Wichita State (20-23) vs. Missouri State (13-30)
Tuesday, April 30 | 6 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field)
TV: COX YurView Kansas (Shane Dennis, pxp)
Radio: KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM (Mike Kennedy, pxp)
Promotion: 50 Cent Hot Dog Night -- 50 cent hot dogs at ALL concession stands ALL night!
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

Wichita State at Kansas State (21-24)
Wednesday, May 1 | 6 p.m. | Manhattan, Kan. (Tointon Family Stadium)
TV: ESPN3
Radio: KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM (Mike Kennedy, pxp)
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

Game Notes | 2019 Fact Book | @GoShockersBSB

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            SCENE SETTER: The Wichita State University baseball team (20-23) will look to break out of a four-game slump in a pair of midweek games Tuesday, April 30, and Wednesday, May 1. The Shockers are slated to host the Missouri State Bears (13-30) Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, before traveling to Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan., for a showdown against the Kansas State Wildcats (21-24) Wednesday at 6 p.m.
 
            MEDIA COVERAGE: TV - Tuesday's home contest vs. Missouri State will air live on COX YurView Kansas (HD 2022) with Pizza Hut Shockers Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis on the call, while Wednesday's tilt at K-State will be televised live on ESPN3 ... Radio - KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM will carry both games live, with Pizza Hut Shockers Sports Hall of Famer and "The Voice of the Shockers" Mike Kennedy on the call ... Live video - Free, live video for Tuesday's game will be available at YurView.com/Kansas, while live video for Wednesday may be accessed at WatchESPN.com ... Live audio - Complimentary live audio for the game will be available at GoShockers.com/listen ... Live stats - Live stats may be accessed at GoShockers.com.
 
            SERIES RECORDS: Missouri State - Tuesday's showdown against the Bears will mark the 109th meeting in the all-time series that dates all the way back to 1987. The Shockers lead the series, 62-46, but have dropped the last four meetings against Missouri State, which occurred during the 2017 season ... Kansas State - Wednesday's contest in Manhattan will be the 94th meeting in the all-time series that dates all the way back to 1906. Wichita State leads the series, 54-39, after defeating the Wildcats earlier this season at Eck Stadium, 8-5.  
 
            WICHITA STATE UPDATE: WSU enters the week with an overall record of 20-23 and an American Athletic Conference mark of 5-10 after dropping three games at Cincinnati April 26-28 ... Through 43 contests, the Shockers are paced by redshirt senior infielder Jordan Boyer (.355 avg., 30 R, 54 H, 12 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 35 RBI, .572 SLG%, 13 BB, 12 HP, .427 OB%, 3 SB) and senior infielder Luke Ritter (.344 avg., 37 R, 56 H, 13 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 30 RBI, .595 SLG%, 25 BB, 13 HP, .465 OB%, 10 SB) ... Boyer is sixth and Ritter is ninth in The American in overall hitting coming into Tuesday's midweek contest against Missouri State ... On the mound, Wichita State is led by sophomore right-hander Liam Eddy (4.94 ERA, 4-5, 58.1 IP, 58 H, 35 R, 32 ER, 21 BB, 30 SO) and junior closer Mitchell Walters (3.67 ERA, 1-3, 7 SV, 27.0 IP, 23 H, 14 R, 11 ER, 11 BB, 33 SO) ... As a team, the Shockers are hitting .277 with a 5.80 ERA and .964 fielding percentage.
 
