Game 1: Wichita State (22-26, 6-12 American) vs. No. 8 ECU (37-11, 16-2 American)
Friday, May 10 | 6 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field)
TV: COX YurView Kansas (HD 2022)
Radio: KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM (Mike Kennedy, pxp)
Promotion: Wichita Eagle Family Day -- 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 bags of popcorn& 4 drinks for only $32!
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
Game 2: Wichita State vs. No. 8 ECU
**SENIOR DAY PRIOR TO GAME**
Saturday, May 11 | 2 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field)
TV: COX YurView Kansas (HD 2022)
Radio: KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM (Mike Kennedy, pxp)
Promotion: 50 Cent Hog Dog Day -- 50 cent hot dogs at all concession stands!
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
Game 3: Wichita State vs. No. 8 ECU
Sunday, May 12 | 1 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field)
TV: COX YurView Kansas (HD 2022)
Radio: KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM (Mike Kennedy, pxp)
Promotion: Mother's Day at Eck Stadium -- Massage therapist on the concourse for all moms in attendance & postgame yoga on Tyler Field
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
Game Notes | 2019 Fact Book | @GoShockersBSB
           SCENE SETTER: The Wichita State University baseball team (22-26, 6-12 American) will close out its 2019 home schedule with a three-game American Athletic Conference series against No. 8-ranked and conference leader ECU (37-11, 16-2 American) May 10-12 at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field. The series opener is slated for 6 p.m. Friday, May 10, with game two scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, May 11. The home and series finale is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday, May 12. Prior to Saturday's contest, the four Wichita State seniors (Jordan Boyer, Clayton McGinness, Mason O'Brien and Luke Ritter) will be honored.
Â
           MEDIA COVERAGE: TV - The three-game series against the Pirates will air live on COX YurView Kansas (HD 2022) with Pizza Hut Shockers Sports Hall of Famer and former Wichita State standout pitcher Shane Dennis calling the action ... Radio - KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM will carry the series 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 will be available at YurView.com/Kansas ... Live audio - Complimentary live audio will be available at GoShockers.com/listen ... Live stats - Live stats may be accessed at ShockerStats.com.
Â
           SERIES RECORD: The weekend series against ECU will mark meetings 5-7 in the all-time series that dates back to 1991. The series is currently tied, 2-2. Last season, Wichita State dropped two of three games to the Pirates in Greenville, N.C., winning game one, 14-3, before losing games two and three, 7-3 and 5-0.
Â
           WICHITA STATE UPDATE: The Shockers enter the weekend at 22-26 overall and 6-12 in The American after winning at Missouri State Tuesday evening in a non-conference, midweek game, 9-4 in 10 innings ... WSU is ranked 109th in the most recent NCAA RPI rankings ... Through 48 contests, Wichita State is paced at the plate by senior infielder Luke Ritter (.337 avg., 41 R, 62 H, 13 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 32 RBI, .576 SLG%, 26 BB, 13 HP, .451 OB%, 10 SB) and redshirt senior infielder Jordan Boyer (.333 avg., 31 R, 57 H, 13 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 36 RBI, .532 SLG%, 17 BB, 12 HP, .413 OB%, 8 SF, 3 SB) ... Entering the ECU series, Ritter is eighth in the conference in overall hitting ... WSU probable rotation for the series is sophomore right-hander Liam Eddy (4.90 ERA, 4-6, 64.1 IP, 64 H, 38 R, 35 ER, 25 BB, 32 SO) Friday, senior right-hander Clayton McGinness (4.88 ERA, 4-4, 51.2 IP, 62 H, 30 R, 28 ER, 20 BB, 42 SO) Saturday and freshman right-hander Connery Peters (4.58 ERA, 1-1, 35.1 IP, 32 H, 20 R, 18 ER, 26 BB, 35 SO) Sunday ... Wichita State's primary closer is junior right-hander Mitchell Walters (4.20 ERA, 2-3, 7 SV, 30.0 IP, 28 H, 17 R, 14 ER, 13 BB, 37 SO) ... As a team, the Shockers are hitting .271 with a 5.64 ERA and .966 fielding percentage.
