Wichita State (8-8) vs. Kansas State (13-6)
Tuesday, March 23 | 6 p.m. CT | Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM

---

SCENE SETTER: Wichita State baseball (8-8) is scheduled to open a four-game homestand at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, with a midweek contest against the Kansas State Wildcats (13-6) Tuesday, March 23, at 6 p.m.

SHOCKER BASEBALL ON THE RADIO AND ESPN PLUS: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM will air Tuesday's contests against the Wildcats. "The Voice of the Shockers" and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Mike Kennedy will call the action, beginning with the pregame show approximately 20 minutes prior to first pitch ... Tuesday's game will also air live on ESPN+. Former Shocker standout pitcher (1991-94) and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis will provide the play-by-play for the contest.

SERIES HISTORY: Wichita State and Kansas State have met 95 times on the baseball diamond dating all the way back to the first meeting in 1906. The Shockers lead the all-time series, 55-40, and have a 52-28 advantage since 1978. WSU and K-State met once last season, with the Shockers earning a 2-1 win at Eck Stadium Feb. 26.

SHOCKER NOTES: Wichita State enters Tuesday with and overall record of 8-8 after going 1-3 in four games in DeLand, Fla., March 19-21 ... WSU fell to FIU and Stetson March 19, 11-2 and 9-4, before defeating Stetson March 20, 11-8, and dropping a 9-2 contest to FIU March 21 ... Through 16 games, WSU is paced at the plate by senior outfielder Corrigan Bartlett (.403 avg., 16 R, 25 H, 6 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI, .597 SLG%, .449 OB%, 2 SB),  junior infielders Garrett Kocis (.339 avg., 19 R, 20 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 9 HR, 24 RBI, .898 SLG%, .385 OB%) and Paxton Wallace (.317 avg., 9 R, 20 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, .492 SLG%, .371 OB%), and sophomore infielder Jack Sigrist (.313 avg., 13 R, 20 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 6 BB, .389 OB%, 7 SB) ... Kocis leads the American Athletic Conference and ranks second in the nation in home runs ... Bartlett is second in the conference in batting average ... On the mound WSU is led by junior RHP Liam Eddy (1-3, 5.72 ERA, 28.1 IP, 35 H, 21 R, 18 ER, 5 BB, 33 SO), redshirt sophomore RHP Ryan Stuempfig (3-0, 1.50 ERA, 12.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 8 BB, 6 SO), senior RHP Preston Snavely (1-1, 5.51 ERA, 16.1 IP, 16 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 6 BB, 11 SO) and sophomore RHP Aaron Haase (0-1, 3.12 ERA, 4 SV, 8.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO) ... Haase is tied for the lead in saves in The American ... Freshman RHP Jace Kaminska (0-0, 4.15 ERA, 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 7 SO) is slated to make his first collegiate start on the mound for Wichita State Tuesday evening ... As a team, Wichita State is hitting .275 with a 6.04 ERA and .972 fielding percentage.

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE:  The Kansas State Wildcats enter the week at 13-6 overall after winning two of three games against New Mexico March 19-21 in Manhattan, Kan. ... K-State scored a combined 28 runs in the three games against the Lobos ... Through 19 contests, the Wildcats are paced at the plate by senior outfielder/LHP Dylan Phillips (.400 avg., 17 R, 28 H, 6 2B, 5 HR, 25 RBI, .700 SLG%, 11 BB, .482 OB%, 4 SB) and junior outfielder Zach Kokoska (.309 avg., 22 R, 21 H, 4 2B, 8 HR, 22 RBI, .721 SLG%, 13 BB, .435 OB%, 3 SB) ... Kokoska leads the Big 12 Conference and is fourth in the country in home runs, while Phillips is second in the conference and eighth in the nation in RBI ... On the mound, Kansas State is led by Preseason Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and Preseason All-American sophomore LHP Jordan Wicks (4-0, 1.72 ERA, 31.1 IP, 24 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 8 BB, 42 SO) and redshirt junior RHP Tyler Eckberg (1-2, 1.38 ERA, 3 SV, 13.0 IP, 14 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 12 SO) ... Wicks ranks second in the Big 12 and 15th in the country in strikeouts ... Wildcat junior RHP Zak Herbers (1-0, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO) is scheduled to make his second start of the season Tuesday evening against the Shockers ... As a team, Kansas State is hitting .280 with a 3.12 ERA (first in Big 12) and .969 fielding percentage ... K-State was picked seventh out of nine teams in the Big 12 preseason poll ... The Wildcats are under the direction of third season head coach Pete Hughes.

