Game 1: Wichita State (20-15, 8-7 American) vs. No. 8 ECU (28-7, 10-2 American)
Friday, April 30 | 1 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
Game 2: Wichita State vs. No. 8 ECU
Friday, April 30 | 6 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium)
Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
Game 3: Wichita State vs. No. 8 ECU
Saturday, May 1 | 2 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium)
Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
**1989 Night: The first 1,500 fans will receive a '89 Shockers jersey t-shirt.**
Game 4: Wichita State vs. No. 8 ECU
Sunday, May 2 | Noon | Wichita, Kan. (Eck Stadium)
Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
SCENE SETTER: The Wichita State baseball team (20-15, 8-7 American) is scheduled to welcome the eighth-ranked East Carolina Pirates (28-7, 10-2 American) to Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, for a four-game American Athletic Conference series April 30 through May 2. The series is slated to begin with a split doubleheader Friday, April 30, at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., before single games Saturday, May 1, at 2 p.m. and Sunday, May 2, at noon.
SHOCKER BASEBALL ON THE RADIO AND ESPN PLUS: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM will air the series against ECU. "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 ... Game one of the series Friday at 1 p.m. will air live on ESPN Plus with former Wichita State standout pitcher and Pizza Hut Shockers Sports Hall of Famer
Shane Dennis on the call ... 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 Pirates will mark meetings 10-13 in the all-time series that dates back to 1991. The Shockers lead the series, 5-4. The last time the two teams met was during the 2019 season, when Wichita State went 3-2 in five meetings with ECU. The Shockers dropped two of three games in Wichita against the Pirates, falling in game one, 6-1, before winning game two, 3-1, and losing the series finale, 7-3. WSU faced ECU twice in the American Athletic Conference tournament in Clearwater, Fla., winning both games, 6-2 and 12-5.
SHOCKER NOTES: The Shockers enter the week with an overall record of 20-15 and are 8-7 in The American after dropping three of four games at Cincinnati April 23-25 ... Through 35 games, WSU is paced at the plate by senior outfielder
Corrigan Bartlett (.356 avg., 29 R, 47 H, 9 2B, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 12 BB, .470 SLG%, .411 OB%, 3 SB), junior infielder
Paxton Wallace (.316 avg., 29 R, 42 H, 9 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 33 RBI, 12 BB, .556 SLG%, .373 OB%) and sophomore infielder
Jack Sigrist (.303 avg., 30 R, 44 H, 11 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 13 BB, .370 OB%, 12 SB) ... Bartlett is fifth in The American in batting average while Sigrist is tied for fifth in stolen bases and Wallace is fourth in RBI ... On the mound, WSU is led by freshman RHP
Jace Kaminska (4-0, 0.87 ERA, 1 CG, 31.0 IP, 26 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 12 BB, 28 SO), redshirt sophomore RHP
Ryan Stuempfig (5-0, 1.35 ERA, 26.2 IP, 16 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 14 BB, 14 SO), senior RHP
Preston Snavely (3-3, 3.56 ERA, 48.0 IP, 46 H, 25 R, 19 ER, 14 BB, 38 SO) and sophomore RHP
Aaron Haase (0-1, 1.56 ERA, 7 SV, 17.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 18 SO) ... Haase leads The American and is 12th in the country in saves ... As a team, Wichita State is hitting .271 (fourth in American) with a 4.47 ERA (third in American) and .976 fielding percentage (tied for second in American).
SCOUTING ECU: The East Carolina Pirates enter the week at 28-7 overall and 10-2 in The American after splitting a four-game series with UCF April 23-25 in Greenville, N.C., winning 4-2 and 11-8 and losing 10-5 and 6-1 ... ECU was picked to win The American in the conference's preseason coaches' poll, and is ranked as high as eighth (Baseball America) in the various NCAA Division I baseball polls ... Through 35 games, the Pirates are paced by sophomore infielder
Connor Norby (.428 avg., 36 R, 62 H, 9 2B, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 14 BB, .697 SLG%, .475 OB%, 8 SB), sophomore infielder/outfielder
Thomas Francisco (.392 avg., 36 R, 56 H, 6 2B, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 13 BB, .559 SLG%, .450 OB%, 1 SB) and junior catcher
Seth Caddell (.283 avg., 26 R, 34 H, 6 2B, 10 HR, 34 RBI, 19 BB, .583 SLG%, .375 OB%) ... Norby leads the conference in batting average, slugging percentage and hits, while Francisco is third in batting average and on-base percentage ... On the mound, East Carolina is led by junior RHP
Gavin Williams (5-0, 1.19 ERA, 1 SV, 37.2 IP, 21 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 12 BB, 61 SO), freshman LHP
Carson Whisenhunt (4-0, 3.22 ERA, 36.1 IP, 29 H, 14 R, 13 ER, 10 BB, 51 SO), junior LHP
Jake Kuchmaner (2-1, 5.36 ERA, 42.0 IP, 55 H, 27 R, 25 ER, 5 BB, 33 SO) and freshman LHP
C.J. Mayhue (2-1, 3.48 ERA, 6 SV, 31.0 IP, 25 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 9 BB, 47 SO) ... Williams leads The American and is fourth in the country in ERA, while Mayhue is second in the conference in saves ... ECU leads the conference in batting average (.304) and fielding percentage (.978), and ranks second in ERA (3.67) ... The Pirates are under the direction of seventh season head coach
Cliff Godwin.
DOUBLES LEADER: Jack Sigrist leads the team and is tied for second in The American with 11 doubles on the season. In WSU's four-game series at Cincinnati last weekend, Sigrist tallied four doubles in 16 at bats.
SHOCKERS IN THE RPI: Wichita State enters the four-game series against ECU ranked 75th in the latest NCAA Division I Baseball RPI. The Shockers are the third-highest ranked team in The American in RPI, trailing only the Pirates (12th) and Tulane (62nd). UCF (91st) and Cincinnati (99th) round out the AAC teams in the top-100.
GLOVE WORK: WSU's .976 fielding percentage is tied for second in the conference and is 37th-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 12th in the latest NCAA national statistics with seven saves in 13 appearances in 2021. Haase has a 1.56 ERA and has allowed three earned runs on seven hits with 18 strikeouts and one walk in 17 1/3 innings. He has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List.
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 16 relief appearances and 26 2/3 innings pitched with a 1.35 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 29 straight contests, while
Corrigan Bartlett has reached in 11 consecutive games, and
Couper Cornblum has reached in eight straight.
GOING FOR THREE: Through 35 games, Wichita State leads The American and ranks 27th in the country in triples with 11.
Jack Sigrist leads the team, ranks 30th in the country and is tied for first in the conference with three, while
Couper Cornblum and
Ross Cadena are tied for fifth 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 45th in the country in double plays turned with 28 in 35 games.
DON'T RUN ON ROSS: Junior catcher
Ross Cadena has thrown out seven runners attempting to steal through 35 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 3-3 and has a 3.56 ERA in nine appearances and starts on the mound this season. He has only allowed 19 earned runs on 46 hits with 38 strikeouts in 48 innings of work going into the series against ECU. 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: Wichita State travels to UCF for a four-game conference series May 7-9 in Orlando, Fla.
