WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State is back on the road for another Missouri Valley Conference road series this weekend when the Shockers travel to Springfield, Mo., to take on the first place Missouri State Bears.
 

WICHITA STATE BASEBALL

Springfield, Mo.

Hammons Field

Game Notes

GAME 37

Wichita State (18-18, 3-3 MVC)   at Missouri State (24-13, 6-0 MVC)

Saturday, April 22

2 P.M. CDT

The Valley on ESPN3

WatchESPN

KNSS 1330 AM/98.7 FM

Listen

Live Stats

GAME 38

Wichita State (18-18, 3-3 MVC)   at Missouri State (24-13, 6-0 MVC)

Sunday, April 23

1 P.M. CDT

The Valley on ESPN3

WatchESPN

KNSS 1330 AM/98.7 FM

Listen

Live Stats

GAME 39

Wichita State (18-18, 3-3 MVC)   at Missouri State (24-13, 6-0 MVC)

Sunday, April 23

4 P.M. CDT

KNSS 1330 AM/98.7 FM

Listen

Live Stats

SOCIAL

@GoShockersBSB | #watchus

@goshockers | #watchus

Go Shockers

Quick Hits
• All three games this weekend will be broadcast on KNSS 1330 AM and on goshockers.com with Mike Kennedy and Shane Dennis calling the action. Saturday's game and game one on Sunday will also be televised on ESPN3.
• Wichita State leads the overall series with Missouri State 62-42. The Bears lead the series in Springfield 25-20.
• WSU is 135th in the April 19 NCAA RPI, while Missouri State is 18th. The Shockers are 1-9 against the top-50 and 3-14 against the top-100.
• Alec Bohm is currently on a nine-game hitting streak, while Alex Jackson is on a six-game streak and Noah Croft is on a five-game streak.
• WSU turned a triple play against Valpo on April 2. It was the first one since 2002.
• Willie Schwanke had his first at bat of the season on April 5 against Oklahoma State and his first since March 10, 2015.
• WSU is 3-12 this season on the road.
• In those 15 road games, WSU is hitting .232 with a 6.56 ERA and .967 fielding percentage.
• On the road this season, Noah Croft is hitting .333, Alec Bohm is hitting .305, Greyson Jenista is hitting .288, Alex Jackson is hitting .273 and Luke Ritter is hitting .268.
• WSU is 5-5 in the last 10 games.
• In those 10 games, WSU is hitting .322 with a 4.87 ERA and .965 fielding percentage.
• In the last 10 games, Noah Croft is hitting .542, Greyson Jenista is hitting .425, Alex Jackson and Alec Bohm are hitting .357, Trey Vickers is hitting .293, and Willie Schwanke and Travis Young are hitting .286.
• The Shockers are just one of eight teams (Alabama, George Washington, College of Charleston, UNC Asheville, Cincinnati, St. John's, Boston College) to turn a triple play this season.
• 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 15 more appearances to move into a tie for fifth in the Shocker record book for career appearances.
• Four Shockers have double-digit errorless streaks including Travis Young at 68, Gunnar Troutwine at 26, Alex Jackson at 26, and Jacob Katzfey at 14.
• 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 is 658-276 overall in the month of April.
• Since 1978, the Shockers are 20-9 on April 22 and 21-5 on April 23.
• 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 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 Missouri State
The Bears are 24-13 overall and 6-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Wins this season have come against Rhode Island, Stony Brook, Oral Roberts, Belmont, Lipscomb, Middle Tennessee, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas three times, Minnesota twice, Memphis, New Orleans, Central Michigan, Bradley three times, Dallas Baptist three times, New Mexico, Saint Louis and Missouri. Losses have come against McNeese State, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, SEMO, Memphis twice, Central Michigan twice, Oral Roberts, Kansas, No. 11 Arkansas and New Mexico twice. As a team, MSU is hitting .279 with a 3.63 ERA and .976 fielding percentage. They are led offensively by Jake Burger who is hitting .364 with 10 doubles, 16 home runs and 43 RBI. The Bears are led by head coach Keith Guttin.

Series History vs. the Bears
Wichita State leads the overall series with the Bears 62-42. Missouri State leads the series in Springfield 25-20. The Shockers last won a series in Springfield in 2013.

Last Meeting vs. MSU
The last meeting between the two teams was a three-game series April 15-16, 2016 in Wichita. The Shockers won game one 9-2 and game three 11-1, while the Bears took game two 6-1. Luke Ritter went 5-for-10 in the series, while Dayton Dugas went 5-for-11 with three doubles and six RBI. Starters Zach Lewis and Cody Tyler each earned a win, while Chase Williams took the loss.
 
Back-to-Back
Wichita State hit back-to-back home runs in Saturday's game at Bradley. It was the first time the Shockers went back-to-back since April 17, 2015 at Bradley when Ryan Tinkham and Sam Hilliard did it. This time around, it was Dayton Dugas and Noah Croft.
 
Croft's Big Day
Redshirt freshman catcher Noah Croft hit the first home run of his career in the second inning at Bradley on Saturday. He finished the game with another home run in the seventh inning, a three-run shot that tied the game. He ended up going 3-for-4 in the game with a career-high five RBI and a double.
 
Bats Stay Hot
The Shocker bats continued to stay hot in four games last week. Wichita State hit .313 as a team in the four games and had 14 doubles, two triples and seven home runs. Noah Croft hit .533, while Alec Bohm hit .412, Greyson Jenista .375, Alex Jackson .353 and Trey Vickers and Luke Ritter each hit .313.

Triple Play
In the ninth inning of the April 2 game against Valparaiso with runners on first and second, the Shockers turned a 5-6-3 triple play to keep the game tied. It was the first triple play turned by the Shockers since April 16, 2002 against Kansas.
 
Walk-Offs for Young
Sophomore outfielder Travis Young collected the first walk-off hit of the season for the Shockers in the March 31 4-3 win over Valparaiso. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, he singled to left field to drive in Alex Jackson for the game-winning run. He followed that up with another walk-off on April 2 in another 4-3 win. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, he singled to right field to drive in Noah Croft for the game-winning run. They were the first two walk-off hits of his career.
 
Lewis Sets Career-High
Senior pitcher Zach Lewis put together a career performance on March 25 against No. 3 Texas Tech. He tied his career-best with seven innings pitched and struck out a career-high 10 in the game.

Season-High K's
The Shocker pitching staff collected a season-high 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 Arkansas-Pine 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.
 
Legends Weekend Scheduled for April 28-29
The Wichita State baseball program will be hosting Legends Weekend April 28-29 vs. Illinois State.
All Shocker Baseball alumni will be celebrated, honored and recognized at the first Legends Weekend.
On Fri., April 28, all alumni that are present will be introduced on the field before the game.
On Sat., April 29, there will be a College World Series pennant giveaway to the first 2,000 fans in attendance. Fans will also be able to take their photo for the first time with the 1989 National Championship trophy.
There will also be postgame autographs on Saturday with all Shocker legends and alumni in attendance.
Memorable Shocker Baseball moments will be highlighted on the video board all weekend long.