March 28-30 - Wichita State (14-9) vs. #9 Cal State Fullerton (13-8), 6:30, 2, 1 p.m.

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March 28 - 50-cent Hot Dogs

March 29 - Military Day: FREE admission with a military ID. Purchase up to 4 additional tickets for only $5 each

March 30 - Wichita Eagle Family Day: Purchase 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 bags of popcorn and 4 drinks for just $32
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Date: March 28-30
First Pitch: 6:30, 2, 1 p.m. CST
Location: Wichita, Kan.
Stadium: Eck Stadium
Radio: KNSS 1330 AM
Talent: Mike Kennedy & Shane Dennis
Series: WSU leads 10-7

Probable Pitching Matchups
March 28 — A.J. Ladwig (RHP, 2-2, 0.91) vs. Thomas Eshelman (RHP, 4-0, 1.47)
March 29 — Cale Elam (RHP, 4-0, 1.32) vs. Phil Bickford (RHP, 2-1, 2.30)
March 30 — Sam Tewes (RHP, 3-1, 2.45) vs. TBA


Quick Hits
• All three games this weekend will be on KNSS 1330 AM and on www.shockerradio.com. Saturday's game will be televised on Kansas 22.
• WSU leads the overall series with Cal State Fullerton 10-7.
• A.J. Ladwig is the Valley Pitcher of the Week.
• As of March 27, WSU is 50th in the RPI according to warrennolan.com. The Shockers have a strength of schedule of 43.
• WSU is 2-3 against the top-50 and 4-6 against the top-100. Cal State Fullerton has an RPI of 34.
• WSU last faced a top-10 team at Eck Stadium in 2008. WSU lost to No. 3 Arizona State. The last time the Shockers beat a top-10 team at Eck Stadium was in 2006, a 9-5 win over No. 8 Oklahoma.
• The Shockers are 9-4 at home this season.
• The Shockers are 14-1 when leading after seven innings.
• Six of the Shockers nine losses are by one run.
• WSU is 36th nationally in batting average and 22nd in ERA.
• Casey Gillaspie is on a nine-game hitting streak and Tanner Dearman is on an eight-game hitting streak.
• Junior Casey Gillaspie leads the Shockers with 12 multiple-hit games and eight multiple-RBI games.
• In 13 home games, the Shockers are hitting .306 with a 2.31 ERA.
• At Eck Stadium, Casey Gillaspie is hitting .370, Micah Green is hitting .362 and Erik Harbutz is hitting .350.
• WSU is 5-5 in its last 10 games. In those games, the Shocks are hitting .287 with a 3.40 ERA and a .968 fielding percentage.
• In the last 10 games, Dayne Parker is hitting .441, Tanner Dearman is hitting .350 and Casey Gillaspie is hitting .350.
• The weekend rotation of A.J. Ladwig, Cale Elam and Sam Tewes has combined to go 9-3 with a 1.49 ERA in 103 innings.
• Head Coach Todd Butler has used the same lineup just four times in 2014.
• Senior outfielder Garrett Bayliff is one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award.
• The Shocks were picked first in the MVC Preseason Poll.
• Junior first baseman Casey Gillaspie, junior catcher Tyler Baker, senior outfielder Garrett Bayliff and senior relief pitcher Aaron LaBrie were named to the preseason all-Valley team.
• WSU set a school record with a .977 fielding percentage in 2013.  The entire infield returns for 2014.
• The Shocks set the school record for fewest errors in a season with 61 in 2013.
• WSU returns eight starters and 20 letterwinners from the 2013 team.
• The Shocker pitching staff returns four starting pitchers including Cale Elam, A.J. Ladwig, Kris Gardner and Garrett Brummett.
• WSU has ranked in the top 25 in attendance since 1999.
• Head Coach Todd Butler is in his first season as coach of the Shockers.
• Butler earned his 100th career win as a head coach on March 11 at Oklahma State. He is currently 104-92 overall.
• Assistant Coach Brian Walker is the third base coach and Volunteer Assistant Coach Jon Coyne is the first base coach.

Scouting Cal State Fullerton
Cal State Fullerton is 13-8 overall and coming off of a series win over Long Beach State over the weekend. Wins this season have come against Washington State twice, San Francisco twice, No. 9 Oregon three times, Baylor, Saint Mary's twice, UNLV and Long Beach State twice. Losses have come against Washington State, USC, San Francisco, Baylor twice, San Diego, Saint Mary's and Long Beach State. As a team, the Titans are hitting .248 with a team ERA of 2.09. They are led offensively by Tanner Pinkston who is hitting .347 with two doubles and seven RBI. J.D. Davis is hitting .317 with three home runs and 16 RBI. CSF is led by third-year head coach Rick Vanderhook.

