The RoundHouse | 2/28/2021 5:07:00 PM

 

 
Wichita State last played a home game in 2019 before this weekend. Bailey Lange had not played a game in Wilkins Stadium since 2018, way back when the American Athletic Conference was a new thing.
 
Lange, a senior pitcher, used the sweep of Creighton to refresh the memory of fans who last saw her throw a three-hit shutout of UCF on April 22, 2018. 
 
On Saturday, she held the Bluejays to one hit in a 13-3 win in five innings. She matched that on Sunday when the Shockers won a 4-0 decision with pitching and defense. Lange limited Creighton to four hits, struck out eight and walked one. She made two strong defensive plays that showcased her agility, one a fourth-inning double play that snuffed out Creighton's final threat.
 
"She looks really good compared to 2018, if not better," catcher Madison Perrigan said. "Bailey's goal is to get a batter out in three pitches. To get ahead early in the count, first pitch."
 
The Bailey Lange of 2018, of course, was a big deal. She earned all-conference honors with a 2.90 earned run average and a 20-13 record, while hitting .285 with seven home runs. She threw two complete-game wins over Oklahoma State in the NCAA regional play.
 
A leg injury, eight games into 2019, ended that season. Her pitching declined in the abbreviated 2020 season, largely due to mechanical issues.
 
So far, the Lange of 2021 is in good form. In three starts, she is 3-0 with a 0.97 ERA, 25 strikeouts and four walks for the Shockers (5-2).
 
"It feels similar (to 2018)," she said. "Last year, I a couple of struggles with crow-hopping and stuff, so I think I worked on that a lot. It's just the confidence of getting in there and throwing strikes and staying ahead of batters."
 
On Sunday, Lange threw 89 pitches to shut out the Bluejays (0-3) on a day the wind blowing in kept fly balls in play. She walked the third batter and didn't get to another three-ball count until the seventh inning. She used her fastball early in the count and changed speeds expertly, often using her changeup to finish off hitters.
 
"We noticed yesterday they were up in the box and then with two strikes they would go all the way in the back of the box," Lange said. "So, if we were ahead at all we would go with the changeup."
 
Some of the pitch selection is at Lange's urging. Coach Kristi Bredbenner calls pitches and she is happy to change if the pitcher feels confident.
 
"That's that own-it mentality, where she is throwing what she wants to throw and there's a lot of buy-in behind it," Bredbenner said. "I want them to shake. I want them to be 100-percent behind it, because they're going to have much more success that way."
 
Creighton lost a run in the second inning when a runner left first base early to remove an RBI. In the third, Lange gave up a leadoff double. She recovered for a strikeout, groundout and a strikeout. 
 
In the fourth, the Bluejays put runners on second and third with one out. Sam Alm popped up a bunt attempt and Lange sprang off the mound to catch the ball, spin and throw out the runner trying to get back to third base.
 
"That was a fun play," Lange said. "They squeeze a lot, so I threw a rise ball. Obviously, the person on third was going to run, so I knew right away to throw it to third."
 
Lange retired the Bluejays in order in the fifth and sixth before working around a leadoff single in the seventh to cap a solid weekend for the Shocker pitchers. Erin McDonald struck out six, didn't walk a batter and scattered seven hits in Saturday's 14-2 win in five innings. She is 2-1 with a 4.85 ERA, 19 strikeouts and two walks – numbers skewed by a tough outing in an 8-0 loss to No. 7 Texas.
 
"All the pitchers are really relaxed this year and that's helpful," Lange said. "We all have the same mindset, to go in there and attack because we have a really good lineup."
 
The Shockers entered the season full of confidence in their lineup and optimistic the pitching could bounce back from 2020. With a rejuvenated Lange, that goal seems realistic. 
 
"She knows how to compete and she knows what she needs to do to win ballgames," Bredbenner said. "She's had some decent at-bats at the plate that I think will help her in the long run get comfortable there, but her main focus for us this year in this circle."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.