Missouri State (12-9, 0-0 Missouri Valley) vs. Wichita State (11-12, 0-0 American)
Tuesday, March 29 | 6:00 pm | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN Plus | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Ty Blecha (1-0, 6.23) vs. RHP Robert Cranz (0-1, 9.00)

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SCENE SETTER: The Shockers wrap up a 12-game homestand with a midweek matchup against old Missouri Valley Conference foe Missouri State, on the heels of three games against fellow MVC rival Creighton. Wichita State was able to salvage the series finale on Sunday after the Bluejays claimed the first two games of the series. The Shockers led Saturday's game 3-1 into the sixth inning and were tied 1-1 into the sixth inning on Friday, but Creighton scored a combined 15 runs from the sixth inning on over the course of the weekend. Entering play on Tuesday the Shockers have gone 6-5 through the first 11 games of the homestand, with the first road trip of conference play looming this weekend. Wichita State opened the season dropping their first six games, the worst start to a campaign since the 1953 season. The Shockers are coming off a 31-23 season a year ago, including an 18-13 mark in the American Athletic Conference that produced a third-place finish, WSU's best since joining the AAC in 2017. Wichita State is seeking their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since the 2013 season, a regional bid that was later vacated by the NCAA.

SHOCKER BASEBALL ON THE RADIO AND ESPN PLUS: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM will once again serve as the radio home for all Wichita State baseball broadcasts in 2022. "The Voice of the Shockers" and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Mike Kennedy will have the call on Tuesday, with the pregame show beginning approximately 20 minutes prior to first pitch. All WSU home games at Eck Stadium in 2022 will air live on ESPN Plus (WatchESPN.com) with former Shocker All-American pitcher Shane Dennis handling the broadcasting duties. Live audio, in addition to live statistics, will be available for all games at GoShockers.com/listen and ShockerStats.com.

SERIES HISTORY: Tuesday represents the 110th meeting all time between Wichita State and Missouri State, and the first since the 2019 season. The Shockers lead the all time series 63-46, though the Bears have won five of the last seven contests. The 2019 game on May 7th in Springfield was the first between the two programs since Wichita State joined the American Athletic Conference, and the result was a thrilling 9-4 WSU win in 10 innings. Luke Ritter hit a game-tying homer in the top of the eighth to force extras, and then the Shockers scored five times in the tenth, highlighted by a go-ahead two-run double from Paxton Wallace. The Shockers and Bears met three times in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship, with Missouri State emerging victorious in 1997 and Wichita State securing the title in 2002 and 2008. The last time the two teams met in Wichita came in April of 2016, as the Shockers took the series two games to one.

SCOUTING MISSOURI STATE: The Bears enter the weekend with a record of 12-9, all in non-conference play, after taking two of three games over the weekend at home against Nevada. Missouri State had a modest four-game winning streak snapped on Sunday with a 9-7 defeat, but have still won seven of their last nine contests. This will be the fifth midweek game of the season for the Bears, who have lost on the road to Oral Roberts and Oklahoma State and convincingly defeated Kansas twice by scores of 12-3 and 16-1. Missouri State is led by a powerful lineup that ranks 9th nationally with a .540 slugging percentage, having clubbed 50 doubles and 39 home runs already this season. Leading the way is the tandem of Dakota Kotowski and Mason Hull, who have combined for 21 long balls (Kotowski 12, Hull 9). The Bears are one of just two teams nationally with a pair of players who have nine or more homers, alongside Virginia Tech. Kansas native Ty Blecha will make his second career start on Tuesday after holding Kansas to one run over three innings on March 16 in his rotation debut. The Bears are led by legendary head coach Keith Guttin, who has amassed more than 1,300 victories over the course of 40 seasons at the helm. He ranks third among active coaches with 1,321 wins.

BRILLIANT BYE: After beginning the season operating out of the bullpen, sophomore Cameron Bye has moved into the Sunday spot in the rotation and continued his near-flawless start to the 2022 season. With six more innings in the series finale against Creighton, the native of Euless, Texas has now opened the season with 21.2 innings without allowing an earned run (two unearned). Perhaps just as impressive, Bye has surrendered just nine hits for an opponent batting average of .122. He notched a career-best six strikeouts on Sunday to pick up his second win of the season.

RUNNING MAN: Sophomore outfielder Couper Cornblum has established himself as Wichita State's primary baserunning threat. On a team that has stolen just 20 bases in 27 attempts, Cornblum is now 7-for-7 after setting a new career high on Sunday with three swipes against Creighton. For his career, the former Freshman All-American has been successful on 26 of 31 stolen base attempts.

CONTROL ARTIST: Even though he surrendered his first runs of the season on Sunday, Wichita State closer Connor Holden extended an impressive streak of command to open the season. The graduate transfer from Murray State has yet to issue a walk over the span of ten appearances covering 13.0 innings, while punching out 14.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: Junior Sawyre Thornhill saw his season-opening 19-game hitting streak come to an end in Friday's series opener against Creighton. However, Thornhill did manage to extend his on-base streak to 22 games over the weekend, drawing a walk on Friday and reaching base two times on both Saturday and Sunday.

LINEUP JUGGLING: Eric Wedge continues to tinker with the starting lineup in search of consistent production. Through 23 games, the Shockers have not used the same starters and batting order in consecutive games. Couper Cornblum has already started at seven different spots in the batting order, while three others players (Chuck Ingram, Xavier Casserilla and Ross Cadena) have starts at six different spots.

SHOCKERS IN THE RPI: Wichita State dropped to 130 in the latest RPI rankings following the series loss against Creighton, a 23-spot slip after entering the weekend at 107. Incoming opponent Missouri State enters play on Tuesday at 103. Wichita State has played Texas State (38), Oklahoma (44), Louisiana Tech (33), Oral Roberts (82) and Texas A&M (64) in the non-conference portion of the schedule, with three future matchups against Oklahoma State (24) on the way.

BIZARRE BASEBALL: Sunday's series finale against New Mexico featured one of the strangest plays in recent memory. In the fifth inning with the bases loaded, Sawyre Thornhill skied a ball over the fence in center for an apparent grand slam. However, on his trip around the bases Thornhill passed Brock Rodden at first base, who then went to the dugout instead of touching home plate. After a lengthy review, the umpires determined Thornhill was out for passing the runner, and Rodden was out for going out of the baseline. The result was a two-run single and an inning-ending double play, putting the Shockers in front by the score of 12-0. 

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: Eck Stadium, home of Tyler Field, has consistently been one of the toughest places for opponents to win in its storied history. The Shockers own an all-time home record of 1,272-381-2, including an 862-278-2 mark at Tyler Field (first season 1988). Since taking over as head coach in 2020, Eric Wedge has put together a 36-13 record at Eck, highlighted by a spotless 10-0 mark during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY: Shocker coaches Eric Wedge, Mike Pelfrey, Mike Sirianni and Director of Operations Loren Hibbs all have ties to the WSU baseball program. Wedge powered the Shockers to a national championship as the starting catcher in 1989, earning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year honors along the way. Pelfrey was an All-American starter who ranks second in program history in ERA (2.18) and strikeouts (366). Sirianni was a volunteer assistant coach for the Shockers in 2015 and 2016 before taking the head coaching position at Regis University. Hibbs helped WSU to the program's first-ever CWS appearance in 1982, and still holds the NCAA record for single-season runs scored with 125.

ON DECK: The Shockers hit the road for the first time since the opening weekend of March for a Wednesday night matchup at Kansas.