The RoundHouse | 5/22/2018 6:02:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Wichita State opens American Athletic Conference Tournament play needing a big week and dry weather. Rains in Clearwater, Fla., changed the schedule, giving the Shockers an 8 a.m. game vs. second-seeded South Florida on Wednesday. A 3 p.m. game against either No. 6 Cincinnati or No. 3 Connecticut follows.
 
With the schedule changing, it's anybody's guess how the rest of the week will go. The bracket is set up to reward unbeaten with a day off – the 2-0 team that started Wednesday was scheduled to rest Friday and play Saturday. The weather changes seem likely to alter that schedule, which could hurt teams thin on pitching.
 
Five things to think about for the Shockers this week:
 
One - Wichita State knows it must win the automatic bid on Sunday (scheduled) to return to an NCAA regional. The Shockers (34-19-1) dropped from projected at-large fields, according to publications such as Baseball America and D1baseball.com.
 
Wichita State's RPI ranks No. 48, falling from the No. 30-range not too long ago. Combine that with the seventh-place finish in the American (9-14-1) record and Wichita State's positives (strong non-conference record, few bad losses) are not enough.
 
East Carolina, UConn, Central Florida, South Florida and regular-season champion Houston are projected as NCAA regional teams. East Carolina enters the weekend with a change to land one of 16 sites as a regional host.
 
Two - The resurgence of pitcher Codi Heuer is critical to Wichita State's path. Senior Adam Keller will make his first start of the season on Wednesday vs. South Florida and lefty Shane McClanahan (5-6, 3.53 ERA).
 
That leaves Heuer to keep the season alive or lift the Shockers into the best spot in their group by pitching the second game. Heuer, a junior, struggled in late March and early April. He rebounded to beat South Florida with eight innings in a 17-2 run-rule win and limited Memphis to five hits and two runs over six innings in 4-3 loss in his most recent start.
 
Keller (1-1, 1.93) pitched 9 1/3 innings this season, all in relief. His longest outing is 2 1/3 innings, so the bullpen will be on alert. Should that approach work against the Bulls, it gives the Shockers several starters with weekend experience to consider for the rest of the tournament. Keller started two games in 2017.
 
Three - The Shockers should feel confident they can score runs against South Florida (32-18-1). 
 
The Shockers battered McClanahan, a likely first-round draft pick, in the regular-season meeting at Eck Stadium. He gave up six hits, six earned runs and five walks in three innings. Gunnar Troutwine's home run gave Wichita State a 2-0 lead in the first inning. In the third, McClanahan walked in a run and Travis Young singled in two more.
 
Keller and the bullpen would appreciate a similar effort on Wednesday.
 
The Shockers won the second game of the series 9-6 and a time limit ended the finale with a 9-all tie. 
 
Wichita State hit .328 with eight doubles and seven home runs in the three games. Troutwine, first baseman Greyson Jenista and second baseman Luke Ritter each hit .462. Third baseman Alec Bohm hit .267 with three home runs and a triple.
 
Four – The Shockers pitched effectively against Cincinnati and lost the series 2-1 at Eck Stadium. They hit against UConn and lost the series 2-1 at Eck Stadium.
 
Wichita State compiled an ERA of 2.00 against the Bearcats, holding them to six earned runs and five extra-base hits in three games. Six errors, three in a 5-1 loss in the finale, spoiled the series. 
 
The Shockers hit .311 against UConn. The Huskies, however, pounded out eight doubles and three home runs to Wichita State's five and one. 
 
Defense, again, hurt the Shockers. They committed three errors and allowed three unearned runs in a 7-4 loss in the series opener. 
 
Five – The Shockers will need to win some high-scoring games. 
 
Jenista is heating up and that helps the lineup immensely. He is hitting .385 in his last 10 games to raise his average to .313. He continues to get on base frequently, walking eight times in those 10 games to give him a team-leading .455 on-base percentage.

Bohm, named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award this week, homered three times against USF and hit .417 with a homer against Cincinnati. UConn limited him to a .333 batting average, two walks, and no extra-base hits.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.