The RoundHouse | 3/10/2023 10:23:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Wichita State sophomore Payton Tolle stirred up nostalgia last week with his hitting and pitching in a 17-5 win over Oakland at Eck Stadium.

At a school with a rich baseball tradition, Tolle put on a two-way performance to remember. He struck out a career-high 10 hitters and held the Grizzlies to two hits and one run over six innings. He went 5 for 5 at the plate with a home run and double, driving in a career-high six runs.
 
His afternoon evoked Darren Dreifort, the most prominent former Shocker who won game with his arm and bat. Dreifort pitched for the Shockers from 1991-93 and earned NCAA Player of the Year honors before the Dodgers drafted him No. 2.
 
While there isn't a multitude of two-way Shockers, Dreifort isn't the only one to take on the demands of hitting and pitching and excel.
 

That's not coming back.

A titanic blast for @RolleTolle49 ☄️ pic.twitter.com/NIzlo9Zi2d

— Wichita State Baseball (@GoShockersBSB) March 4, 2023

Tolle will return to the mound on Saturday in the middle game of a weekend series against Stetson (9-5). The Shockers (6-6) begin the series at 3 p.m. today (Friday).
 
An unofficial list of some (certainly not all) notable two-way performances by Shockers.
 
Larry Groves (1978-79)
Groves went 13-5 with a 4.26 earned run average as a starter and reliever over his two seasons. He hit .381 with 24 doubles and 16 home runs as a first baseman/DH. In 1979, He hit .404 and went 4-1 with a 3.05 ERA. He earned All-MVC honors in 1978 after hitting .362 with nine home runs and going 9-4 with a 5.08 ERA.

• In 1978, Groves held Oklahoma State to five hits and two earned runs, striking out seven, in a 7-5. He went 2 for 4 at the plate and scored a run.
• In the 1978 MVC Tournament at Rosenblatt Stadium, Groves earned the win in a 3-2 victory over Tulsa in an elimination game. Later that day, he hit a three-run home run in a 10-8 loss to Southern Illinois in the championship.

Matt Yeager (1978-79)
Yeager earned All-MVC honors as an outfielder in 1978 when he hit .372 with 18 doubles and 10 home runs. He went 4-3 in 11 appearances on the mound with a 6.50 ERA.
 
In 1979, he went 9-2 with a 2.24 ERA while hitting .402 with six home runs and 18 doubles.

• In a 16-6 win at Kansas State in 1978, Yeager allowed five earned runs and eight hits over seven innings, striking out four. He went 2 for 5 and scored four runs.
• That same season, he homered twice to drive in four runs in a 9-7 win over Phillips (Okla.) University. He allowed one run in three relief innings.
• In 1979, he struck out seven and allowed three earned runs and six hits in a 20-6 win over Bradley in the MVC Tournament at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. He drove in two runs with a home run and scored three times on a 2-for-5 day.

Bruce Morrison (1978-81)
Morrison might be the busiest of all the Shockers and his hitting numbers remain among the program's best. He made 49 appearances as a pitcher and totaled 625 at-bats in his four seasons as an outfielder.
 
In 1980, he went 3-1 with a 2.65 ERA and led the Shockers with three saves. In 1978, he went 4-1 with a 5.89 ERA and three complete games. He hit .378 for his career, ninth in Shockers history, with 38 home runs. His .462 average in 1979 ranks second in program history.

• In 1980, Morrison hit a three-run home run to give WSU a 9-6 lead in a 13-10 win at Tulsa. In the nightcap, he finished off Tulsa with two scoreless relief innings in a 12-6 win.
• In 1981, Morrison threw three one-run innings in relief of Don Heinkel in a 25-4 win at New Mexico State. Morrison went 5 for 6 with four RBI as part of WSU's 22-hit attack.

Darren Dreifort (1991-93)
Dreifort hit .318 with 26 home runs for his career as a DH. His pitching arm is what made him one of the nation's most dominant figures. He compiled a 2.48 ERA, 17 saves and a 26-5 record in three seasons, mostly as a long reliever.
 
