HOUSTON, Texas – Jack Sigrist hit a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the ninth inning, and Ryan Stuempfig threw two hitless innings in relief, helping Wichita State baseball turn back the Houston Cougars, 3-2, in the series finale of a four-game American Athletic Conference series Saturday, April 3, at Schroeder Park. 
 
With the win, the Shockers (15-9, 3-1 American) take the series from the Cougars (13-14, 1-3 American), three games to one. It's the first series win over Houston since WSU joined The American in 2018. 
 
With the game tied, 2-2, and two outs in the top of the ninth, Sigrist connected on a 0-1 pitch, smacking a single through the right side, allowing Seth Stroh to cross home plate and puttting Wichita State in front, 3-2. 
 
Houston attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth after Cougar third baseman Brad Burckel reached on a one-out fielding error, but Ross Cadena threw out Burckel, who was attempting to steal second base, then Garrett Kocis hauled in a foul ball at first for the final out of the game, securing the victory for the Shockers. 
 
Sigrist had what proved to be the game-winning hit, while Paxton Wallace went 2-for-3 at the plate and hit the game-tying homer, leading WSU offensively in the game.
 
Stuempfig earned the win to improve to a team-best 5-0 on the mound in 2021 after tossing two hitless innings in relief. Shocker starter Spencer Hynes didn't factor into the decision, but threw a season-best seven innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with one strikeout. 
 
The Cougars scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to gain a 2-0 lead, before Wichita State trimmed the lead in half, making it 2-1 after Kocis worked a bases loaded walk in the third, plating Stroh. 
 
Houston maintained its one-run edge until the top of the sixth when Wallace crushed a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall for a leadoff home run, knotting the game, 2-2. It was his second round-tripper of the series and sixth of the season. 
 
Will Pendergrass drove in both of the Cougars' runs on a homer, pacing Houston at the plate in the contest.
 
Cougar reliever Derrick Cherry (1-2) suffered the loss after surrendering the go-ahead run in the ninth and allowing two hits with a strikeout and two walks in two innings. 

Wichita State and Houston are scheduled to play a four-game conference series in Wichita, Kan., April 9-11. The Shockers and Cougars are slated to play a split doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Friday, April 9, at Eck Stadium to open the series, before playing a 2 p.m. game at Riverfront Stadium in downtown Wichita Saturday, April 10, and wrapping up the series with an 11 a.m. contest back at Eck Stadium Sunday, April 11.