WICHITA, Kan. - Coming off a sweep of Utah Valley to open the season, Wichita State will look to continue its unbeaten record vs. Grand Canyon this weekend at Eck Stadium.
Quick Hits
• Friday and Saturday's games will be televised on The Valley on ESPN3 network with Chris Solwecki and Denning Gerig, while Sunday's will be on COX Channel Kansas. They will also be broadcast on KNSS 1330 AM and on
goshockers.com with Mike Kennedy and Shane Dennis calling the action.
• Wichita State leads the overall series with Grand Canyon 6-2. The Shockers lead the series 2-0 in Wichita.
• This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 1995.
• Travis Young is currently on a four-game hitting streak.
• The Shockers hit .452 with runners in scoring position in the three-game sweep of Utah Valley.
• In the opening series, WSU collected an RBI from all nine players in the lineup.
• Head Coach Todd Butler used the exact same lineup for all three games on opening weekend.
• On opening weekend the Shockers swept Utah Valley and earned their first series sweep since 2015.
• WSU struck out seven-straight batters in the season opener against Utah Valley. It was the first time with six or more consecutive strikeouts since 2010.
• Senior pitcher Reagan Biechler needs nine more appearances to move into a tie for 24th in the Shocker record book for career appearances.
• All seven returning starters have homered in their last 45 at bats.
• Four Shockers have double-digit errorless streaks including Josh DeBacker at 39, Travis Young at 38, Dayton Dugas at 29 and Trey
Vickers at 10.
• WSU plays 24 games in 2017 against teams that were in the top-100 in the RPI in 2016. Fifteen of those are games against teams in the top-50.
• The Shockers are 82-7 all-time at home (Eck and Lawrence-Dumont) in the month of February.
• WSU is 147-53 all-time overall in the month of February.
• WSU is 8-2 on Feb. 24 since 1978. The Shockers are 16-1 on Feb. 25 and 15-1 on Feb. 26.
• WSU is now 29-11 in season openers since 1978.
• WSU is now 37-3 in home openers since 1978.
• The Shocks were picked tied for fourth in the MVC preseason poll.
• Sophomore designated hitter Alec Bohm and sophomore utility player Luke Ritter were named to the preseason all-Valley team.
• In 2016, Greyson Jenista was the first freshman to lead the Shockers in hitting since Pat Magness in 1997 and was just the fifth freshman overall.
• The Shockers welcome 13 newcomers in 2017.
• WSU returns seven starters and 15 letterwinners from the 2016 team.
• The Shocker pitching staff returns four starters including Willie Schwanke, Cody Tyler, Zach Lewis and Connor Lungwitz.
• Last season, Travis Young tied the freshman record for sacrifice hits in a season with seven and it was also the 12th most in the single season record books.
• Last season, Gunnar Troutwine had the fifth most assists by a catcher with 59.
• Head Coach Todd Butler is in his fourth season as coach of the Shockers.
• Assistant Coach Brian Walker is the third base coach and Volunteer Assistant Coach Codey McElroy is the first base coach.
Scouting Grand Canyon
The Lopes are 2-1 after earning a series win over No. 22 Oklahoma State on opening weekend. GCU won game one 6-1, lost game two 6-5 and won game three 4-0. The Lopes return 19 letterwinners and five starters from a team that went 25-28-1 a year ago. The Lopes are picked fourth in the WAC preseason poll. Last season, the Lopes hit .280 and the pitching staff had a 4.73 ERA. Returning offensively for GCU is WAC Preseason Player of the Year Garrison Schwartz who hit .307 with 19 doubles, six home runs and 37 RBI in 2016. Pitcher Jake Repavich returns after going 3-3 with a 3.29 ERA in 2016. The Lopes are led by head coach Andy Stankiewicz.
Series History vs. the Lopes
Wichita State leads the series with Grand Canyon 6-2. The Shockers also lead the series in Wichita 2-0. The two teams met in Phoenix in 1981, 1982 and 1992, in Wichita in 1993 and in Honolulu in 1995.
Last Meeting vs. GCU
The last meeting between the two teams was March 28, 1995, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Shockers won the game 5-1. Casey Blake went 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Randy Young went 3-for-5 with four stolen bases. Mike Drumright pitched a complete game and allowed one run on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Seven-Straight K's
In the season opener against Utah Valley on Feb. 17, the Shocker bullpen struck out seven straight batters. Landon Holifield struck out the first three, Ben Hecht struck out the next three and Reagan Biechler struck out the seventh. It was the first time the Shocker pitching staff struck out six or more consecutive batters since May 14, 2010 when they struck out six-straight against Missouri State.
Newcomers Make Debut
Nine Shocker newcomers made their debut over the weekend. Position players Noah Croft, Sam Goodwin, Jacob Katzfey and Bryant Klusener along with pitchers Adam Keller, Landon Holifield, Ben Hecht, Tommy Barnhouse and Preston Snavely all played for the Shockers in the season opening three-game sweep of Utah Valley.
