Wichita State (16-12, 2-1 American) at Kansas (15-12, 1-5 Big 12)
Tuesday, April 2 | 6 p.m. | Lawrence, Kan. (Hoglund Ballpark)
TV: ESPN+ (Josh Kingler, pxp; Kevin Wheeler (color)
Radio: KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM (Shane Dennis, pxp)
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

Game Notes | 2019 Fact Book | @GoShockersBSB

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             SCENE SETTER: After completing a 14-game homestand, the Wichita State University baseball team (16-12, 2-1 American) is scheduled to start a four-game road swing with a trip to Lawrence, Kan., for a midweek contest against the Kansas Jayhawks (15-12, 1-5 Big 12) Tuesday, April 2, at 6 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark.
 
            MEDIA COVERAGE: Television - Tuesday's contest at Kansas will air live on ESPN+ with Josh Kingler and Kevin Wheeler on the call ... Live Video - Live video will be available at WatchESPN.com ... Radio - Tuesday's game will air live on KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM with Pizza Hut Shockers Sports Hall of Famer and former WSU standout pitcher Shane Dennis providing play-by-play ... Live audio - Free, live audio will be available at GoShockers.com/listen ... Additional coverage - Live stats will be available at KUathletics.com.
 
            SERIES RECORD: Tuesday's contest against the Jayhawks will mark the 82nd meeting in the all-time series that dates back to 1952. The Shockers lead the series, 47-34, and have won the last four meetings. Wichita State won the first game of the series this season on March 20 at Eck Stadium, defeating Kansas, 3-2, on a Hunter Gibson walk-off homer in the 13th inning.
 
            CATCHING UP WITH THE SHOCKERS: Wichita State enters the week with an overall record of 16-12 and an American Athletic Conference mark of 2-1 after sweeping a three-game, non-conference series against Bethune-Cookman March 29-31 at Eck Stadium ... The Shockers are 9-1 in their last 10 games, and have won five straight going into Tuesday ... Through 28 contests, WSU is paced at the plate by senior infielders Jordan Boyer (.398 avg., 23 R, 57 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, .602 SLG%, 8 BB, 10 HP, .482 OB%, 3 SB) and Luke Ritter (.380 avg., 28 R, 41 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 24 RBI, .657 SLG%, 15 BB, 9 HP, .489 OB%, 8 SB), and senior first baseman Mason O'Brien (.301 avg., 16 R, 28 H, 8 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 14 BB) ... Boyer ranks second and Ritter is fifth in The American in batting entering the week ... On the mound, the Shockers are led by junior right-handed starter Preston Snavely (4.12 ERA, 3-2, 39.1 IP, 35 H, 19 R, 18 ER, 22 BB, 38 SO) and junior right-handed closer Mitchell Walters (2.40 ERA, 0-1, 5 SV, 15.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 17 SO) ... Junior right-hander Tommy Barnhouse is slated to start Tuesday's game in Lawrence for WSU ... As a team, Wichita State is hitting .285 with a 5.20 ERA and .964 fielding percentage.
 
            ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS: The Kansas Jayhawks enter the week with an overall record of 15-12 and are 1-5 in the Big 12 after dropping two of three games to the Baylor Bears (L, 8-2; L, 8-0; W, 12-7) March 30-31 in Lawrence ... Through 27 games, Kansas is led offensively by junior catcher Jaxx Groshans (.362 avg., 24 R, 34 H, 4 2B, 10 HR, 32 RBI, .725 SLG%, 20 BB, .470 OB%) ... Groshans currently leads the Big 12 in home runs, and ranks second in RBIs ... For the second time this season, the Jayhawks are scheduled to start sophomore left-hander Steve Washilewski (2.86 ERA, 2-0, 22.0 IP, 20 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 7 BB, 24 SO) against the Shockers Tuesday ... As a team, Kansas is hitting .238 (ninth in the Big 12) with a 4.39 ERA (seventh in the Big 12) and .975 fielding percentage (fourth in the Big 12) ... The Jayhawks are under the direction of 17th season head coach Ritch Price.  
 
            SEVEN STELLAR INNINGS: Right-handed pitchers Liam Eddy, Preston Snavely and Clayton McGinness all tossed seven shutout innings in Wichita State's three-game sweep of Bethune-Cookman March 29-31. Eddy allowed just one hit while posting a career-high seven Ks with just one walk, while Snavely gave up three hits with five strikeouts and four walks, and McGinness scattered a trio of hits with four Ks and one walk. As a whole, the Wichita State pitching staff tallied a 1.33 ERA in the Bethune-Cookman series, allowing just four earned runs with 19 strikeouts and nine walks.
 
            KATZFEY FINDING HIS SWING: Junior Jacob Katzfey hit .417 with five hits in 12 at bats in the series against Bethune-Cookman. The Lee's Summit, Mo., native tallied a double, triple and homer in the series while compiling three RBIs, four runs scored, and a .917 slugging and .417 on-base percentage.
 
            WEEKLY HONORS: Liam Eddy was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for his performance on the diamond during the week of March 25-31. It's Eddy's third-career honor roll appearance, and his first this season. A native of Brighton, Colo., Eddy tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out a career-high seven batters while only allowing one hit – an infield single – on 82 pitches in the Shockers' 11-4 victory over Bethune-Cookman March 30 to earn his third win on the mound in 2019.
 
