Oklahoma State (27-13, 10-5 Big 12) vs. Wichita State (13-27, 2-10 American)
Tuesday, April 26Â | 6:30Â pm |Â Wichita, Kansas (Riverfront Stadium)
TV: None | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Kale Davis (1-1, 3.81) vs. LHP Jace Miner (0-2, 9.37)
SCENE SETTER: Wichita State battles #8 Oklahoma State on Tuesday night at Riverfront Stadium, the third and final matchup between the two programs in 2022. The Shockers played the first-ever game at the new downtown ballpark in 2021, defeating Houston 10-1 on April 10. WSU enters play on Tuesday having lost nine consecutive games, and 14 of the last 15. The nine straight defeats matches the longest losing streak in program history, having occurred twice before in 1970 and 1950. The Shockers have also lost eight in a row at home, the longest losing streak in school history. Wichita State has scored more than five runs just once over the last 17 games, a 16-12 defeat to UCF on Saturday. 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 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. Tuesday night's game at Riverfront Stadium will not be streamed on ESPN Plus. 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 Cowboys will be meeting for the 102nd time on Tuesday, with Oklahoma State holding a 64-37 lead in the all-time series. The Cowboys have won 10 of the last 12 matchups, including a come-from-behind 5-3 win over the Shockers earlier this year in Wichita and an 8-5 win in Stillwater two weeks ago. Wichita State last triumphed in 2018, when the Shockers swept the season series with a 7-5 win in Wichita and a 10-7 victory in Stillwater. Prior to the WSU program's rebirth in 1978, the Shockers were just 2-25 against the Cowboys. The two programs have battled 15 times in postseason play, including a pair of matchups in the College World Series. Wichita State beat the Cowboys in Omaha in 1982 and 1993.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE: The Cowboys enter the week with an overall record of 27-13, including a 10-5 mark in Big 12 play good for second place in the conference standings. Over the weekend, Oklahoma State dropped two of three games at home against TCU, taking the Friday contest in convincing fashion (13-2) before losing a pair of close games to round out the weekend (6-4, 7-6). The Cowboys dropped five spots in the D1Baseball poll as a result, but are still a consensus top-10 according to all major publications. The Cowboys are led by strong pitching and defense, with a .983 fielding percentage that ranks seventh nationally entering play on Tuesday. Opponents are hitting just .228 against Oklahoma State pitching, best in the Big 12, while the Cowboys also lead the conference in strikeouts (449) while ranking second in ERA (4.22). Offensively, Oklahoma State is hitting .275 as a team, paced by a pair of transfers in Jake Thompson (South Dakota State/Palomar CC/Kentucky) and David Mendham (South Carolina/Connors State CC). The Cowboys are led by head coach Josh Holliday, a former Oklahoma State player who has led OSU to three Super Regionals and one College World Series appearance (2016) in his eight seasons in Stillwater. Josh is the older brother of former MLB All-Star Matt Holliday, who now serves as a volunteer assistant on the Cowboys staff. Oklahoma State was picked second in the Big 12 preseason poll, following a 36-19-1 season in 2021 that ended with a pair of defeats to UC Santa Barbara in the Tucson regional.
RIVERFRONT RETURN: The Shockers are hosting Tuesday's game at Riverfront Stadium, the home of the Wichita Wind Surge, Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. When the Wind Surge's 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Shockers had the opportunity to play the first-ever game at the brand-new ballpark on April 10, 2021. In front of 7,509 fans (7th most in program history) Wichita State routed Houston 10-1. Jace Kaminska tossed a complete game to earn the victory, and both Paxton Wallace and Hunter Gibson homered in the win.
TWO-OUT TROUBLE: One of the most glaring factors in Wichita State's weekend sweep at the hands of UCF was the Knights success with two outs. Of the 32 runs scored by UCF over the course of the three games, 22 of the them came with two outs, including seven of eight runs on both Friday and Sunday. UCF hit six two-out homers in the series.
STROH KNOWS: Despite the 16-12 defeat on Saturday, sophomore outfielder Seth Stroh put together the best game of his young career at the plate. Stroh reached base all five times via four hits and a walk, and among his hits were two doubles and a home run. The result was nine total bases, not only a career high by the highest total by any Shockers hitter this season. The game raised Stroh's batting average from .188 entering the day to .235. It marked the second time in his last five games that Stroh has driven in four after he slugged a grand slam against Oklahoma State April 12.
MR. JONES AND ME: In a Wichita State bullpen searching for reliable options, the emergence of veteran right-hander Grayson Jones has been a welcome sign. The graduate transfer from James Madison has strung together five consecutive scoreless appearances dating back to the last matchup against Oklahoma State on April 12, lowering his ERA from 11.57 to 5.79 in the process. Over his last 4.2 innings, Jones has seven strikeouts and has allowed only one hit.
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.
BACK-TO-BACK: After going 37 games without utilizing the same starting lineup (including positions and batting order) on consecutive days, the Shockers trotted out the same nine on both Friday and Saturday of the UCF series. Eight individual Shockers have batted in at least five different spots in the batting order this season, and eight have played at least three different positions.
NOT SO WILD THING: Closer Connor Holden extended his streak of appearances without a walk to 16 over the weekend. For the season, Holden has not issued a base on balls over 22.2 innings of work, while piling up 27 punchouts. Despite the sterling overall numbers, Holden has not recorded a save since Wichita State's home opener on March 8 against Oral Roberts.
STREAK SNAPPED: After reaching base in 37 straight games to open the season, junior Sawyre Thornhill finally saw his run come to an end on Saturday in a 16-12 loss to UCF. In the kind of oddity that only baseball can provide, Thornhill was the only player on either team who did not reach base in a game that featured a combined 28 runs on 30 total hits.
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 .169 and .167 through the first 40 games of the season, with five combined extra-base hits.
WALK IT OUT: Last Saturday's marathon 14-inning defeat to Cincinnati 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.
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 take to the road for a three-game American Athletic Conference series at Memphis over the weekend.
