March 7-9 - Wichita State (7-3) vs. Stephen F. Austin (6-5), 3, 2, 1 p.m.

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Date: March 7-9
First Pitch: 3, 2, 1 p.m. CST
Location: Wichita, Kan.
Stadium: Eck Stadium
Radio: KFH 1240 AM
Talent: Shane Dennis
Series: Wichita State leads the series 3-0

Probable Pitching Matchups
March 7 — A.J. Ladwig (RHP, 1-0, 0.48) vs. Cameron Gann (RHP, 1-0, 2.30)
March 8 — Cale Elam (RHP, 1-0, 0.79) vs. Kyle Cross (RHP, 0-2, 3.93)
March 9 — Sam Tewes (RHP, 2-1, 4.15) vs. Dillon Mangham (LHP, 2-0, 0.86)


Quick Hits
• All three games will be broadcast on 98.7 FM/KFH 1240 AM.  The games will also be on www.shockerradio.com.
• Wichita State leads the overall series with Stephen F. Austin 3-0.
• The Shockers are 5-1 at home this season.
• The Shockers are 7-1 when leading after seven innings.
• WSU is 18th nationally in batting average and 40th in ERA.
• Casey Gillaspie is fifth nationally in batting average, 10th in RBI, 11th in on base percentage, 13th in home runs and 16th in hits. He is ranked in the top-20 nationally in 13 statistical categories.
• Sophomore Daniel Kihle is on a career-best eight-game hitting streak.
• Junior Casey Gillaspie has had multiple-hits in eight of 10 games this season.
• Gillaspie is hitting .636 with two outs and leads the Shockers with six two-out RBI.
• In six home games, the Shockers are hitting .338 with a 2.83 ERA.
• Junior catcher Tyler Baker will celebrate his 21st birthday on Sat., March 8.
• WSU is fielding .978 in its last seven games.
• The Shocker pitching staff recorded its first shutout of the season on Feb. 24 against Coastal Carolina. It was the first shutout since May 23, 2013, against Indiana State.
• Head Coach Todd Butler has used the same lineup just once in 2014 and that was for the first two games of the season.
• 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.
• The Shockers are 74-4 all-time at home (Eck and Lawrence-Dumont) in the month of February.
• 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 is looking for his 100th career win as a head coach. He is currently 96-85 overall.
• Assistant Coach Brian Walker is the third base coach and Volunteer Assistant Coach Jon Coyne is the first base coach.

Scouting Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin is 6-5 and coming off of a sweep of UT Martin over the weekend. Wins this season have come against UT Arlington, Incarnate Word, No. 21 Alabama and UT Martin three times. Losses have come against No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 21 Texas A&M, No. 21 Alabama twice and Texas Tech. As a team, the Lumberjacks are hitting .270 with a team ERA of 4.08. Ricardo Sanchez leads SFA offensively as he is hitting .395 with five RBI. The Lumberjacks are led by sixth-year head coach Johnny Cardenas.

Series History vs. the Lumberjacks
Wichita State leads the overall series with Stephen F. Austin 3-0. The Shockers won 6-3, 6-1 and 7-0 in Wichita in 1990.

Shocks in the NCAA Stats
Wichita State is ranked in the top-50 in several statistical categories in the first NCAA stats release of the season. The Shockers are 18th in batting average, 18th in doubles, 16th in doubles per game, 40th in ERA, 34th in hits, 25th in home runs, 28th in home runs per game, 40th in on base percentage, 39th in scoring, 48th in shutouts, 20th in slugging percentage, and 48th in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Individually, Casey Gillaspie is 16th in walks, 26th in walks per game, fifth in batting average, 16th in hits, 13th in home runs, 28th in home runs per game, 11th in on base percentage, 37th in runs, 10th in RBI, fourth in RBI per game, 33rd in runs per game, fifth in slugging percentage and ninth in total bases. Tanner Dearman is 31st in sacrifice bunts, 31st in stolen bases and 43rd in stolen bases per game. Micah Green is 33rd in sacrifice flies. Cale Elam is 49th in strikeouts per nine innings and Sam Tewes is 46th in victories.

ORU Game Rescheduled for March 26
Wichita State's baseball game with Oral Roberts has been rescheduled for Wed., March 26 at 6:30 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla.
The game was originally scheduled for Tue., March 4 at 3 p.m., but was cancelled due to snow.

Walk-Off Win
The Shockers earned their first walk-off win of the season in game one against Long Beach State on Friday. After the Dirtbags tied the game at four in the eighth inning, the Shockers led off the ninth with back-to-back walks. With runners at first and second with one out, Daniel Kihle singled to left field to score the winning run. It was the first walk-off win for the Shockers since May 18, 2013 against Northwestern when Kihle's single in the bottom of the 10th gave the Shockers a 4-3 win.
 
Kihle on Eight-Game Hitting Streak
Sophomore outfielder Daniel Kihle extended his career-best hitting streak to eight games over the weekend. During the hitting streak, he is 15-for-37 (.405) with seven runs, two doubles, two home runs and six RBI.

Mucha Out Up to Eight Weeks
Wichita State junior outfielder Mikel Mucha will miss up to eight weeks after sustaining a lower leg fracture on Sat., Feb. 22 against George Mason.
“As of today, we have been informed by our medical staff that Mikel Mucha will be out for eight weeks due to a fracture to his left lower leg,” said Head Coach Todd Butler.  “The injury occurred on Saturday against George Mason on a communication fly ball in left center.  This is a huge loss for our team as Mikel was improving with each start and he is a big part of our team's future success.  We have enjoyed watching Mikel play and his energy and effort were outstanding during his short time of playing.  We will need other players to step up to fill his role during these eight weeks. We will review Mikel's recovery as time progresses and we hope to have him back on the field soon.”
In five games this season, Mucha was 5-for-14 (.357) with a double and an RBI.

Looking for 100
Head Coach Todd Butler is getting closer to his 100th career win as a head coach. Butler is currently 97-86 in his career and needs just three wins to reach 100.

Weekly Nominees
Pitcher of the Week Nominee - Cale Elam
Senior pitcher Cale Elam earned the win on Monday at Coastal Carolina. He pitched 6.1 shutout innings and allowed just three singles with no walks and seven strikeouts.  He allowed just one runner to reach third base and two of the three hits he allowed were infield singles. He earned his first win of the season and lowered his ERA to 0.79.
Player of the Week & Scholar-Athlete of the Week Nominee - Daniel Kihle
Sophomore outfielder Daniel Kihle led the Shockers to a 2-1 week with wins over Coastal Carolina and Long Beach State. Kihle went 6-for-12 with three runs, one home run and three RBI. On Monday at Coastal Carolina, he went 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI. In game one against Long Beach State, he went 3-for-5 with two runs, two RBI and a home run. His walk off single in the bottom of the ninth gave the Shockers the 5-4 win. The two runs, three hits and two RBI all tied his career-high. In game two against the Dirtbags, he went 1-for-2 to extend his career-best hitting streak to eight games. Kihle has a 3.21 GPA in exercise science.