UCF (21-16, 5-4) vs. Wichita State (13-24, 2-7 American)
Friday, April 22Â | 6:00Â pm |Â Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN Plus | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Cameron Crain (1-0, 1.52) vs. RHP Jace Kaminska (2-4, 4.68)
Saturday, April 23Â | 2:00Â pm |Â Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN Plus | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
TBA vs. RHP Cameron Bye (3-1, 0.61)
Sunday, April 24Â | 12:00Â pm |Â Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN Plus | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
TBA vs. LHP Payton Tolle (2-4, 3.57)
SCENE SETTER: Wichita State returns to American Athletic Conference action with a three-game series against UCF beginning Friday night. Following a Tuesday night defeat on the road at Oklahoma, the Shockers have lost 11 of the last 12 games, and have not scored more than five runs in a game since the series finale against Creighton on March 27. WSU carried a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning on Tuesday night, but the Sooners scored seven times in the inning to erase the deficit. Wichita State has suffered five consecutive home defeats, the longest such stretch for the WSU program since the 1970 club dropped seven straight games at home. 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 over the weekend, 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: The Shockers and Knights have played ten games in the all-time series, with Wichita State holding a 6-4 lead. WSU won the last three games of the series in 2021, including an 11-1 run-rule victory in the second game of a doubleheader on May 7. All ten games have taken place since Wichita State joined the American Athletic Conference in 2017, and the first eight matchups alternated wins and losses. Only one series between the two programs has been played in Wichita, a three-gamer in 2019 where the Shockers claimed two of three.
SCOUTING UCF: The Knights bring a 21-16 overall record to Wichita, including a 5-4 mark in American Athletic Conference play. UCF opened the season at 7-1, but have gone 14-15 since, including a current four-game losing streak. East Carolina swept the Knights last weekend, and then Jacksonville picked up a 9-2 win on Tuesday. Even with the recent struggles, UCF still boasts the league's best pitching staff, with a combined team ERA of 3.45, more than half a run better than the next-closest team. Knights hurlers have allowed the second-fewest hits (279) and have recorded the second-most strikeouts (348) on the circuit. Right-hander Connor Staine was leading the nation with a 0.00 ERA before allowing four earned runs in his last start against East Carolina. Friday starter Cameron Crain is one of 11 pitchers on the staff averaging better than one strikeout per inning. Offensively, the Knights are the AAC's most prolific base stealing club, with 74 swipes in 87 attempts. Gephry Pena has stolen 20 bases, and three other individuals are also in double figures. UCF carries a .276 team batting average into play on Friday, with 34 home runs. Six different players have clubbed exactly three home runs this season, but only Alex Freeland (9) has more than three. The Knights are coming off a 31-30 (18-14) campaign a year ago, a season that nearly produced an NCAA tournament appearance before UCF fell a run short to South Florida in the AAC Tournament Championship. Head Coach Greg Lovelady is in his sixth season at the helm of the Knights, with a better-than-.500 record every season in Orlando. A former catcher at Miami, Lovelady was previously the head coach at Wright State for three seasons. The Knights were picked fifth in the 2022 AAC preseason poll, one point behind Wichita State.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE SOONER STATE: Wichita State has played three games in the state of Oklahoma this season, and sophomore infielder and Oklahoma native Brock Rodden has seized the opportunity to shine in his home state. With a first inning solo blast on Tuesday, Rodden completed the trifecta of homering in all three games (at Oral Roberts on March 8, at Oklahoma State on April 12, at Oklahoma on April 19). Rodden is a native of Oktaha, Oklahoma, a small town of fewer than 500 people located southeast of Tulsa.
LOVE A LEAD: Rodden's first inning home run also snapped an ignominious stretch for the Shockers. Dating back to the final out of a win over East Carolina on April 10, Wichita State had not held the lead at any point for 50 consecutive innings.
X-MAN COMETH: Freshman Xavier Casserilla has shaken off a slow start to the season with a recent hot stretch. Entering play on April 2, the infielder was hitting .167 with four extra-base hits; in the 12 games since, Casserilla has raised the average 64 points to its present .231, and has drawn eight walks to boost his on-base percentage to .372. The former St. Louis Cardinals draftee notched his first career four-hit game against Cincinnati on March 14, one of four multi-hit games over the past two weeks.
WALK IT OUT: Saturday's marathon 14-inning defeat featured just the fifth occurrence in program history of a Wichita State player drawing five walks in a single game, as Sawyre Thornhill accomplished the feat over the course of seven plate appearances. It was the first instance since the 2006 season a WSU player has walked five times, when Derek Schermerhorn drew five free passes in a game against Northern Colorado.
NOT SO WILD THING: Closer Connor Holden put together his best outing of the season last Friday night against Cincinnati, firing four scoreless frames out of the Shocker bullpen with six strikeouts, both season bests. For the season, Holden has not issued a walk over 21.0 innings of work, while piling up 26 punchouts. Despite the sterling overall numbers, Holden has not recorded a save since Wichita State's home opener on March 8 against Oral Roberts.
AIN'T NO LIE: Despite taking the loss in Saturday's series finale against Cincinnati, Cameron Bye continued his incredible start to the 2022 season with another quality outing. Bye conceded just four hits and two runs over 7.0 innings, striking out six and walking five. Despite surrendering season highs in both hits and earned runs, Bye's ERA remains a nation-best 0.61, and his 3.65 hits allowed per nine innings ranks second. Over 44.0 total innings this season, Bye has given up just two extra-base hits.
STILL STREAKING: Junior Sawyre Thornhill already has a 19-game hitting streak to his credit during the 2022 season, and has reached base via a hit or a walk in all 36 games played. Oddly enough, despite leading Wichita State with nine multi-hit games this season, Thornhill has not recorded a three-hit game. He extended the streak Monday with a fourth-inning single.
PRESS THE CLUTCH: Wichita State's recent offensive struggles have been exacerbated by a lack of success in high-leverage situations. The Shockers are hitting just .226 with runners in scoring position, and only .211 with two outs. Opponents, meanwhile, are hitting .282 and .256 respectively in those same two categories.
LINEUP JUGGLING: Eric Wedge continues to tinker with the starting lineup in search of consistent production. Through 37 games, the Shockers have not used the same starters and batting order in consecutive games. Couper Cornblum, Chuck Ingram and Xavier Casserilla have all started at seven different spots in the batting order this season.
SENIOR SLUMPS: Two of Wichita State's most productive hitters during the 2021 season have gotten off to slow starts during the 2022 campaign. Garrett Kocis led the Shockers with 12 home runs in only 36 games played last season, while Jack Sigrist was the leading returning hitter after a .321 average a season ago. The tandem is hitting .172 and .169 through the first 37 games of the season, with five combined extra-base hits.
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 1,272-386-2, including an 862-283-2 mark at Tyler Field (first season 1988). Since taking over as head coach in 2020, Eric Wedge has put together a 36-18 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 host top-10 ranked Oklahoma State at Riverfront Stadium on Tuesday night.