            ANALYZING THE OPPONENTS: Missouri State - The Missouri State Bears enter Tuesday with an overall record of 13-30 and are 4-8 in the Missouri Valley after being swept at home against Bradley (L, 10-9; L, 16-9; L, 6-5) April 26-28 ... The Bears have dropped their last five contests ... Through 43 games, Missouri State is led by freshman outfielder/first baseman Dakota Kotowski (.304 avg., 18 R, 28 H, 2 2B, 9 HR, 18 RBI, .620 SLG%, 7 BB) and junior infielder Ben Whetstone (.266 avg., 26 R, 41 H, 10 2B, 5 HR, 28 RBI, .429 SLG%, 22 BB) ... On the mound the Bears are paced by junior right-hander Logan Wiley (4.02 ERA, 2-5, 62.2 IP, 71 H, 34 R, 28 ER, 12 BB, 59 SO) and sophomore right-handed closer Connor Sechler (4.03 ERA, 2-4, 3 SV, 38.0 IP, 28 H, 18 R, 17 ER, 24 BB, 45 SO) ... As a team, Missouri State is hitting .237 with a 6.97 ERA and .959 fielding percentage ... The Bears are under the direction of 37th season head coach Keith Guttin ... Kansas State - The Kansas State Wildcats enter the week at 21-24 overall and 6-9 in the Big 12 Conference after dropping two of three games against Oklahoma April 26-28 (L, 8-4; W, 5-2; L, 6-3) ... Through 45 contests, K-State is paced by sophomore outfielder/left-handed pitcher Zach Kokoska (.333 avg., 30 R, 50 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 28 RBI, .540 SLG%, 15 BB, .409 OB%, 8 SB) and junior outfielder/left-handed pitcher Will Brennan (.306 avg., 30 R, 53 H, 13 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 25 RBI, .445 SLG%, 20 BB, 9 SB) ... On the mound, the Wildcats are led by freshman left-hander Jordan Wicks (2.66 ER, 5-1, 1 CG, 67.2 IP, 60 H, 21 R, 20 ER, 16 BB 71 SO) and senior right-handed closer Mitch Zubradt (2.42 ERA, 1-1, 4 SV, 22.1 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 8 BB, 27 SO) ... As a team, the Wildcats are hitting .261 with a 5.19 ERA and .969 fielding percentage ... Kansas State is under the leadership of first season head coach Pete Hughes.
 
            BOYER GOES YARD TWICE: Redshirt senior Jordan Boyer homered twice in the Shockers' second game at Cincinnati Saturday, April 27, hitting a three-run bomb to left-center in the top of the second inning before belting a solo shot down the left field line in the top of the sixth. He's the first Shocker to go deep twice in a game since Alec Bohm had two round-trippers against USF on May 11, 2018.
 
            GOING DEEP: Four Shockers combined to hit five home runs in Wichita State's series at Cincinnati April 26-28. Jordan Boyer went deep twice, while Paxton Wallace, Luke Ritter and Hunter Gibson each homered once.
 
            RITTER NAMED FINALIST FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Luke Ritter was named as one of 10 finalists for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award which honors student-athletes who excel both on and off the field. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: character, classroom, community and competition. A native of Overland Park, Kan., Ritter was a first team all-conference honoree in The American last season, and has been named to the conference's weekly honor roll three times so far this season. Ritter has a 3.24 cumulative grade-point average as a finance major. For more information and to vote, please visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
 
            NOTABLE STREAKS: Junior Jacob Katzfey has successfully reached base in a team-best 11 consecutive games, while freshman Jack Sigrist and sophomore Garrett Kocis have reached safely in 10 straight contests ... Katzfey is on a team-high eight-game hitting streak going into Tuesday's game vs. Missouri State.
 
            NOTABLE CAREER RANKINGS: Luke Ritter ranks third in hit by pitch (33), while Jordan Boyer is tied for 10th in hit by pitch (22) ... Clayton McGinness is tied for eighth in pitching appearances (91).
 
            NOTABLE CONFERENCE RANKINGS: Luke Ritter - 9th in batting average (.344), 1st in hit by pitch (13), 5th in on-base percentage (.465), tied for 6th in doubles (13), 10th in hits (56), 7th in slugging percentage (.595), tied for 6th in homers (8); Jordan Boyer - 2nd in hit by pitch (12), 1st in sac flies (8), tied for 3rd in triples (3), 6th in batting average (.355), 9th in slugging percentage (.572); Jacob Katzfey - tied for 3rd in triples (3); Mitchell Walters - tied for 4th in saves (7); Alex Segal - tied for 6th in appearances (22); Liam Eddy - 9th in innings pitched (58.1).
 
            TURNING TWO: Through 43 games, the Shockers are tied for second in The American and rank 30th in the country in double plays turned with 37. Wichita State turned four double plays against Oklahoma State April 10 -- tying for third-most in program single-game history. Cincinnati leads the conference with 46 double plays.
 
            REACHING BASE...THE PAINFUL WAY: The Shockers lead The American and rank 36th nationally with 63 hit by pitches entering the week.
 
            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: The Shockers travel to Hartford and Storrs, Conn., for a three-game American Athletic Conference series at UConn May 3-5.
 
            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.