College Baseball Hall of Fame Classic at The K

Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

April 22 - Wichita State (21-18) vs. Missouri (17-21), 7:05 p.m.

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Date: April 22
First Pitch: 7:05 p.m. CST
Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Stadium: Kauffman Stadium
Radio: KNSS 1330 AM
Talent: Mike Kennedy
Series: Wichita State leads the series 6-4

Probable Pitching Matchup
April 22 — Kris Gardner (LHP, 1-2, 6.35) vs. Alec Rash (RHP, 0-0, 0.90)

Quick Hits
• All four games this week will be on KNSS 1330 AM. They will also be on www.shockerradio.com. Tuesday's game against Missouri will also be televised on Kansas 22.
• WSU leads the overall series with Missouri 6-4.
• Daniel Kihle is the Valley Player of the Week.
• Casey Gillaspie ranks in the top-30 nationally in 11 statistical categories including fifth in on base percentage, seventh in home runs and 10th in total bases.
• WSU is on a season-best five-game winning streak.
• The Shockers are 0-2 in neutral site games this season.
• The Shockers are 20-1 when leading after seven innings and 17-0 when leading after eight innings.
• Nine of the Shockers 18 losses are by one run.
• Casey Gillaspie had his 20-game hitting streak snapped on April 13, but has reached base in all 39 games this season.
• Junior Casey Gillaspie leads the Shockers with 18 multiple-hit games and 13 multiple-RBI games.
• In 20 games away from Eck Stadium, the Shockers are hitting .267 with a 4.07 ERA.
• In those 20 games, Casey Gillaspie is hitting .397, Daniel Kihle is hitting .359, Tyler Baker is hitting .318 and Dayne Parker is hitting .306.
• WSU is 5-5 in its last 10 games. In those games, the Shocks are hitting .296 with a 4.33 ERA and a .971 fielding percentage.
• In the last 10 games, Daniel Kihle is hitting .464, Casey Gillaspie is hitting .405, Tyler Baker is hitting .371 and Dayne Parker is hitting .286.
• The weekend rotation of A.J. Ladwig, Cale Elam and Sam Tewes has combined to go 14-8 with a 2.10 ERA in 180.1 innings. The trio ranks sixth nationally in ERA for a weekend rotation.
• 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 111-101 overall.
• Assistant Coach Brian Walker is the third base coach and Volunteer Assistant Coach Jon Coyne is the first base coach.

Scouting Missouri
Missouri is 17-21 overall and 6-12 in the Southeastern Conference. Wins this season have come against Southern Miss three times, Chicago State, Radford, UIC, Alcorn State twice, Tennessee, Milwaukee twice, Auburn twice, Georgia, Missouri State, and Kentucky twice. Losses have come against McNeese State, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, Liberty, Campbell, IPFW, Southern Miss, Tennessee twice, Ole Miss three times, Auburn, Southern Illinois, Georgia twice, Kentucky, Missouri State and Mississippi State three times. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .260 with a team ERA of 3.97. They are led offensively by Dylan Kelly who is hitting .333 with seven doubles, two home runs and 19 RBI. MU is led by 20th-year head coach Tim Jamieson.

Series History vs. the Tigers
Wichita State leads the overall series with Missouri 6-4.  The series is tied 1-1 on a neutral field. MU won 5-4 in Tulsa, Okla., in the NCAA Tournament in 1980 and WSU won 3-0 in Fayetteville, Ark., in the NCAA Tournament in 2004.

Last Meeting vs. MU
The last meeting between the two teams was June 4, 2004, in Fayetteville, Ark., in the NCAA Tournament. The Shockers won the game 3-0. Shawn Smarsh went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Mark Johnson went 2-for-4. Starter Mike Pelfrey earned the win as he went 8.2 innings and allowed just four singles with three walks and 14 strikeouts.

Shocks in the NCAA Stats
Wichita State is ranked in the top-50 in several statistical categories in the eighth NCAA stats release of the season. The Shockers are 49th in batting average, 29th in doubles, 37th in doubles per game, 47th in ERA, 48th in hits, 32nd in home runs, 33rd in home runs per game, 40th in shutouts, 27th in slugging percentage, 50th in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 34th in walks allowed per nine innings. Individually, Casey Gillaspie is 17th in walks, 24th in walks per game, 14th in batting average, 26th in hits, seventh in home runs, 13th in home runs per game, fifth in on base percentage, 20th in RBI, 26th in RBI per game, fifth in slugging percentage and 10th in total bases. Tanner Dearman is 38th in stolen bases and 50th in stolen bases per game. Micah Green is 15th in sacrifice flies. A.J. Ladwig is 20th in games started and 26th in ERA and Sam Tewes is 20th in games started and 50th in victories. Cale Elam is 41st in strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Kihle Named Valley Player of the Week
Wichita State baseball student-athlete Daniel Kihle has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week for the week of April 14-20. He led the Shockers to a 4-0 week including a win over Oral Roberts and a three-game sweep over Southern Illinois. He went 11-for-18 (.611) as the Shocker leadoff hitter with seven runs, three doubles, one home run, four RBI and three stolen bases. In the four games, he had a slugging percentage of .944 and an on base percentage of .632. Against ORU, he went 4-for-4 with a run, two RBI, a double and a stolen base and in game one against SIU, he went 1-for-4 with two runs and a stolen base. In game two against the Salukis, he went 3-for-6 with a run, a double and a stolen base and in game three he went 3-for-4 with three runs, two RBI, a double and a home run. He is now hitting a team-best .405 on the season.

Weekly Nominee
Pitcher of the Week - A.J. Ladwig
A.J. Ladwig threw his second complete game of the season on Friday against Southern Illinois. He earned the win as he went seven shutout innings and allowed just two singles with two walks and three strikeouts. He faced just three batters in four of the seven innings and allowed just one Saluki to reach third base in the game.  With the win, he improves to 3-5 overall and lowered his ERA to 1.32. He is now 10-for-10 in quality starts this season.

Sweep Over SIU
Wichita State swept Southern Illinois over the weekend for the first time since 2007. It was the first sweep over SIU in Wichita since 1998. In the three games against the Salukis, the Shockers hit .370 with a 0.69 team ERA and a .972 fielding percentage.
 
Winning Streak
Wichita State is currently on a season-best five-game winning streak. During the streak, the Shockers are hitting .352 with a 1.47 team ERA and a .967 fielding percentage. Daniel Kihle is hitting .611 during the streak, while Casey Gillaspie is hitting .412 and Tyler Baker is hitting .409.
 
Playing at The K
Wichita State travels to Kansas City, Mo., on Tue., April 22 for the College Baseball Hall of Fame Classic at the K. The Shockers will face Missouri in the game at Kauffman Stadium. The two teams will meet for the first time since 2004, when the Shockers beat Missouri 3-0 in Fayetteville, Ark. in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Ladwig Continues His Quality Start Streak
Junior pitcher A.J. Ladwig continued his streak of quality starts in 2014. He is now 10-for-10 after throwing seven shutout innings on Friday against Southern Illinois. He is one of just four pitchers nationally to be 10-for-10 in quality starts this season. On the season, he is 3-5 with a 1.32 ERA.  
 
Weekend Rotation
The weekend rotation of A.J. Ladwig, Cale Elam, and Sam Tewes continues to be impressive for the Shockers. The trio is 14-8 with a 2.32 ERA. In 180.1 innings pitched, the rotation has 41 walks and 126 strikeouts. The trio's ERA of 2.10 ranks sixth nationally among weekend rotations.