Baseball | 5/2/2021 5:00:00 PM
Wichita State isn't as hot as it was when it won seven of eight from Houston to open conference play. And it isn't as in the dumps as it appeared when it lost six of seven.
The Shockers regained some level ground in a streaky season by splitting a weekend series against No 8 East Carolina at Eck Stadium. They won 11-9 on Sunday with a surprise start by
Gareth Stroh – his second appearance of the season - a seven-out save by
Aaron Haase and 12 hits.
"I don't say it much, but that was a big win," coach
Eric Wedge said. "I was really impressed with the way our kids came out there today."
Splitting with the Pirates sets the Shockers (22-17, 10-9 American Athletic Conference) up for the final 12 games of the regular season with worthwhile goals. Wichita State also won 12-2 on Friday. ECU (30-9, 12-4) won 10-0 on Friday and 11-3 on Saturday.
The Shockers can finish in the top half of the conference. They can lock up a winning season. While their NCAA resume took a hit with series losses at Tulane and at Cincinnati, wins over ECU help. The rest of the American doesn't offer big NCAA resume benefits – no other team is in the top 50 – so wins over ECU are precious.
"These guys proved a lot to themselves," Wedge said. "We put ourselves in a decent position, not a good position, but we put ourselves in a decent position."
According to warrenolan.com, Wichita State's RPI ranks No. 61, which means the Shockers need to win series the rest of the way. The Shockers can highlight the wins over the Pirates (and an earlier win at Arizona) if they finish strong against UCF, USF and Memphis.
"It allows us to have a lot of momentum going into the next weekend," catcher
Ross Cadena said.
Stroh, a transfer from Nebraska, pitched an inning in the second game of the season. On Sunday, he gave up two runs in the first inning before holding the Pirates scoreless the next two innings.
"We brought Gareth here because we felt like he was going to be a starter; he's been banged up, he's been hurt," Wedge said. "It was good to see Gareth get back out there and hopefully he can solidify our rotation."
Stroh, on a pitch count, went 3 2/3 innings and allowed four hits and three runs. On getaway day, surviving qualifies as a big deal. Stroh gave the Shockers time to recover and they led 6-2 after the first inning and 9-2 entering the fourth.
The teams combined for 25 hits and five errors – three by the Pirates. WSU used five pitchers; ECU four.
"Stroh was outstanding – an older guy, knows how to compete, knows how to throw it over," Cadena said. "Then Haase slammed the door like always."
Down 2-0, Wichita State jumped on Pirates starter Carter Spivey and reliever C.J. Mayhue. Spivey walked in a run to start the rally and
Couper Cornblum singled in two more.
Seth Stroh, Gareth's younger brother, singled off Mayhue to score two runs. He scored on a single by
Andrew Stewart for a 6-2 lead.
The Shockers needed their bats to hold off the Pirates, who scored in four straight innings to cut the lead to two. In the fourth, Cornblum doubled in a run and then scored on a pickoff play, beating the third out as
Chuck Ingram delayed on the base path before he was tagged.
Haase recorded with conference-leading eighth save by holding ECU to two hits and a walk over 2 1/3 innings.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
