runs, three doubles, two home runs, seven walks and 10 RBI along with a 1.000 slugging percentage and .583 on base percentage.  He also had a perfect fielding percentage in 58 total chances at first base. 
In a win over Oral Roberts, he went 1-for-2 with two runs, an RBI and three walks.  In a win over Nebraska-Omaha, he had two RBI, a walk and a sacrifice fly.
In the first game against Texas-Pan American, he went 2-for-5 with a run, two RBI and a home run. In the second game, he went 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, a double and a walk and in the finale, he went 3-for-4 with two runs, four RBI, two doubles, a grand slam and two walks.  It was the first grand slam of his career and the first for the Shockers since 2011.  He had a hit in four of the five games and had at least one RBI in all five games.