His 1993 season won him two college Player of the Year honors as he led the Shockers to a runner-up finish in the College World Series. He hit .327 with 22 home runs and 61 batted in. On the mound, he registered a 2.48 ERA and an 11-1 record in 30 appearances.
 

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— The RoundHouse (@RoundHouseNews) March 10, 2023

His post-season run in 1993 deserves its own plaque.

• He earned MVP honors in the MVC Tournament after going 10 for 17 with five home runs and 12 RBI in four games. He struck out 14 in 7 1/3 innings. In a 22-9 win over Indiana State in the title game, he struck out nine and allowed one run in five innings. He homered twice and drove in five runs.
• He opened regional play at Atlanta with two home runs and seven RBI in a 14-5 win over Ohio State. He earned the save with three scoreless innings.
• Against host Georgia Tech and its lineup featuring Jay Payton, Jason Varitek and Nomar Garciaparra, Dreifort earned the win with four relief innings. He struck out eight and allowed four hits and no earned runs in a 5-4 win. His two-run homer gave the Shockers a 3-2 lead.
• In Omaha against Arizona State, he gave up a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth. He homered in the 11^th to give the Shockers a 4-3 lead. He threw 4 1/3 innings, struck out five and gave up two runs. He went 2 for 5 at the plate.

Travis Wyckoff (1993-96)
 Wyckoff didn't hit until his junior year and didn't excel until his senior season. He helped the Shockers return to the College World Series in 1996 by hitting .400 with 29 doubles. He went 5-0 as a reliever with a 3.38 ERA and six saves to earn Collegiate Baseball All-American honors as pitcher/outfielder.

• Against Rice in the NCAA Regional at Eck Stadium, he threw 4 2/3 relief innings in a 16-6 win. He allowed one hit and struck out three to earn the victory. His two-run, two-out single in the seventh gave the Shockers a 12-6 lead on their way to the regional title.

Damon Sublett (2005-07)
Sublett recorded 16 saves in his career, nine of those in a spectacular freshman year in which he didn't give up a run in 19 1/3 innings over 17 appearances. At second base, he .314 to earn MVC Freshman of the Year honors.
 
In 2006, he hit .394 with 10 home runs and added seven saves over 12 1/3 innings, again not allowing an earned run. He largely gave up pitching duties in 2007 and hit .354 with five home runs and 15 doubles.

• In 2005, he made his first pitching appearance in a 4-1 win at Hawaii-Hilo. He struck out all three batters he faced to earn the save. He also scored a run and went 2 for 3.
• He earned a save with 1 2/3 perfect innings in an 11-9 win at Kansas. He entered with a two on and one out in the eighth and struck out the hitter on three pitches. He drove in three runs in a 1-for-4 night.
• In 2006, he helped the Shockers to a sweep at Long Beach State with a save in an 8-7 win. He went 3 for 4 with two RBI and a double.

Noah Krol (2006-07)
Krol lead the Shockers with 12 saves in 2007, registering a 2.10 ERA in 26 appearances. He also played shortstop, although his time as a position player declined. In 2006, he started 50 games and hit .247 with six doubles. He made 18 relief appearances and had four saves and a 2.95 ERA.

• In 2006, Krol homered and went 2 for 4 in a 12-2 win at Oklahoma. He also threw two scoreless relief innings.

Sam Hilliard (2015)
Hilliard shone as an outfielder in his one season with the Shockers, hitting .335 with eight home runs and 51 RBI. He made 11 starts and compiled a 6.15 ERA. He earned All-MVC honors as an outfielder before the Colorado Rockies drafted him in the 15^th round. He is currently with the Atlanta Braves.

• In an 11-5 win over Kansas State at Eck Stadium, he doubled and scored and struck out five and held the Wildcats to two runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings.

 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.