Shockers Begin Conference Play with Four at Houston

3/31/2021 11:08:00 AM

SCENE SETTER: Wichita State baseball (12-8, 0-0 American) is scheduled to begin American Athletic Conference play with eight consecutive games against the Houston Cougars (12-11, 0-0 American), starting with a four-game series at Schroeder Park in Houston, Texas, April 1-3. The Shockers and Cougars will open the four-game series with a 6:30 p.m. contest Thursday, April 1, before playing a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Friday, April 2, and wrapping up the series with a 12 p.m. contest Saturday, April 3.

SHOCKER BASEBALL ON THE RADIO AND ESPN PLUS: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM will air the series at Houston. "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 ... All four games of the series against the Cougars will air on ESPN Plus ... Live audio, in addition to live statistics will be available for all games at GoShockers.com/listen and ShockerStats.com.

SERIES HISTORY: The four-game series against the Cougars in Houston will mark meetings 44-47 in the all-time series that dates back to 1951. Houston leads the series, 31-12. The last time WSU and Houston met was in Wichita during the 2019 season, with the Cougars sweeping the Shockers in a three-game series at Eck Stadium, 13-5, 7-3 and 7-4. Wichita State has not defeated Houston since a 2-1 win in the 2006 NCAA Norman Regional, but has only faced the Cougars six times since then. Second season WSU head coach Eric Wedge and his staff will take on Houston for the first time, as American action did not happen in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SHOCKER NOTES: Wichita State enters the week at 12-8 overall and winners of four straight games after sweeping the Omaha Mavericks in a three-game series March 26-28 at Eck Stadium ... Through 20 games, WSU is paced at the plate by senior outfielder Corrigan Bartlett (.408 avg., 21 R, 31 H, 7 2B, 2 HR, 17 RBI, .579 SLG%, .465 OB%, 2 SB), junior infielders Paxton Wallace (.346 avg., 16 R, 28 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 24 RBI, .568 SLG%, .393 OB%) and Garrett Kocis (.315 avg., 23 R, 23 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR, 28 RBI, .836 SLG%, .378 OB%), and sophomore infielder Jack Sigrist (.329 avg., 19 R, 26 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 7 BB, .393 OB%, 7 SB) ... Kocis leads the American Athletic Conference and ranks third 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 (2-3, 5.60 ERA, 35.1 IP, 40 H, 25 R, 22 ER, 6 BB, 38 SO), redshirt sophomore RHP Ryan Stuempfig (3-0, 1.08 ERA, 16.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 10 BB, 12 SO), senior RHP Preston Snavely (2-1, 3.80 ERA, 23.2 IP, 23 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 6 BB, 16 SO) and sophomore RHP Aaron Haase (0-1, 2.45 ERA, 5 SV, 11.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO) ... Haase leads The American and is ninth in the country in saves ... As a team, Wichita State is hitting .286 (second in American) with a 5.11 ERA (fifth in American) and .977 fielding percentage (third in American).

SCOUTING HOUSTON: The Houston Cougars enter the week at 12-11 overall after splitting a four-game series against UT Arlington March 26-28 in Houston, winning game one, 4-1, dropping games two and three, 12-7 and 8-7, before winning the series finale, 5-4 in 10 innings ... Through 23 games, the Cougars are paced offensively by senior outfielder Tyler Bielamowicz (.361 avg., 16 R, 26 H, 3 2B, 5 HR, 16 RBI, .611 SLG%, 6 BB, .427 OB%, 2 SB), junior first baseman Ryan Hernandez (.333 avg., 13 R, 26 H, 3 2B, 7 HR, 18 RBI, .641 SLG%, 7 BB), freshman third baseman/catcher WIll Pendergrass (.311 avg., 15 R, 23 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, .527 SLG%, 4 BB, .370 OB5, 1 SB) and junior outfielder Steven Rivas (.307 avg., 18 R, 27 H, 6 2B, 9 HR, 25 RBI, .682 SLG%, 8 BB, .371 OB%, 4 SB) ... Rivas is second in The American and seventh in the nation on homers ... On the mound, Houston is paced by junior LHP Robert Gasser (3-2, 2.00 ERA, 36.0 IP, 24 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 10 BB, 45 SO), sophomore RHP Jacob Deese (2-1, 4.32 ERA, 1 SV, 25.0 IP, 31 H, 12 R, 12 ER, 8 BB, 20 SO) and sophomore RHP Derrick Cherry (1-1, 1.02 ERA, 2 SV, 17.2 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 9 BB, 23 SO) ... Gasser is second in the conference in strikeouts ... As a team, the Cougars are hitting .267 (fifth in American) with a 5.81 ERA (seventh in American) and .979 fielding percentage (first in American) ... Houston is under the direction of 11th season head coach Todd Whitting.

