Game 1: Wichita State (19-12, 7-4 American) at Cincinnati (16-17, 5-7 American)
Friday, April 23 | 12 p.m. CT | Cincinnati, Ohio (UC Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
Game 2: Wichita State at Cincinnati
Friday, April 23 | 3 p.m. CT | Cincinnati, Ohio (UC Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
Game 3: Wichita State at Cincinnati
Saturday, April 24 | 3 p.m. CT | Cincinnati, Ohio (UC Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
Game 4: Wichita State at Cincinnati
Sunday, April 25 | 10 a.m. CT | Cincinnati, Ohio (UC Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
SCENE SETTER: Wichita State baseball (19-12, 7-4 American) will look to get back on the winning track when it travels to Cincinnati, Ohio, April 23-25 for a four-game American Athletic Conference series against the Cincinnati Bearcats (16-17, 5-7 American) at UC Baseball Stadium. The series is slated to open with a noon CT (1 p.m. ET) doubleheader Friday, April 23, before a single game at 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET) Saturday, April 24, and the series finale at 10 a.m. CT (11 a.m. ET) Sunday, April 25.
SHOCKER BASEBALL ON THE RADIO AND ESPN PLUS: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM will air the series at Cincinnati. "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 at Cincinnati will air live 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 at Cincinnati will mark meetings seven through 10 dating back to 2018. The Bearcats lead the series, 5-1. The last time the two teams met was during the 2019 season when WSU dropped three games in Cincinnati, Ohio, 5-1, 11-9 and 10-4. The Shockers lone victory against the Bearcats was a 9-1 victory in Wichita in 2018.
SHOCKER NOTES: The Shockers enter the week with an overall record of 19-12 and are 7-4 in The American after dropping three games at Tulane April 16-18 in New Orleans ... Through 31 games, WSU is paced at the plate by senior outfielder
Corrigan Bartlett (.367 avg., 26 R, 44 H, 8 2B, 2 HR, 25 RBI, 10 BB, .483 SLG%, .412 OB%, 3 SB), junior infielder
Paxton Wallace (.331 avg., 29 R, 40 H, 8 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 32 RBI, 12 BB, .587 SLG%, .391 OB%), junior outfielder
Hunter Gibson (.317 avg., 12 R, 26 H, 5 2B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, .451 SLG%, 13 BB, .429 OB%), sophomore outfielder
David VanVooren (.308 avg., 16 R, 20 H, 3 2B, 13 RBI, 8 SB) and sophomore infielder
Jack Sigrist (.302 avg., 28 R, 39 H, 7 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 13 RBI, 13 BB, .372 OB%, 11 SB) ... Bartlett (fourth) and Wallace (eighth) are both in the top-10 in the conference in batting average, while Sigrist is fourth in stolen bases ... On the mound, WSU is led by freshman RHP
Jace Kaminska (3-0, 1.07 ERA, 1 CG, 25.1 IP, 21 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 10 BB, 22 SO), junior RHP
Liam Eddy (3-5, 4.61 ERA, 56.2 IP, 54 H, 34 R, 29 ER, 12 BB, 58 SO), redshirt sophomore RHP
Ryan Stuempfig (5-0, 1.48 ERA, 24.1 IP, 16 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 14 BB, 14 SO), senior RHP
Preston Snavely (3-2, 3.83 ERA, 42.1 IP, 38 H, 21 R, 18 ER, 13 BB, 33 SO) and sophomore RHP
Aaron Haase (0-1, 1.76 ERA, 7 SV, 15.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 15 SO) ... Haase leads The American and is 11th in the country in saves, while Eddy paces the conference in innings pitched and is third in strikeouts ... As a team, Wichita State is hitting .279 (second in American) with a 4.32 ERA (third in American) and .978 fielding percentage (second in American).
SCOUTING CINCINNATI: Cincinnati enters the week at 16-17 overall and 5-7 in The American after winning three of four games at Memphis April 16-18 ... The Bearcats swept a doubleheader April 16, 10-6 and 11-3, before falling in game three April 17, 7-5, and taking the series finale April 18, 8-4 ... Through 33 games, Cincinnati is paced at the plate by junior outfielder
Paul Komistek (.390 avg., 17 R, 32 H, 5 2B, 5 HR, 25 RBI, .634 SLG%, .500 OB%, 17 BB), senior infielder
Jace Mercer (.359 avg., 23 R, 42 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 17 RBI, .564 SLG%, .465 OB%, 16 BB, 14 SB), senior infielder
Wyatt Stapp (.306 avg., 12 R, 30 H, 6 2B, 2 HR, 20 RBI, .358 OB%, 4 SB), junior infielder
Griffin Merritt (.301 avg., 27 R, 34 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 22 RBI, .558 SLG%, .391 OB%, 15 BB, 3 SB) and freshman outfielder
Cole Harting (.284 avg., 27 R, 33 H, 7 2B, 8 HR, 25 RBI, .552 SLG%, .354 OB%, 12 BB, 10 SB) ... Komistek leads The American in on-base percentage and ranks second in batting average and fourth in slugging percentage, while Mercer is third in on-base percentage and fifth in batting average ... Mercer was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll this week ... On the mound, the Bearcats are led by senior left-handers
Garrett Schoenle (3-1, 4.78 ERA, 43.1 IP, 45 H, 26 R, 23 ER, 16 BB, 58 SO) and
Dean McCarthy (2-3, 5.80 ERA, 45.0 IP, 42 H, 32 R, 29 ER, 28 BB, 45 SO), and sophomore right-hander
Zach Segal (2-3, 5.45 ERA, 2 SV, 34.2 IP, 35 H, 21 R, 21 ER, 15 BB, 26 SO) ... Schoenle was selected to The American Weekly Honor Roll this week and is tied for third in the conference in strikeouts ... Cincinnati is under the direction of fourth season head coach
Scott Googins.
