WICHITA, Kan. – Jordan Boyer homered and Mason O'Brien had a game-high three hits to help the Wichita State baseball team earn an 8-4 victory over the Memphis Tigers in the second game of a three-game American Athletic Conference series Saturday afternoon, March 23, at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field.
 
With the win, Wichita State (11-11, 2-0 American) clinched the series against the Tigers (10-11, 0-2 American), and won its fourth straight game.  
 
O'Brien led the Shockers at the plate, going 3-for-5 with his team-high seventh double of the season, going along with an RBI, while Boyer smacked his second home run of 2019 and drove in a pair of runs.
 
Luke Ritter and Alex Jackson each had two hits, with Jackson tallying a double, and Jacob Katzfey posted two RBI and a double, respectively.
 
Wichita State right-hander Tommy Barnhouse (1-2) picked up the victory on the mound after giving up on earned run on four hits with four strikeouts and one walk in 4 2/3 innings of relief, and closer Mitchell Walters secured his team-best third save of 2019 after tossing a scoreless eighth and ninth inning with three strikeouts and no walks.
 
Memphis raced out to a 3-0 lead after scoring a run in the top of the second and two in the top of the third.
 
The Shockers didn't take long to start chipping into the advantage though, as Noah Croft led-off the bottom-half of the third with a single through the left side, before coming around to score when Boyer belted a 1-0 pitch over the left-centerfield wall, trimming the Tiger lead to 3-2.
 
WSU took the lead for good with a trio of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Brady Slavens singled home O'Brien for the opening run of the frame, before Jackson smacked a pinch-hit single to right field, bringing in Paxton Wallace for the go-ahead run, putting Wichita State in front, 4-3. A sacrifice fly off Katzfey's bat brought in Ross Cadena for the third run of the inning.
 
The Tigers got a run back in the top of the seventh, cutting the Shocker advantage to 5-4, but WSU responded with a run over their own in the bottom-half of the frame, increasing its lead to 6-4 after Ritter worked a walk, before scoring all the way from first on O'Brien's double to left field.  
 
Wichita State added its seventh and eighth runs of the contest in the bottom of the eighth, building its advantage to 8-4 after Jackson and Katzfey hit back-to-back doubles, and Gibson posted an RBI ground-out.
 
Jason Santana went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in, and Alec Trela added a solo home run, pacing the Tigers in the batter's box.
 
Memphis starter Alex Hicks took the loss after allowing five earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and no walks in 5 1/3 innings of work.
 
The Shockers and Tigers are scheduled to play the series finale at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 24.