Promotions: Dollar Night - $1 Tickets, $1 hot dogs, $1 drinks
Baseball Ticket Redemption - FREE admission for Wichita State baseball vs. Kansas State with Missouri State softball ticket stub
Date: May 3, 2016
Location: Wichita, Kan.
Stadium: Wilkins Stadium
Live Stats: Live Stats: Stats Live Video: WatchLive Audio: ListenTalent: Steve Strain
Series: Missouri State leads, 51-48
Scouting Missouri State: Missouri State is coming off a strong weekend, going 2-0 at Evansville, with the third game of the series being cancelled due to rain.
This game will be the third and final game of the series with the Bears, with the Shockers winning the first two games of the series at Missouri State last Wednesday. In the first game, the Shockers scored 17 runs on 21 hits, setting a new Killian Stadium record in hits and tied the stadium record in runs.
Olivia Roark has led the way offensively, hitting .371 with two doubles and two RBI. Erin Duewel leads the team with 41 hits, seven doubles, eight home runs and 32 RBI.
In the circle, a majority of the innings have gone to Erin Struemph, throwing 138.0 innings so far this season and posting a record of 11-14 with an ERA of 3.86.
Series: Wichita State is now 48-51 all-time against the Bears, and 8-6 during the Bredbenner era. The Shockers have won two games against Missouri State already this season, by scores of 17-6 and 3-2.
Shockers News and Notes:2016: Wichita State is currently riding a 10-game winning streak, as they swept Indiana State this last weekend in a two-game series, with the third game being cancelled due to rain, by scores of 3-2 and 7-2. The Shockers remain in first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 2.5 game lead over Drake and a three game lead over Northern Iowa.
So far this season, the Shockers have been led by
Macklin Hitz who is hitting .379 with eight doubles, 10 home runs and 44 RBI. Hitz also has 22 walks on the season.
Cacy Williams and
Paige Luellen have also contributed to the Shockers success, with Williams hitting .354 with four doubles, 12 home runs and 45 RBI. Luellen has an average of .348 with 10 doubles, 11 home runs and 47 RBI.
Wichita State has two pitchers with at least 110 innings pitched with
Jenni Brooks with 110.0 and
Katie Malone with 136.1. Brooks has an ERA of 3.12 and an overall record of 15-6. Brooks also holds an opponent batting average of .270. Malone has a record of 13-6 and an ERA of 4.26 and leads the pitching staff with 66 strikeouts.
But does she get on base?Paige Luellen had reached base in the first 28 games for the Shockers this season, but ended her 33 game on-base streak at Kansas on March 29.
2015 In Review: Wichita State finished the 2015 season with an overall record of 34-23 and a 16-11 record in the Missouri Valley Conference giving the Shockers a fourth place finish.
Eight of Nine Starters Returning: Wichita State is returning every starter from the 2015 team except catcher
Melanie Jaegers, who was a big contributor for the Shockers, hitting .282 and starting all 57 games. Among the position starters returning for Wichita State is
Cacy Williams (first base/right field),
Liz Broyles (second base),
Kelli Spring (shortstop),
Mackenzie Wright (third base),
Brittany Fortner (left field),
Ashley Johnson (center field) and
Macklin Hitz (first base). Overall, these returners combined for a batting average of .328 while collecting 202 of the team's 272 RBIs and also hitting 35 of the team's 44 homeruns.
2015 All-MVC: The trio of returners, Fortner, Wright and Williams, along with Jaegers who graduated were all named 2015 First Team All-MVC, while Malone, Broyles and Spring were named Second Team All-MVC.
Fortner's Historic Season: Fortner finished her junior season with a .416 batting average (second in team history for a single season, tied for the Valley lead), 74 hits (tied the all-time hits record in a season in team history, led the Valley), 47 runs scored (led the Valley, third in team history for a single season), 45 RBIs (third in the Valley, third all-time in a single season in team history), 18 doubles (tied for second in the Valley, set the all-time team mark for doubles in a single season this season), 121 total bases (second in the Valley, second all-time in a single season in WSU SB history), a .502 OB% (second in the Valley) and 0.82 runs scored per game (led the Valley)
Climbing the ranks: After collecting one double against Bradley,
Brittany Fortner has taken over first place all-time in the Shocker record book with 56 doubles, needing just one more to take over sole possession first place in the Missouri Valley Conference record books.
Williams is also tied for seventh in doubles (34).
Williams is in fourth place with 129 runs scored needing just seven more to jump into the top three.
Fortner is also fourth in hits (213), eighth in homeruns (21), fifth in RBI (114), second in total bases (336) and seventh in walks (80).
After two home runs, Williams is in first place all-time in home runs (37) and second in RBI (130).
Missouri Valley favorites: Wichita State was picked as the 2016 MVC preseason favorite, as voted on by the Valley coaches. The Shockers collected 84 points and three first-place votes to make this the second year in a row that the Shockers have been the Missouri Valley favorites.
2016 Preseason All-MVC: After being named to the All-MVC First Team a season ago, Fortner, Wright and Williams have all been selected for the preseason All-MVC First Team.
-Wichita State-