WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State baseball team split a doubleheader with the No. 8-ranked East Carolina Pirates Friday, April 30, at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field, dropping game one, 10-0 in seven innings, before rolling to a 12-2, seven inning win in the nightcap.
The Shockers (21-16, 9-8 American) and Pirates (29-8, 11-3 American) are scheduled to play game three of the four-game series Saturday, May 1, at 2 p.m.
After ECU took game one with a 10-0, run-rule win in seven innings, Wichita State returned the favor in the nightcap, exploding for eight runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 12-2, walk-off run-rule victory. It marked the first time this season the Pirates have dropped a game via the run-rule.
Hunter Gibson,
Corrigan Bartlett and
Chuck Ingram all homered in the game two win, while Gibson also posted a triple and drove in a game-high four runs, and
Ross Cadena added three-hits and hit the game-winning sacrifice fly, leading the Shockers at the plate.
Freshman right-hander
Jace Kaminska improved to a perfect 5-0 on the mound in 2021 after pitching a seven-inning, complete-game – his second of the season – and allowing two earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk on 107 total pitches.
Wichita State leaped out to a 2-0 advantage in game two after Bartlett smashed a two-run homer to left-center in the bottom of the first. It was his third round-tripper of the season.
The Pirates tied the contest, 2-2, with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but the Shockers answered emphatically, scoring two in the bottom of the sixth when Gibson crushed a two-run shot to center, regaining a 4-2 lead. It was his third homer of 2021.
WSU wasn't done, as the Shockers blistered East Carolina with eight runs on eight hits in the seventh to end the game. All but one of Wichita State's runs in the inning occurred with no outs.
Bartlett drove in Cadena on an RBI single off the pitcher's foot for the opening run of the inning, prior to Gibson belting a two-RBI triple down the right field line, plating Bartlett and
Paxton Wallace, ballooning the advantage to 7-2.
Gibson crossed home plate on a Pirate passed ball for the fourth run of the inning, before Ingram provided the exclamation point of the frame, clobbering a baseball over the right field wall for a three-run homer, building the advantage to 11-2.
Cadena sent a 2-2 pitch out into to centerfield for a sac fly, scoring
Andrew Stewart from third for the final run of the inning, securing the 12-2 victory.
