Wichita State begins a three-game weekend series vs. third-ranked Texas Tech Friday night at Eck Stadium with first pitch at 6 p.m. CT.
• All three games will be broadcast on KNSS 1330 AM and on goshockers.com with Mike Kennedy and Shane Dennis calling the action. The games will also be televised on The Valley on ESPN3 with Chris Solwecki and
Denning Gerig.
• Wichita State leads the overall series with Texas Tech 17-10. The Shockers also lead the series in Wichita 10-1.
• Only two Shocker pitchers have played against Texas Tech.
Landon Holifield pitched against the Red Raiders on April 14, 2015, while he was at Abilene Christian and
Adam Keller pitched against TTU on May 16, 2015, while he was at West Virginia.
• WSU is 129th in the March 23 NCAA RPI, while Texas Tech is seventh. The Shockers are 0-6 against the top-50 and 1-7 against the top-100.
• WSU is 9-1 this season at home.
• In those 10 home games, WSU is hitting .292 with a 2.20 ERA and .978 fielding percentage.
• At home this season,
Jordan Boyer is hitting .458,
Greyson Jenista is hitting .375,
Dayton Dugas is hitting .306,
Trey Vickers is hitting .297,
Alec Bohm is hitting .289 and
Luke Ritter is hitting .273.
• WSU is 3-7 in the last 10 games.
• In those 10 games, WSU is hitting .217 with a 5.08 ERA and .972 fielding percentage.
• In the last 10 games,
Luke Ritter is hitting .379,
Jacob Katzfey is hitting .353 and
Greyson Jenista is hitting .282.
• In the NCAA stats, WSU is 62nd in double plays, 80th in triples, 59th in hits allowed per nine innings, 71st in fielding percentage and ninth in shutouts. Individually,
Trey Vickers is 48th in triples,
Ben Hecht is 32nd in saves and 72nd in appearanes,
Reagan Biechler is 72nd in appearances, and
Willie Schwanke and
Cody Tyler are 21st in games started.
• WSU collected a season-high 16 strikeouts on March 22 against Sacramento State. It was the most by the pitching staff since 2009.
• WSU collected back-to-back shutouts on Feb. 25 of Grand Canyon. The last time WSU had two-straight was in 2013.
• WSU had a scoreless innings streak of 24.1 from Feb. 19-26. The streak ranks as the eighth longest in WSU history.
• Senior pitcher
Reagan Biechler needs four 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 62 at bats.
• WSU collected back-to-back shutouts on Feb. 25 of Grand Canyon. The last time WSU had two-straight was in 2013.
• WSU had a scoreless innings streak of 24.1 from Feb. 19-26. The streak ranks as the eighth longest in WSU history.
• Senior pitcher
Reagan Biechler needs seven more appearances to move into a tie for 15th in the Shocker record book for career appearances.
• Five Shockers have double-digit errorless streaks including
Travis Young at 55,
Gunnar Troutwine at 20,
Jordan Boyer at 15,
Alex Jackson at 11 and
Noah Croft at 10.
• 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.
• 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 now 85-7 all-time at home (Eck and Lawrence-Dumont) in the month of February.
• WSU is 579-233-2 all-time overall in the month of March.
• Since 1978, the Shockers are 20-9 on March 24, 17-8 on March 25 and 21-3 on March 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 Texas Tech
The Red Raiders are 19-4 after sweeping a midweek series with UNLV. Wins this season have come against Western Illinois twice, Mississippi State, New Mexico State, Cal four times, New Mexico, Ole Miss, LSU, Arizona, UTSA twice, Texas three times and UNLV two times. Losses have come against Mississippi State, Texas A&M, UTSA and UT Arlington. As a team, TTU is hitting .274 with a 2.87 ERA and .982 fielding percentage. They are led offensively by Hunter Hargrove who is hitting .312 with eight doubles, one triple, three home runs and 20 RBI. The Red Raiders are led by head coach Tim Tadlock.
