Wichita State (2-3) at Oral Roberts (2-5)
Tuesday, March 2 | 3 p.m. | Tulsa, Okla. (J.L. Johnson Stadium)
TV: ORUSN
 

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SCENE SETTER: Fresh off a series victory over SIUE Feb. 26-28, the Wichita State University baseball team (2-3) is slated to travel to Tulsa, Okla., to take on perennial Summit League power Oral Roberts (2-5) in a midweek game Tuesday, March 2, at 3 p.m. at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

SHOCKER BASEBALL ON THE RADIO: KFH Radio 97.5 FM and 1240 AM will air Tuesday's contest in Tulsa. Former WSU standout pitcher (1991-94), and Pizza Hut Shockers Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis and "The Voice of the Shockers" and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Mike Kennedy will split play-by-play duties until the conclusion of the Wichita State men's basketball season. Coverage will include a pregame and postgame show.

SERIES HISTORY: Wichita State and Oral Roberts have met 67 times on the diamond dating all the way back to 1982. WSU leads the series, 37-30. The Shockers and Golden Eagles last met in 2019, with Wichita State winning in Wichita, 8-2, and in Tulsa, 4-2.

SHOCKER NOTES: Wichita State enters the week at 2-3 overall after winning two of three games against SIUE Feb. 26-28 at Eck Stadium. The Shockers won the series opener, 10-4, before falling in game two, 9-7, and winning the series finale, 7-5 ... Through five games, WSU is paced at the plate by junior infielder Paxton Wallace (.435 avg., 5 R, 10 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, .826 SLG%, .458 OB%), senior outfielder Corrigan Bartlett (.400 avg., 5 R, 8 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .600 SLG%, .455 OB%), freshman outfielder Chuck Ingram (.286 avg., 4 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, .643 SLG%) and junior infielder Garrett Kocis (.273 avg., 5 R, 6 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .636 SLG%) ... On the mound WSU is led by junior RHP Liam Eddy (1-1, 5.73 ERA, 11.0 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 15 SO), redshirt sophomore RHP Ryan Stuempfig (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO) and senior RHP Tommy Barnhouse (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 SV, 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) ... As a team, Wichita State is hitting .269 with a 6.00 ERA and .983 fielding percentage.

SCOUTING ORAL ROBERTS: The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles enter the week at 2-5 overall after dropping two of three games to South Alabama Feb. 26-27 in Tulsa, Okla. ... Through seven contests, ORU is led offensively by redshirt junior infielder Ryan Cash (.370 avg., 4 R, 10 H, 1 2B, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 2 SB), redshirt freshman infielder Caleb Denny (.321 avg., 6 R, 9 H, 1 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, .679 SLG%) and junior infielder Adam Oviedo (.308 avg., 4 R, 8 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .538 SLG%, 5 BB) ... On the mound, the Golden Eagles are paced by sophomore RHP Isaac Coffey (1-0, 1.54 ERA, 11.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 16 SO) and redshirt senior RHP Tanner Rogen (0-1, 3.37 ERA, 10.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO) ... As a team, ORU is hitting .237 with a 5.20 ERA and .971 fielding percentage ... Oral Roberts was picked to finish second in The Summit League preseason poll ... The Golden Eagles are under the leadership of 10th season head coach Ryan Folmar.

HAVE A SERIES, PAXTON: Junior infielder Paxton Wallace hit a blistering .615 with eight hits, a double, triple, two homers, 11 RBIs, a 1.308 slugging and .643 on-base percentage in the Shockers' three-game series against SIUE Feb. 26-28. In WSU's 10-4 win Feb. 26, he went a career-best 3-for-4 with two home runs and seven RBIs. The seven runs driven in were the most in a game since 2012. Wallace was named to The American Weekly Honor Roll March 1 for his performance during the week.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Freshman outfielder Chuck Ingram hit .308 with four hits -- all for extra bases -- in Wichita State's series vs. SIUE. The Kansas City, Mo., native had three doubles and one triple in 13 at bats.

GOING BACK-TO-BACK: Junior infielder Garrett Kocis and senior outfielder Corrigan Bartlett hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning of Wichita State's game against SIUE Feb. 27. It was the first time the Shockers went back-to-back since March 3, 2018 when Greyson Jenista and Alec Bohm hit back-to-back homers in the third inning vs. Nebraska.