            KOCIS GOES BACK-TO-BACK: Sophomore first baseman Garrett Kocis became the first Shocker since Greyson Jenista in 2018 to hit home runs in consecutive games, going deep against Omaha Tuesday and K-State Wednesday. Jenista accomplished the same feat against South Dakota State and USF last season. The round-tripper Kocis hit Tuesday marked his first hit of the season.
 
            BOYER, RITTER EXCELLING AT THE PLATE: Jordan Boyer and Luke Ritter continue to excel at the plate entering Tuesday's game. Boyer leads the Shockers, ranks second in The American and 37th nationally in hitting at .398 while Ritter is second on the team and fifth in the conference at .380. In The American, Ritter is second in on-base percentage (.489), while Boyer is third (.482).
 
            GOING DEEP: The Shockers hit a combined five home runs in their five wins last week. Against the Mavs Tuesday, March 26, Garrett Kocis, Jordan Boyer and Luke Ritter went yard, with Kocis going deep again Wednesday, March 27, vs. the Wildcats, and Jacob Katzfey going yard for the first time this season Saturday, March 30, vs. Bethune-Cookman. Ritter has a team-best six homers through 28 games, while Boyer is at three, Kocis is at two, and Katzfey is at one. Paxton Wallace (4), Hunter Gibson (2), Mason O'Brien (1), Ross Cadena (1) and David VanVooren (1) also have homers this season.
 
            CLOSING THE DOOR: Right-hander Mitchell Walters leads Wichita State and is tied for second in The American with five saves in 12 appearances. The Katy, Texas, native has a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings with 17 Ks and only six walks. He ranks 47th in the nation in saves entering the week.
 
            TURNING TWO: Through 28 games, the Shockers are tied for second in The American with Cincinnati and rank 19th in the country in double plays turned with 25. Tulane leads the conference with 27.
 
            REACHING BASE...THE PAINFUL WAY: The Shockers lead The American and rank 14th nationally with 48 hit by pitches entering the week. Jordan Boyer leads the conference in hit by pitch at 10, while Luke Ritter is tied for second at nine, and Ross Cadena and Mason O'Brien are tied for sixth with six. Ritter is third in Wichita State career history in hit by pitch with 29.
 
            NOTABLE STREAKS: Luke Ritter is riding a 40-game on-base streak dating back to last season (has reached base safely in all 28 games in 2019) ... Mason O'Brien has gotten on-base successfully in his last 22 games.
 
            NEW FACES: The Shockers have 21 newcomers to the program in 2019, including 19 freshmen and two junior college transfers. The freshmen on the active roster include Aaron Haase (RHP/UT), Calvin Marley (RHP/OF), Miller Pleimann (RHP), Connery Peters (RHP), Adam Stephenson (OF/LHP), Carson Cox (OF), David VanVooren (OF), Seth Morrow (OF), Ryan Koval (OF), Cal Carver (LHP), Brady Slavens (INF), Cooper Elliot (INF), Jack Sigrist (INF), Josh Killeen (C) and Jake Plastiak (3B). WSU's two junior college transfers are sophomore Tristan McCraw (RHP) and junior Mitchell Walters (RHP). Freshmen Jack Brimacombe (RHP), Reece Koon (LHP), Quinten Albrecht (C) and Mason Miller (C) are redshirting in 2019.
 
            PRESEASON HONORS: Senior infielder Luke Ritter was voted to the American Athletic Conference's preseason all-conference team. He is also ranked 31st on the D1 Baseball's list of 2019 Top Senior Prospects and 15th on the organization's preseason second base power rankings list. Fellow senior, right-hander Clayton McGinness, is ranked 65th on the D1 Baseball Top Senior Prospects list.
 
            UP NEXT: Wichita State travels to New Orleans to take on Tulane in a three-game American Athletic Conference series April 5-7. The game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 5, 2 p.m. Saturday, April 6, and 1 p.m. Sunday, April 7.
 
            THE COACH: Todd Butler is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Wichita State University baseball team. He came to WSU in June 2013 after spending the previous eight seasons as the hitting instructor, outfield coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Arkansas. During Butler's 26-year tenure as a NCAA Division I assistant or head coach, he has guided his teams to five College World Series appearances and four NCAA super regionals. In addition, his teams have been ranked No. 1 five times in his career. He has coached a combined 35 All-Americans and Freshman All-Americans, 167 players drafted in the MLB Draft and 45 Major League players. In his tenure at WSU, Butler has coached 26 student-athletes who were drafted, and five players who combined for 10 All-American and Freshman All-American honors. He played his college ball at McNeese State (1985-86) and Oklahoma (1987-88). A team captain for the Sooners in 1988, Butler still holds the OU single-season record for stolen bases with 46 steals in 1988, including 26 consecutive successful stolen base attempts. Butler was a third-team All-American in 1988 and also earned All-Big Eight Conference honors and all-region honors. He played on two NCAA Tournament teams for the Sooners for legendary coach Enos Semore. Butler's coaching career began as a student-assistant coach at McNeese State, where he earned his bachelor's degree in liberal studies in 1991. He was born in Alexandria, La., and is married to the former Melissa Borrel. The couple has two daughters, Caitlyn and Kendyll.