WEEKLY HONORS: Junior infielder Garrett Kocis was selected to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for the second time this season Monday, March 22. A native of Omaha, Neb., Kocis continued his surge at the plate, hitting .429 with six hits, including two doubles, two home runs and a triple, in the Shockers' four games in DeLand, Fla., March 19-21. He added a blistering 1.143 slugging percentage, going along with six RBI, five runs scored and a .438 on-base percentage. In WSU's 11-8 win at Stetson March 20, Kocis went a career-best 4-for-5 in the batter's box and was a homer shy of hitting for the cycle after tallying two doubles, a triple and a single in the game. He also scored three runs and batted in two in the contest.

MILESTONE WATCH: Junior catcher Ross Cadena sits at 92 career hits -- eight shy of 100 -- while junior infielder Paxton Wallace is at 94 career hits -- six away from 100 ... On the mound junior RHP Liam Eddy is just one strikeout away from 150 in his career, and senior RHP Preston Snavely sits at 141 career Ks -- nine shy of 150.

CLOSING THE DOOR: Sophomore right-hander Aaron Haase leads Wichita State and is tied for the American Athletic Conference lead with four saves in six appearances in 2021. Haase has a 3.12 ERA and has allowed three earned runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and zero walks in 8 2/3 innings.

FINDING THE GAPS: Sophomores David VanVooren and Jack Sigrist both excelled at the plate in WSU's four games in Florida March 19-21. VanVooren hit a team-high .556 with five hits in nine at bats and went 2-for-2 in stolen bases, while Sigrist hit .412 with seven knocks in 17 ABs.

FIRST LONG BALL: Freshman Chuck Ingram tallied his first collegiate home run in Wichita State's 11-8 win at Stetson March 20. The KC native hit the first pitch he saw over the right field fence in the top of the sixth inning for his inaugural round-tripper in the Black and Yellow.

NOTABLE STREAKS: On-Base: Jack Sigrist has reached base in 10 straight contests, while Garrett Kocis has successfully gotten on-base in his last eight games ... Hitting: Sigrist is on a team-high 10-game hitting streak going into Tuesday's contest against Kansas State.

GOING FOR THREE: Through 16 games, Wichita State leads The American and ranks third in the country in triples with nine. Couper Cornblum and Ross Cadena rank 16th nationally with two triples each, while Garrett Kocis, Chuck Ingram, Jack Sigrist, Seth Stroh and Paxton Wallace each have one triple.

DON'T RUN ON ROSS: Junior catcher Ross Cadena has already thrown out four runners attempting to steal through 16 games in 2021. Last season, Cadena threw out five runners in 15 games. He has been named to the 2021 Buster Posey Catcher of the Year Award watch list.

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.

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.

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.

DOWNTOWN BASEBALL: On April 10, Wichita State will open Riverfront Stadium in downtown Wichita with a conference match-up against Houston. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. It will be the first game in the new, state-of-the-art stadium that was completed in March 2020. The Wichita Wind Surge, then a Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins, were scheduled to open play in spring 2020, but the minor league season was canceled due to COVID-19. The Wind Surge, now a Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, will open at home on May 11, 2021.

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: The Shockers have an all-time record of 841-268-2 at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, dating back to 1988.

ON DECK: The Shockers close-out non-conference play with a three-game series at Eck Stadium against the Omaha Mavericks March 26-28.