SEE. YOU. LATER.: Wichita State hit a combined five home runs in its series against SIUE Feb. 26-28. Paxton Wallace and Garrett Kocis each had two in the series, while Corrigan Bartlett went deep once.

DON'T RUN ON ROSS: Junior catcher Ross Cadena has already thrown out two runners attempting to steal through five games in 2021. Last season, Cadena threw out five runners in 15 games.

WELCOME TO THE ICT: WSU welcomes 18 newcomers to Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, this season, including infielders Andrew Stewart (So.), Jalon Mack (Fr.), Jordan Rogers (Fr.); outfielders Chuck Ingram (Fr.), Seth Stroh (Fr.) and Corrigan Bartlett (Sr.); catchers Noah Greise (Fr.), Gage Williams (Fr.) and Cooper Harris (Fr.); right-handed pitchers Jace Kaminska (Fr.), Cameron Bye (Fr.), LJ McDonough (So.), Josh Hansell (Fr.) and Konnor Lewis (Fr.); and left-handed pitchers Spencer Hynes (R-Jr.), Christian Clack (Fr.), Gareth Stroh (Sr.) and Ryne Schooley (R-Fr.).

PRESEASON All-CONFERENCE HONORS: Freshman outfielder Couper Cornblum and junior right-hander Liam Eddy were both named to the American Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Team. Cornblum, a native of Woodway, Texas, led the Shockers at the plate in 2020 with a .354 average, while Eddy, who hails from Brighton, Colo., paced WSU on the rubber with a 1.73 ERA in 26 innings pitched.

PREVIEWING 2021: The Shockers return 21 letterwinners, including seven position players and 10 pitchers from last season's team that posted a 13-2 overall record and won its final 12 games before the 2020 season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic ... Returning starting position players include freshman outfielder Couper Cornblum (.354 avg., 4 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 12 RBI), junior outfielder Hunter Gibson (.316 avg., 4 2B, 2 HR, 17 RBI), junior catcher Ross Cadena (.271 avg., 4 2B, 6 RBI, 1.000 fld%), junior infielder Garrett Kocis (.250 avg., 3 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 14 RBI), sophomore infielder Jack Sigrist (.250 avg., 4 2B, 4 RBI, 10 BB, 9 SB), freshman infielder Cade Clemons (.238 avg., 1 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI) and senior infielder Alex Jackson (.235 avg., 2 2B, 5 RBI, 4 SB) ... On the mound, Wichita State returns its entire 2020 starting rotation in junior right-handers Liam Eddy (2-0, 1.73 ERA, 26.0 IP, 7 R, 5 ER, 22 SO, 6 BB) and Jake Hamilton (2-1, 4.26 ERA, 19.0 IP, 9 R, 9 ER, 33 SO, 9 BB), and senior right-handers Preston Snavely (2-1, 2.95 ERA, 21.1 IP, 8 R, 7 ER, 28 SO, 6 BB) and Tommy Barnhouse (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 11.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 14 SO, 2 BB) ... Returning relievers are junior right-handed closer Foster Gifford (1-0, 0.00, 4 SV, 8.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 7 SO, 1 BB), in addition to junior RHPs Aaron Bechtel (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 8.2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 9 SO, 4 BB) and Jacob Lindemann (0-0, 7.71 ERA, 2.1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB), and sophomore RHPs Connery Peters (1-0, 1.23 ERA, 7.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 9 SO, 1 BB) and Aaron Haase (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 9.1 IP, 9 R, 7 ER, 11 SO, 5 BB), as well as redshirt sophomore righty Ryan Stuempfig (1-0, 1.93 ERA, 14.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 15 SO, 7 BB) ... Last season, Eddy ranked ninth in The American in pitching with a 1.73 ERA ... Cornblum was 13th in the conference in hitting with a .354 batting average.

CORNBLUM, EDDY HONORED BY D1BASEBALL.COM: Couper Cornblum and Liam Eddy were both listed on D1Baseball.com's Preseason Power Rankings for 2021. Cornblum was 76th on the Top-100 Outfielders list while Eddy was 87th on the Top-150 Starting Pitchers list.

NOTABLE STREAKS: On-Base: Jack Sigrist has successfully reached in 29 games dating back to the 2019 season. He reached base at least once in all five of WSU's games this season.

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: The Shockers have an all-time record of 838-268-2 at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, dating back to 1988. WSU posted a perfect 10-0 record at home in 2020 before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ON DECK: The Shockers return home to host Dixie State (Utah) in a three-game series at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, March 5-7.