Series History vs. the Red Raiders
Wichita State leads the overall series with Texas Tech 17-10. The Shockers also lead the series in Wichita 10-1. The only Red Raider victory in Wichita was in 1979. In 1978 in Lubbock, TTU won four of six games. In 1979 in Wichita, WSU won four of five games. In 1985 in Lubbock, WSU won two of three. In 1987 in Wichita, WSU won both games. In 1988 in Lubbock, the two teams split a pair. In 1989 in Wichita, the Shockers won all three. In 1991 in Lubbock, the teams split two games. In 1994 in Wichita, the Shockers won the only game. In 1995 in Lubbock, TTU won both games. In 2005 in Los Angeles, the Shockers won the game.
Last Meeting vs. TTU
The last meeting between the two teams was March 13, 2005, in Los Angeles, Calif. The Shockers won the game 6-5 in 10 innings. Nick McCoola went 2-for-5 with two RBI, while reliever Kyle Touchatt earned the win. The Red Raiders scored one in the top of the 10th, but the Shockers scored two in the bottom of the inning to win. Derek Schermerhorn's RBI single and Joe Muich's RBI double gave WSU the win. Season-High K's The Shocker pitching staff collected a seasonhigh 16 strikeouts on March 22 against Sacramento State. It was the most strikeouts by the WSU pitching staff since March 18, 2009 when the Shockers struck out 16 against ArkansasPine Bluff.
Boyer's Grand Slam
Sophomore infielder
Jordan Boyer hit his first career home run on March 15 against Northern Colorado. The home run was a grand slam, which was the Shockers first of the season. Boyer now has 17 RBI, which leads the team.
Win in Norman
Wichita State collected a 4-2 win at No. 13 Oklahoma on March 7. It was the Shockers first win over a ranked team this season and snapped the Sooners nation-leading 12-game winning streak. It was just the third time in school history
that the Shockers defeated Oklahoma in Norman. The other two times were 1992 and 2006.
Four-Headed Monster
teams. They allowed just two singles and struck out 13 in those nine innings.
Freshman Firsts
Two Shocker freshmen earned firsts last week. Freshman pitcher
Tommy Barnhouse earned his first career win on March 7 at No. 13 Oklahoma. He pitched two innings in relief and allowed
one unearned run with three strikeouts. Freshman outfielder
Jacob Katzfey collected his first career-hit on March 11 at No. 6 LSU.
Wichita State collected its third shutout of the year on March 1 against Omaha. The Shockers used 10 pitchers to combine on the three-hit shutout. The 10 pitchers who combined on the shutout were juniors
Chandler Sanburn,
Tyler Jones and
Adam Keller, sophomores
Codi Heuer,
Matt Whalen,
Connor Lungwitz and
Robby Evans and freshmen
Keylan Killgore,
Tommy Barnhouse and
Preston Snavely.
K's for Days
The Shockers pitching staff collected 15 strikeouts in the 4-0 win over Grand Canyon on Feb. 25. It was the first time the Shockers had 15 or more strikeouts in a game since March 12, 2013 against North Dakota.
Back-to-Back Shutouts
On Feb. 25, the Shockers had back-to-back shutouts of Grand Canyon by scores of 1-0 and 4-0. It was the first time the Shockers had back-to-back shutouts since 2013 when they beat Southern Illinois (15-0) and Indiana State (5-0) in the MVC Tournament. The 1-0 win in game one against GCU was the first 1-0 win for the Shockers since beating Bradley 1-0 in 10 innings on May 12, 2012.
Undefeated Start
Wichita State is off to a 7-0 start this season after three-game sweeps of Utah Valley and Grand Canyon and a win over Omaha. It is the best start by a Shocker team since 2011 when they also started 7-0.
Sweeps
The Shockers collected back-to-back three-game sweeps over Utah Valley and Grand Canyon. It is the first time the Shockers have done that since sweeping Niagara and North Dakota in February of 2011.
Bombs for Bohm
Sophomore third baseman
Alec Bohm collected his first multi-home run game of his career in the 5-3 win over Grand Canyon on Feb. 26. He went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs and two home runs. It is the first multi-home run game by a Shocker since
Ryan Tinkham hit two against Kansas State on April 14, 2015.
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 against Utah Valley. 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. Freshman infielder
Alex Jackson made his debut the following weekend against Grand Canyon and redshirt sophomore pitcher
Matt Whalen and redshirt freshman pitcher
Keylan Killgore made their debut against Omaha.
