WICHITA, Kan. – A pair of four-run sixth innings helped propel the Wichita State University baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of the Creighton Bluejays Friday, March 1, at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, in the first home games of 2019.
Wichita State (5-5) has now won its last four contests.
In the Shocker's 7-5 victory in game one, sophomore outfielder
Hunter Gibson led the team at the plate, going a career-best 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI, a double and run scored.
Luke Ritter added a pair of hits and scored two runs, while
Ross Cadena drove in a trio of runs, respectively.
Left-handed freshman reliever
Cal Carver (2-0) earned the victory on the mound for Wichita State after tossing two innings and allowing one earned run on three hits with two walks and a strikeout.
Mitchell Walters secured his second save of 2019 after allowing one earned run on two hits with two strikeouts and a walk in the ninth inning.
Trailing the Bluejays (5-3), 4-1, entering the bottom of sixth inning, WSU exploded for four runs on two hits in the frame, gaining a 5-4 lead.
Jordan Boyer crossed home plate on a Creighton balk for the opening run of the inning before Gibson belted a RBI double to left field and Cadena followed with a two-RBI single through the left side for the final three runs of the frame.
The Shockers plated a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth after a Gibson single up the middle scored Ritter and a RBI ground from Cadena brought in
Paxton Wallace, extending WSU's advantage to 7-4.
The Bluejays didn't go quietly though, and were able to score a run in the top of the ninth before Walters sealed the win with a strikeout of Parker Upton.
Isaac Collins posted three hits, including a double, and drove in a pair of runs to pace Creighton in the opener.
Reliever Ryan Connolly (0-1) took the loss for the Bluejays after surrendering an earned run on two hits with three strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings of work.
In Wichita State's 4-3 triumph in game two, sophomore Wallace compiled a double and two RBI to lead the Shockers offensively.
Sophomore right-hander
Liam Eddy (2-1) picked up the win after tossing 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief with a walk and strikeout.
All seven runs scored in the nightcap occurred in the sixth inning.
The Bluejays broke open a scoreless game with three runs in the top-half the frame before the Shockers stormed back with four in the bottom-half of the inning to take the lead.
Wallace provided Wichita State's opening two runs of the inning on a double to left field that scored Boyer and
Jacob Katzfey, before a
Mason O'Brien RBI ground out allowed Ritter to come around and score the tying-run. Gibson provided the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to center, which allowed Wallace to cross home plate.
Eddy and the Wichita State defense made sure the lead stayed intact, and only surrendered two hits – both singles – and a walk to the Bluejays the final three innings.
Jack Strunc went 3-for-4 with a double and RBI to lead Creighton in the second contest.
Bluejay starter Denson Hull (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing four earned runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Wichita State is scheduled to travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys Tuesday, March 5, at 4 p.m.