Â
           ANALYZING THE PIRATES: The ECU Pirates enter the weekend at 37-11 overall and sit atop The American standings at 16-2 ... ECU is ranked eighth in the latest NCBWA Division I Poll, ninth in the most recent D1 Baseball Poll, and third in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, and is 9-1 in its last 10 games ... The Pirates are coming off a 9-5 victory at No. 11 North Carolina Wednesday ... Through 48 games, ECU is paced by preseason conference player of the year and All-American, junior outfielder Bryant Packard (.376 avg., 45 R, 62 H, 17 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 33 RBI, .600 SLG%, 20 BB, .454 OB%, 4 SB), sophomore first baseman/pitcher Alec Burleson (.370 avg., 26 R, 67 H, 19 2B, 6 HR, 40 RBI, .575 SLG%, 11 BB, .392 OB%, 7 SF, 3 SB) and junior first baseman Spencer Brickhouse (.351 avg., 44 R, 52 H, 9 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR, 47 RBI, .682 SLG%, 35 BB, .489 OB%) ... In overall hitting in the conference, Packard is third, Burleson is fourth and Brickhouse is seventh ... ECU's starting rotation for the series is junior left-hander Jake Agnos (2.41 ERA, 7-2, 71.0 IP, 54 H, 22 R, 19 ER, 26 BB, 108 SO) Friday, sophomore left-hander Jake Kuchmaner (2.30 ERA, 5-1, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 66.2 IP, 38 H, 19 R, 17 ER, 21 BB, 57 SO) Saturday and junior right-hander Tyler Smith (5.04 ERA, 6-0, 60.2 IP, 66 H, 37 R, 34 ER, 19 BB, 40 SO) Sunday ... Kuchmaner tossed the 28th perfect game in NCAA Division I history on March 17 at Maryland ... Kuchmaner is second and Agnos is third in the conference in overall pitching entering the weekend ... ECU's primary closers are Burleson (3.35 ERA, 5-1, 4 SV, 43.0 IP, 38 H, 16 R, 16 ER, 16 BB, 47 SO) and redshirt senior Evan Voliva (3.67 ERA, 4-3, 4 SV, 27.0 IP, 20 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 10 BB, 39 SO) ... As a team, the Pirates are hitting .294 (2nd in American) with a 3.43 ERA (1st in American) and .975 fielding percentage (3rd in American) ... ECU is under the direction of fifth season head coach Cliff Godwin.
Â
           O'BRIEN ON POINT AT THE PLATE: Redshirt senior Mason O'Brien hit a team-best .400 in the Shockers' last four games. The Owasso, Okla., native tallied four hits in 10 at bats, including a pair of solo homers in WSU's 12-5 victory in game two of a doubleheader Saturday, May 4, at UConn. O'Brien was the second Wichita State player to go yard twice in a game this season, as fellow redshirt senior Jordan Boyer accomplished the feat at Cincinnati April 27.
Â
           WALLACE DELIVERS: Sophomore Paxton Wallace delivered Wichita State's first grand slam of the season when he launched a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall in the third inning in the Shockers' win at UConn in game two of a doubleheader Saturday, May 4.
Â
           GOING DEEP: Wichita State has belted a combined six home runs in its last four games. Mason O'Brien and Paxton Wallace have each gone deep twice, while Luke Ritter and Ross Cadena have tallied one round-tripper each during the span on games. Ritter leads the team on the season with nine homers, while Wallace has eight, Hunter Gibson and Jordan Boyer each have five, O'Brien has three, Jacob Katzfey, Cadena, and Garrett Kocis each have two, and David VanVooren has one.
Â
           A TRIO OF QUALITY STARTS: All three Wichita State starting pitchers tossed at least six innings in the three-game series at UConn May 3-4. In Friday's 4-0 series opening loss to the Huskies, sophomore Liam Eddy went six innings and gave up three earned runs on six hits with four walks and two strikeouts, before senior Clayton McGinness pitched seven innings in the 2-1 setback in game one of a doubleheader Saturday. McGinness allowed only two earned runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts. In Wichita State's 12-5 triumph in game two, freshman Connery Peters threw a career-high seven innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts to earn his first collegiate victory on the mound.
Â
           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.
Â
           BOYER AMONG NATION'S BEST IN SAC FLIES: Jordan Boyer ranks third in the country in sacrifice flies going into the week with eight.
Â
           NOTABLE STREAKS: Sophomore Garrett Kocis has reached base safely in a team-best 10 straight contests ... Jordan Boyer is on a seven-game reached base safely streak.
Â
           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 eighth in pitching appearances (92).
Â
           NOTABLE CONFERENCE RANKINGS: Luke Ritter - 1st in hit by pitch (13), tied for 9th in hits (62), 10th in slugging percentage (.556) and batting average (.337), 7th in total bases (106), tied for 7th in homers (9); Jordan Boyer - 2nd in hit by pitch (12), 1st in sac flies (8), tied for 5th in triples (3); Jacob Katzfey - tied for 5th in triples (3); Mitchell Walters - tied for 4th in saves (7); Alex Segal - tied for 5th in appearances (24); Liam Eddy - 9th in innings pitched (64.1).
Â
           TURNING TWO: Through 48 games, the Shockers are tied for second in The American and rank 29th in the country in double plays turned with 41. 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 50 double plays.
Â
           REACHING BASE...THE PAINFUL WAY: The Shockers lead The American and rank 37th nationally with 69 hit by pitches entering the weekend.
Â
           UP NEXT: The Shockers play their final midweek game of the season -- a 6 p.m. contest at Oral Roberts Tuesday, May 14, in Tulsa, Okla., at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
Â
           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.
Â