SHOCKERS IN THE RPI: Wichita State enters the four-game series at Cincinnati ranked 63rd in the latest NCAA Division I Baseball RPI. The Shockers are the second-highest ranked team in The American in RPI, trailing only ECU, which checks in at sixth. Tulane is the only other American Athletic Conference team in the top-100, clocking in at 78th.
GLOVE WORK: WSU's .978 fielding percentage ranks second in the conference and is 24th-highest in NCAA Division I baseball.
RECORD BREAKER: Corrigan Bartlett set a new Wichita State single-game record with three sacrifice flies in the Shockers' suspended game at Tulane April 17-18. The previous record was two, last set by
Jordan Boyer in 2019.
RIVERFRONT MAGIC: The Shockers opened Riverfront Stadium -- the new downtown Wichita ballpark and home of the Wichita Wind Surge minor league team -- in style Saturday, April 10, rolling to a 10-1 win over Houston.
Paxton Wallace hit the first homer in the new stadium's history with a towering two-run shot to right in the bottom of the first, before
Hunter Gibson smashed the first grand slam in stadium lore in the fifth inning. On the mound,
Jace Kaminska spun the first complete game for a WSU freshman since 2009, going the full nine and allowing one earned run with a career-high seven Ks. The announced attendance of 7,509 marked the seventh-largest crowd in WSU baseball history and was the 14th-largest crowd in NCAA Division I in 2021.
CLOSING THE DOOR: Sophomore right-hander
Aaron Haase leads The American and is 11th in the latest NCAA national statistics with seven saves in 11 appearances in 2021. Haase has a 1.76 ERA and has allowed three earned runs on six hits with 15 strikeouts and one walk in 15 1/3 innings.
STEADY STUEMPFIG: Redshirt sophomore RHP
Ryan Stuempfig leads the Shockers and The American in wins on the mound this season with five. Stuempfig is 5-0 in 14 relief appearances and 24 1/3 innings pitched with a 1.48 ERA.
SCORING EARLY: The Shockers have outscored their opponents 26-13 in the first inning this season. When WSU gets on the board in the first, they are 11-3. Overall, when scoring first in games, Wichita State is 14-6.
NOTABLE STREAKS: On-Base: Jack Sigrist has reached base in 25 straight contests ...
Hitting: Hunter Gibson is on a team-best eight-game hitting streak, while
Corrigan Bartlett has a seven-game streak and Sigrist has at least one hit in his last six games.
GOING FOR THREE: Through 31 games, Wichita State leads The American and ranks 17th in the country in triples with 11.
Jack Sigrist leads the team, ranks 15th in the country and is tied for first in the conference with three, while
Couper Cornblum and
Ross Cadena are tied for fourth in The American with two triples each, and
Garrett Kocis, Chuck Ingram,
Seth Stroh and
Paxton Wallace each have one triple.
TURNING TWO: The Shockers are second in The American and 38th in the country in double plays turned with 26 in 31 games.
DON'T RUN ON ROSS: Junior catcher
Ross Cadena has thrown out seven runners attempting to steal through 31 games in 2021. He has been named to the 2021 Buster Posey Catcher of the Year Award watch list.
GETTING IT DONE ON AND OFF THE FIELD: Preston Snavely has been named a candidate for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. Snavely is 3-2 and has a 3.83 ERA in eight appearances and starts on the mound this season. He has only allowed 18 earned runs on 38 hits with 33 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings of work going into the series at Cincinnati. Snavely graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice in May 2020, with a 3.88 GPA. He currently has a perfect 4.0 GPA in his pursuit of a graduate degree in sport management. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in May, and those 10 names will be placed on the final ballot. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2021 College World Series® in June.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: The Shockers have an all-time record of 848-268-2 at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, dating back to 1988.
ON DECK: The Shockers welcome American Athletic Conference leader and preseason favorite ECU to Eck Stadium for a four-game conference series April 30 through May 2.