WEEKLY HONORS: Junior infielder Paxton Wallace was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week for his performance on the diamond the week of March 22-28. Wallace hit .444 with eight hits, including a double and two homers, and drove in an American Athletic Conference-high eight runs in the Shockers' four victories during the week of March 22-28. In Wichita State's 14-5 win over Omaha Friday, March 26, he went a season-best 3-for-5 with a double, two home runs and five RBI. Wallace went deep for a two-run shot in the first inning, before belting a solo homer in the eighth ... Senior RHP Preston Snavely garnered Weekly Honor Roll accolades after tossing a career-high 7 1/3 scoreless innings in the 9-0 shutout win against the Omaha Saturday, March 27. He didn't walk anyone while striking out five on 101 total pitches, improving to 2-1 on the mound this season.

SEE YOU LATER: The Shockers hit five home runs in their 14-5 series-opening victory over Omaha March 26. Paxton Wallace went deep twice, while Jack Sigrist, Garrett Kocis and Hunter Gibson also went yard in the contest. It was Sigrist's first-career home run.

TWO-HITTER: The Wichita State pitching staff of Spencer Hynes, Ryan Stuempfig, Foster Gifford and Aaron Haase teamed up the throw WSU's first two-hitter since 2018 in the 11-1 win over Omaha March 28. Hynes tossed five innings and allowed just one hit while striking out seven, before Stuempfig entered and threw a pair of innings, giving up one hit while tallying a strikeout. Gifford and Haase each tossed hitless innings to secure the two-hitter for the Shockers.

MILESTONE WATCH: Junior catcher Ross Cadena sits at 96 career hits -- four shy of 100 -- while junior infielder Paxton Wallace picked up his 100th career hit in WSU's 9-0 win over Omaha March 7. He stands at 102 hits going into the week ... On the mound junior RHP Liam Eddy notched his 150th career strikeout in the Shockers' 14-5 triumph vs. Omaha March 26. Going into the Houston series, he is at 154 Ks, and senior RHP Preston Snavely sits at 146 career Ks -- four shy of 150.

CLOSING THE DOOR: Sophomore right-hander Aaron Haase leads The American and is ninth in the latest NCAA national statistics with five saves in eight appearances in 2021. Haase has a 2.45 ERA and has allowed three earned runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk in 11 innings.

NOTABLE STREAKS: On-Base: Jack Sigrist has reached base in 14 straight contests, while Garrett Kocis has successfully gotten on-base in his last 12 games and Paxton Wallace has reached in his last nine contests ... Hitting: Sigrist is on a team-high 14-game hitting streak going into the series at Houston.

FIRST START; FIRST "W": Freshman RHP Jace Kaminska earned his first collegiate win on the mound in the Shockers' 5-1 victory over K-State March 23. Kaminska tossed five innings and allowed one unearned run on just three hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts.

GOING FOR THREE: Through 20 games, Wichita State leads The American and ranks 14th in the country in triples with nine. Couper Cornblum and Ross Cadena rank 29th 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 20 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.

TURNING TWO: The Shockers are third in The American and 26th in the country in double plays turned with 17 in 20 games.

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. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at www.WindSurge.com.

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: The Shockers have an all-time record of 845-268-2 at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, dating back to 1988.

ON DECK: The Shockers host Houston in a four-game American Athletic Conference series in Wichita April 9-11. The teams will play a split doubleheader to open the series Friday, April 9, at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Eck Stadium, prior to facing each other at Riverfront Stadium in downtown Wichita Saturday, April 10, at 2 p.m. and returning to Eck Stadium for the series finale at 11 a.m. Sunday, April 11.

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Shockers Begin Conference Play with Four at Houston