The RoundHouse | 3/7/2020 6:55:00 PM

 
The Right Field Crew is cooking on Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium – the grill is filled with brats and burgers. Brian DeWitt wants you to know you're invited to join the crew for the next game.
 
"Bring food and we'll cook it," DeWitt said. "We can't take money."
 
There is, among the Crew and other fans, a feeling that Wichita State baseball is worth planning a menu for, worth paying attention to and worth investing in again.
 
"It's a different attitude, hustle," DeWitt said. "Bringing back the Wichita tradition. It's a good time out here."
 
Wichita State outfielder Jacob Katzfey's father donated the grill before the season and Saturdays are known unofficially as Parent's Day because Shocker moms and dads often join them. Steve Sigrist, father of second baseman Jack, watched Saturday's game with the Right Field Crew before moving to the upper deck for the later innings.
 
The black grill is filled with trays of food. The Right Field Crew – a group of around eight organized by DeWitt and Nick Jerschow – and other fans gather nearby and listen to Mike Kennedy on the radio. Some stand. Others sit in folding chairs, some under blankets, on the grassy slope behind the visiting bullpen. Three Shocker flags fly from the fence behind them. 
 
"Mostly brats, but we do burger day," DeWitt said. "I think next week the parents are doing chicken for the Nebraska series. We all barbecue and have a good time."
 
The Right Field Crew is filled with long-time Shocker fans and they stuck with the team as the victories declined and attendance slipped. On Saturday, Wichita State defeated Louisiana Tech 5-3 to win their 11^thstraight game and the good times the crew remembers don't seem impossibly far away when the Shockers are rolling and Eric Wedge is the coach. 
 
Wedge would be the first to throw up a stop sign on too much celebrating of the 12-2 record. After the game, he drops "day by day" references to the media, in case his team is listening and needs to hear that message again. It is early. The schedule gets tougher soon. The Shockers are a long way from being where they want to be.

The longest win streak since 2008 (19 games) can't be dismissed, 
 
On Saturday, the Shockers committed two errors and allowed a pop fly to drop in between three defenders. They trailed 3-2 after a walk and an error led to a three-run home run by Louisiana Tech's Parker Bates in the sixth inning.
 
"We didn't play particularly good baseball today, but we found a way to win," Wedge said. "The resiliency side of things has always been important to me. When the momentum changes late in the ball-game, they hit that three-run homer, you've got to find a way to overcome that. Our kids did."
 
Saturday's attendance of 2,113 isn't worth mentioning in the context of vintage Eck Stadium. It did provide a hopeful sign that reasonable weather and a win streak can bring people back. 
 
"Eric Wedge has a lot to do with the fans being back," said Austin Crutcher, who started coming to games around 18 years ago. "Seems like Wichita State is getting back. It's very encouraging so far, especially seeing the pitching where it is."
 
Those fans remember Omaha, the 2007 super regional, when staking out territory with a blanket on the hill required arriving an hour before first pitch and a Wednesday night against Oklahoma State meant 6,000 or more.
 
"All the kids everywhere," said Sherry Endecott, who started to coming to games when current pitching coach Mike Pelfrey pitched from 2003-05. "They would play "Cotton Eye Joe" and people would get up on the sidewalk and dance. It's just like the basketball games – when the fans get all excited, it's really exciting."
 
Gene Brown remembers coming to games with his father when Wichita State restarted baseball in 1978 with coach Gene Stephenson. He is season-ticket holder who watched this season on TV before Saturday's weather enticed him back to Eck Stadium.
 
"I like everything I see," Brown said. "We just want some better weather – that's all we need."
 
The way the Shockers are winning raises hope among the fans in a way that goes beyond simply winning. The Shockers are pitching – 10.5 strikeouts a game and a 2.61 earned run average after Saturday's win. They've committed 13 errors and haven't committed more than two in a game.
 
It is a clean, crisp brand of baseball that reminds fans of when the Shockers excelled with a strong weekend rotation, speedy outfield defense and reliable double-play combinations. 
 
"They're playing great defense, and the pitching staff is wonderful," said long-time fan Vic Heckart. "I like the way the coach is handling the kids – they always know what they're doing." 
 
On Saturday, the Shockers scored two runs in the seventh off good base-running and a sacrifice fly to take a 4-3 lead. They added another run in the eighth on a sac fly. Hunter Gibson's two-run home run in the fourth inning gave the Shockers a 2-0 lead.
 
That performance sums up their well-rounded offense that isn't dominant at any one aspect, but can dial up different pluses at different times. 
 
"I like the way they play," said Terry Endecott, Sherry's husband. "They don't just try to hit home runs. They'll bunt when they need to. Steal when they need to. Wedge is real smart – I watched him in the majors when he managed the Cleveland Indians. He'll get them to do the right things."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.