South Dakota State (3-8, 0-0 Summit) vs. Wichita State (6-7, 0-0 American)
Friday, March 11 | 3:00 pm | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN Plus | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Nic McCay (0-1, 9.75) vs. RHP Jace Kaminska (0-0, 6.43)

South Dakota State (3-8, 0-0 Summit) vs. Wichita State (6-7, 0-0 American)
Saturday, March 12 | 2:00 pm | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN Plus | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Cody Carlson (1-2, 5.40) vs. LHP Payton Tolle (2-0, 0.93)

South Dakota State (3-8, 0-0 Summit) vs. Wichita State (6-7, 0-0 American)
Sunday, March 13 | 1:00 pm | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN Plus | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Drew Beazley (0-1, 13.50) vs. TBA

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SCENE SETTER: The Shockers host the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State in the first weekend series of the season at Eck Stadium, scheduled for three games Friday through Sunday. Wichita State began the 2022 campaign with 12 games on the road before hanging on to defeat Oral Roberts on Tuesday in the home opener. Three-hit games from Will Stark and Andrew Stewart paced a season-best 14-hit attack, as the Shockers snapped ORU's eight-game winning streak with a 6-4 victory. Wichita State opened the season dropping their first six games, the worst start to a campaign since the 1953 season, but have since won six of their last seven. 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. Former Shocker All-American pitcher Shane Dennis will have the call of this weekend, with "The Voice of the Shockers" and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Mike Kennedy rejoining the team later in the season following the conclusion of the men's basketball season. Pregame show begins 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 Steve Strain 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 Shockers and Jackrabbits have met six times on the diamond, with WSU winning all six home contests by a combined score of 96-16. Wichita State blanked SDSU 10-0 in the last meeting on May 9, 2018, holding the Jackrabbits to just four hits. Current Shockers Ross Cadena and Garrett Kocis both appeared in the game for Wichita State, with Cadena recording a double and two RBI. The other five meetings all came in 1981, when the Shockers won by scores of 18-8, 29-4, 8-2, 18-0, and 13-2. Wichita State drew 18 walks in the second meeting, the third-most bases on balls in a single game in program history.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: The Jackrabbits enter the weekend with a record of 3-8, having dropped four games in Sugar Land, Texas to Purdue, two of three games to Incarnate Word, and two of three to Central Arkansas. South Dakota State will not play their first home game until April 5, beginning the season with 26 consecutive games away from Brookings. The Jackrabbits were picked fourth in the newly reorganized Summit League, which added Northern Colorado and St. Thomas to bring the league's membership to seven teams. SDSU finished the 2021 season 15-32 (9-19), falling twice to Oral Roberts in the Summit League tournament. This season, South Dakota State is hitting .224 as a team, with 112 strikeouts in 366 at-bats (one every 3.3 at-bats). Senior Derek Hackman is hitting .424 with a team-leading 13 RBI and a team-best nine walks. Jackrabbits pitchers have compiled a 5.93 ERA through the first 11 games; despite holding opponents to less than a hit per inning pitched, SDSU has hit 21 batters, thrown 14 wild pitches and committed eight balks. Friday starter Nic McCay was a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American in 2019, but missed all of 2020 and 2021 due to injury. Head Coach Rob Bishop is in his sixth season at the helm of the Jackrabbits, having racked up a record of 95-130 during his time in Brookings. Bishop won 377 games at Miles City Community College and also spent six season at Montana State-Billings. Assistant Coach Brian Grunzke faced the Shockers as an assistant with Northern Iowa in 2009, and Pitching Coach Kirk Clark played at Creighton.

WELCOME TO THE LINEUP: Freshman outfielder Will Stark made the most of his first collegiate start on Tuesday against Oral Roberts, recording a hit in each of his first three at-bats before finishing the day 3-for-4. Stark had previously come off the bench in three games, but notched his first hits and RBI with run-scoring singles in the second and sixth innings, in addition to a highlight-reel tumbling catch in deep left field to end the seventh.

TWO-HIT TOLLE: While his exploits on the mound are well-chronicled, two-way freshman Payton Tolle has surged at the plate. The newcomer from Yukon, Oklahoma has picked up two hits in each of his last four games, and homered for a second straight contest with a solo blast to center on Tuesday against Oral Roberts. For the season, Tolle is now slashing .375/.444/.708.

YOU SAY GOOD BYE, AND I SAY I AGREE: Making his first collegiate start against ORU, sophomore Cameron Bye responded with three strong innings, allowing just a single unearned run on two hits. Bye has now started the season with 9.1 innings without surrendering an earned run, picking up ten strikeouts along the way.

RUNNING WILD: Both Wichita State and South Dakota State have struggled to limit opponents on the basepaths through the first two weeks of the season. Opponents are 24-for-28 in stolen bases attempts against the Shockers, while the Jackrabbits have allowed 35 successful steals in 37 attempts. On the flip side of the coin, the two teams have combined for just 15 stolen bases of their own (eight for WSU, seven for SDSU).

MVPAYTON: Shocker freshman Payton Tolle impressed in all facets of the game in Frisco, earning Frisco Classic MVP honors after a weekend in which he recorded two multi-hit games and went seven strong innings on the mound in a victory over Washington State. Tolle provided arguably the two biggest hits of the weekend for the Shockers, slicing an opposite-field, game-tying three-run double against Iowa on Friday to help erase a 4-0 deficit, and then connecting for his first collegiate home run in the seventh inning against Texas A&M to give WSU their first lead of the game. He was named to the Frisco Classic All-Tournament team as both Starting Pitcher and Designated Hitter, and selected to the American Weekly Honor Roll for his efforts.

HIT PARADE: Junior college transfer Sawyre Thornhill has recorded at least one hit in each of his first 12 games with the Shockers, extending the streak with a third-inning single on Sunday against Texas A&M. He was selected to the Frisco Classic All-Tournament team as an outfielder, joining Payton Tolle on the squad. Thornhill leads qualified WSU hitters in batting average (.354), hits (17), doubles (4), RBI (11) and is tied for the team lead in home runs (3).

TAKE A WALK: Outfielder Chuck Ingram reversed several trends over the weekend in Frisco. Heading into Saturday's game against Washington State, Ingram had not drawn a walk in 2022 and had never drawn two walks in a single game. He then proceeded to draw two walks in back-to-back games, adding three hits and three RBI for good measure. The sophomore from Kansas City finished the weekend 4-for-9.

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 1,267-376-2, including an 857-273-2 mark at Tyler Field (first season 1988). Since taking over as head coach in 2020, Eric Wedge has put together a 31-8 record at Eck, highlighted by a spotless 10-0 mark during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

HOLDEN IT DOWN: Grad transfer Connor Holden has solidified the back end of the Wichita State bullpen. Through six scoreless appearances as the Shocker closer, Holden has allowed just six baserunners on four hits and a pair of hit by pitches. Of the four saves that Holden has snagged, he has had to pitch around a runner at second with less than two outs in three of them, including Tuesday when he struck out the side following a leadoff double. The native of Louisville, Kentucky was 5-1 with a 4.43 ERA and nine saves in four years at Murray State.

TRANSFER TRACKER: The Shockers added 12 transfers to the 2022 roster, including six from Division-I programs. RHP Connor Holden (Murray State),  LHP Austin Wallace (Texas), LHP Adam Ketelsen (Iowa), INF Will Carpenter (Penn State), RHP Matt Boyer (Saint Louis) and RHP Grayson Jones (James Madison) all make their way to Wichita for 2022.

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 do not play a midweek game for the first time this season, instead continuing the homestand with three games next weekend vs. New Mexico.