Dominant Bullpen
Wichita State used nine pitchers out of the bullpen in the three games against Utah Valley over the weekend. The bullpen compiled a 1.26 ERA in 14.1 innings. The pen gave up just two runs on eight hits with two walks and 18 strikeouts. The bullpen shut out the Wolverines in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning of all three games.
Father and Son
Matt and Bryant Klusener became the fifth father and son duo to play for the Shockers since 1978. The others were Stan and Taylor Brown, Charlie and Chris O'Brien, Greg and Garrett Brummett and Rich and Mitch McIntyre.
WSU a Winner in Season Openers
Since 1978, the Shockers are 29-11 in season openers. The last time WSU lost a season opener was in 2015, an 8-5 loss at Sam Houston State.
WSU a Winner in Home Openers
Since 1978, the Shockers are 37-3 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.
Shockers Picked Fourth in the Valley
The Shockers were tied for fourth in the Valley preseason poll done by the league's coaches. WSU totaled 36 points and tied with Indiana State. Dallas Baptist received five first-place votes and 59 points to finish first. Southern Illinois was picked second with three first-place votes and 53 points.
Two Named to Preseason All-MVC Team
Sophomore designated hitter Alec Bohm and sophomore utility player Luke Ritter were named to the preseason all-Valley team. Bohm earned second team honors in 2016.
51 Games to be Televised in 2017
Wichita State is scheduled to have 51 baseball games televised in 2017. Twenty-nine of the 51 televised games will be home contests, while 22 of WSU's 27 road contests will also be televised.
Thirty-two of the games will be televised on ESPN3, including twenty-three home games as part of The Valley on ESPN3 television package. The nine road games on ESPN3 are April 11 at Kansas, April 14-16 at Bradley, April 21-22 at Missouri State and May 18-20 at Indiana State.
Seven games will be televised on Cox Channel Kansas, which is available for Cox cable subscribers on channel 22 and 2022. Those games include Feb. 26 against Grand Canyon, April 7 and 8 against Southern Illinois, April 25 at Creighton, April 28 against Illinois State, May 2 at Kansas State and May 9 against Oral Roberts.
The other televised games are March 3-5 at Louisiana Tech on Conference USA TV, March 7 at Oklahoma on Sooner Sports TV, March 10-12 at LSU on the SEC Network+, March 17-19 at Cal Poly on Big West TV, March 28 at Oklahoma State on Fox Sports+ and April 4 against Oklahoma State on ESPNU.
Every game, home and away, can also be heard on KNSS 1330 AM and www.goshockers.com.
Section 42 at Eck Stadium
The Wichita State baseball program will be working with League 42 to open Section 42 at Eck Stadium. The Shockers have worked with League 42 over the past few years including holding clinics for the kids every year and helping with an annual golf tournament that raises money for League 42. Section 42 will be located in the first 10 rows of Section J, which is approximately 200 seats. Members of League 42 will be able to come to the WSU Ticket Office and request a ticket for themselves and four guests for each home game at Eck Stadium. League 42, named in honor of the great Jackie Robinson, is a youth baseball league in Wichita comprised primarily of urban players, ages 5-14 that was started in 2013 and includes more than 500 kids.
Seven Starters Return
WSU returns seven starters from the 2016 team in junior catcher Gunnar Troutwine, junior shortstop Trey Vickers, sophomore third baseman Alec Bohm, sophomore outfielders Dayton Dugas and Travis Young, sophomore
second baseman Luke Ritter and sophomore first baseman Greyson Jenista, who will move to the outfield in 2017.
Shockers to Play 29 Home Games
WSU will play 29 home games in 2017 including 2016 College World Series participants Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. The Shockers also host Utah Valley, Grand Canyon, Omaha, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Valparaiso, Southern Illinois, Kansas, Illinois State, Oral Roberts, Evansville and Kansas State.
Newcomers Look to Make Impact
WSU welcomes 13 newcomers to the 2017 team including juniors Sam Goodwin, Ben Hecht, Alex Forge't, Adam Keller and Bryant Klusener, sophomore Matt Whalen and freshmen Alex Jackson, Jacob Katzfey, Alex
Segal, Preston Snavely, Tommy Barnhouse, Joe Dittmar and Nathan Hawkins.
WSU Baseball on Facebook & Twitter
Become a fan of Wichita State Baseball on Facebook. Also follow the Shockers on Twitter @GoShockersBSB for in game updates.
The Todd Butler Show
The Todd Butler radio show airs on 1330 KNSS from 8-9 p.m. on Monday's. It is hosted by Mike Kennedy and starts on Feb. 20.
2016 Season Review
In 2016, the Shockers finished 21-37 overall and 9-12 in the Valley. Trey Vickers earned first team all-Valley honors, while Greyson Jenista, Alec Bohm, Dayton Dugas and Cody Tyler were named to the second team. Gunnar Troutwine and Mikel Mucha were named honorable mention, while Jenista was also the Co-Valley Freshman of the Year.