Series History vs. the Titans
Wichita State leads the overall series with Cal State Fullerton, 10-7. WSU also leads the series in Wichita, 8-4. The two teams have split the last six meetings in Wichita. The Shockers won a three-game series in 2002 and CSF won a three-game series in 2007.

Last Meeting vs. CSF
The last meeting between the two teams was a three-game series May 11-13, 2007, in Wichita. The Titans won the first two games by scores of 6-2 and 3-1 and the Shockers won the third game 7-0. Josh Workman went 4-for-8 in the series, while Tyler Weber went 3-for-8. Travis Banwart and Rob Musgrave each took a loss while Anthony Capra earned the win.

Shocks in the NCAA Stats
Wichita State is ranked in the top-50 in several statistical categories in the fourth NCAA stats release of the season. The Shockers are 36th in batting average, 30th in doubles, 30th in doubles per game, 22nd in ERA, 48th in home runs, 49th in home runs per game, 23rd in shutouts, 28th in slugging percentage, 50th in triples, 20th in walks allowed per nine innings and 26th in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Individually, Casey Gillaspie is 21st in walks, 15th in walks per game, 41st in on base percentage, 21st in RBI, 21st in RBI per game, 30th in slugging percentage and 34th in total bases. Tanner Dearman is 15th in stolen bases and 18th in stolen bases per game. Micah Green is 21st in sacrifice flies. A.J. Ladwig is 13th in games started, 27th in ERA, 39th in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 35th in walks allowed per nine innings, Foster Vielock is 27th in saves and Sam Tewes is 13th in games started. Cale Elam is 29th in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 35th in victories.

ORU Game Rescheduled for April 9
Wichita State's game against Oral Roberts in Tulsa, Okla., has been rescheduled for Wed., April 9 at 6:30 p.m.

Shocks Win Valley Opener
The Shockers opened Valley play this weekend with a series victory over Missouri State.  Since 1979, Wichita State is now 92-28 during the first series of Valley play.  In 36 seasons, WSU has lost just six Valley opening series and has also split three.  The Shockers went 0-2 against Illinois State in 1984, 1-3 against Bradley in both 1986 and 1987, 1-2 against Evansville in 2005, 1-2 against Southern Illinois in 2006 and 1-2 against Missouri State in 2011.  WSU split with Indiana State (2-2) in both 1988 and 1989 and split with Missouri State (1-1) in 1991. The Shockers have met Missouri State for their first Valley series two other times. The Shocks went 1-1 against the Bears in Springfield in 1991 and 1-2 against the Bears in Springfield in 2011.
 
Ladwig Named Valley Pitcher of the Week
Wichita State baseball student-athlete A.J. Ladwig has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week for the week of March 17-23.
Ladwig, a junior from Omaha, Neb., led the Shockers to a Valley opening win on Friday against Missouri State.
He pitched seven shutout innings and allowed seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Just three base runners scoring position in his seven innings and when the Bears got a runner to third with less than two outs in the fifth, Ladwig struck out the next two batters to preserve the shutout. The combined shutout was the first of the season for Ladwig and the third overall shutout for the Shockers. With the win, he improved to 2-2 on the season and lowered his ERA to 0.91.

Hitting Streaks Alive
Junior Casey Gillaspie is currently on a nine-game hitting streak. During the streak, he is 14-for-38 (.368) with three doubles, one home run, nine RBI and four walks.
Sophomore Tanner Dearman is currently on an eight-game hitting streak. During the streak, he is 14-for-33 (.424) with three doubles, one triple, four RBI, four walks and four stolen bases.
Senior Erik Harbutz is currently on a six-game hitting streak. During the streak, he is 8-for-21 (.381) with two RBI and four walks.

Pitching Staff Gives Up First Home Run
The Wichita State pitching staff finally surrendered its first home run of the season on March 16 at No. 20 UC Santa Barbara. The Shockers went 151.2 innings this season without allowing a home run.

Kihle Out Indefinitely
Wichita State sophomore outfielder Daniel Kihle is out indefinitely after having surgery on Thursday to remove a broken bone in his left wrist.
In 11 games this season, Kihle is 17-for-46 (.370) with seven runs, three doubles, two home runs and six RBI.

100 Wins
Head Coach Todd Butler won his 100th career game as a head coach on March 11 at Oklahoma State. Butler is currently 104-92 in his career.

Weekly Nominee
Player of the Week Nominee - Casey Gillaspie
Gillaspie led the Shockers to three wins last week including a Valley series win over Missouri State. He went 8-for-20 (.400) with one run, two doubles, eight RBI, four walks and a sacrifice fly. He had a hit in all five games and an RBI in four of the five. On Tuesday at Arizona State, he went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI and on Wednesday against the Sun Devils he went 1-for-6 with two RBI. In the Valley opener against Missouri State on Friday, he went 1-for-3 with a walk and in game two he went 2-for-3 with four RBI, a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly. In the finale against the Bears, he went 1-for-3 with an RBI, a double and two walks.