Feb. 27-March 1 - Wichita State (3-4) at Long Beach State (5-3), 8, 4, 3 p.m. (Central)

Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes

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Date: Feb. 27-March 1
First Pitch: 8, 4, 3 p.m. CST
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Stadium: Blair Field
Radio: KNSS 1330 AM
Talent: Shane Dennis
Series: Long Beach State leads 26-25

Probable Pitching Matchups
Feb. 27 — Sam Tewes (RHP, 1-0, 2.45) vs. Kyle Friedrichs (RHP, 2-0, 2.77)

Feb. 28 — Isaac Anderson (RHP, 2-0, 2.45) vs. Tanner Brown (RHP, 1-0, 1.42)

March 1 — TBA vs. Chris Mathewson (RHP, 0-1, 2.25)

Quick Hits
• All three games will be broadcast on KNSS 1330 AM with Shane Dennis calling the action.  The games will also be on www.goshockers.com.
• Long Beach State leads the overall series 26-25 and also leads the series in Long Beach 14-9.
• The Shockers haven't won in Long Beach since 2010 and have lost five-straight there.
• WSU is 1-2 in road games in 2015. In those three games, the Shockers are hitting .280 with a 5.76 team ERA and a .958 fielding percentage.
• WSU has two players from the state of California in Jordan Farris (Ventura) and Ryan Tinkham (Simi Valley). Before this season, the last Shocker to hail from California was Andrew Letourneau in 2009.
• Daniel Kihle is hitting .545 in his career against Long Beach State (6-for-11).
• Ryan Tinkham, Jordan Farris and Chase Rader lead the Shockers with three multiple-hit games, while Tinkham and Tanner Dearman lead the team with two multiple-RBI games.
• The Shockers are 77-6 all-time at home (Eck and Lawrence-Dumont) in the month of February.
• WSU is 146-44 all-time overall in the month of February.
• WSU is 17-3 on Feb. 27, 9-4 on Feb. 28 and 11-7 on March 1 since 1978.
• Ryan Tinkham and Tanner Kirk have been on base in all seven games this season.
• WSU plays 37 games in 2015 against teams that were in the top-100 in the RPI in 2014. Nineteen of those are games against teams in the top-50.
• The Shocks were picked third in the MVC Preseason Poll.
• Junior outfielder Daniel Kihle and sophomore starting pitcher Sam Tewes were named to the preseason all-Valley team.
• WSU's recruiting class was ranked No. 2 by Collegiate Baseball.
• The Shockers welcome 24 newcomers in 2015.
• Six of the Shocker newcomers were drafted in 2014: Chase Rader (16th rd.), Isaac Anderson (19th rd.), Sam Hilliard (31st rd.), Chase Williams (37th rd.), Keenan Eaton (39th rd.) and Taylor Sanagorski (39th rd.)
• The Shocks set the school record for fewest home runs allowed in a season with 18 in 2014.
• WSU returns three starters and nine letterwinners from the 2014 team.
• The Shocker pitching staff returns one starting pitcher in Sam Tewes.
• WSU has ranked in the top 25 in attendance since 1999.
• Head Coach Todd Butler is in his second season as coach of the Shockers.
• Assistant Coach Brian Walker is the third base coach and Volunteer Assistant Coach Mike Sirianni is the first base coach.

Scouting Long Beach State
The Dirtbags are 5-3 on the season. Wins have come against Michigan twice, Pepperdine and Utah Valley twice. Losses have come against Michigan, Utah Valley and UCLA. LBSU is hitting .228 as a team with a team ERA of 2.38. They also have a .972 fielding percentage. Leading the way offensively is Zack Rivera who is hitting .385 with three doubles, a triple, seven RBI, six walks and three stolen bases. The Dirtbags are led by head coach Troy Buckley.

Series History vs. the Dirtbags
Long Beach State leads the overall series with Wichita State 26-25. The Dirtbags also lead the series in Long Beach 14-9. The Shockers have lost the last five meetings in Long Beach with the last win coming in 2010. Head Coach Todd Butler is 1-1 in his career against LBSU after splitting two games last season in Wichita.

Last Meeting vs. LBSU
The last meeting between the two teams was a two-game series Feb. 28, 2014, in Wichita. The Shockers won the first game 5-4 and Long Beach State won game two 7-0. Daniel Kihle went 4-for-7 in the doubleheader for the Shockers, while A.J. Ladwig pitched seven strong innings in the opener.  

Dearman Back in the Leadoff Spot
Junior outfielder Tanner Dearman missed the first three games of the season due to injury, but had a big debut over the weekend against Texas State. He went 4-for-10 (.400) with four runs, a triple, eight RBI, a walk, a sacrifice fly and a stolen base as the Shockers' leadoff hitter.

WSU a Winner in Home Openers
Since 1978, the Shockers are now 35-3 in home openers.  The three losses were to New Mexico, 11-13, in 1988 at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, to Richmond, 10-11, in 2007 and 4-6 to Pittsburgh in 2013.

Back-to-Back
In the season opener on Feb. 13, Wichita State's Jordan Farris and Daniel Kihle hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning. It was the first time the Shockers hit back-to-back home runs in a game since April 15, 2012 when Casey Gillaspie and Micah Green hit back-to-back home runs at Evansville in the second inning.
 
Newcomers Debut
Fourteen Shockers made their Wichita State debuts on opening weekend including juniors Jordan Farris, Chase Rader, Ryan Tinkham, Zach Reding, Sam Hilliard, Isaac Anderson, Willie Schwanke, and Jon Ferrendelli, sophomore Chase Williams and freshmen Michael Burns, Taylor Sanagorski, Keenan Eaton, Chandler Sanburn and Taylor Goshen.  Junior John Hayes and freshmen Jeb Bargfeldt and Trey Vickers made their debuts the second weekend and freshman Tyler Jones debuted on Feb. 24.