#20 Oklahoma State (16-5, 1-2 Big 12) vs. Wichita State (10-9, 0-0 American)
Wednesday, March 22 | 6:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Carson Benge (0-0, 1.80) vs. RHP Cameron Bye (0-2, 12.96)

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SCENE SETTER: Wichita State continues a five-game week with a home matchup against #20 Oklahoma State at Eck Stadium. This is the second of three instances in which the Shockers play two midweek games, the final time will be in late April with Tuesday and Wednesday games against Oklahoma State and Kansas. Tonight's game will be the first ranked opponent for the Shockers in 2023; Wichita State won their last meeting against a top-25 foe with an 18-0 victory over #24 Oklahoma in last season's home finale. WSU is in the midst of a stretch that will see the Shockers play 15 of 17 games at home. Through the first 19 games of 2023, the Shockers have had just one stretch of more than two wins or losses in a row (three straight wins, February 24-25 at Utah Tech). WSU aims to rebound from a 21-36 season a year ago, the second-most losses in program history. Interim head coach Loren Hibbs was appointed to lead the Shockers in December following the departure of Eric Wedge, who compiled a 65-61 record in three seasons at the helm. Wichita State is hunting 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 Wichita State baseball broadcasts in 2023. "The Voice of the Shockers" and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Mike Kennedy will handle the play-by-play duties against Oklahoma State. The game will also be streamed live on ESPN+ ($), with former Shocker pitcher (1991-94) and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis 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 Cowboys will be meeting for the 103rd time on Wednesday, with Oklahoma State holding a 65-37 lead in the all-time series. The Cowboys have won 11 of the last 13 matchups, including a three-game sweep of the season series in 2022 (one game at Eck Stadium, one game at O'Brate Stadium, one game at Riverfront Stadium). 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: Oklahoma State rolls into Wichita unanimously ranked in the top 20 across all the national polls, checking in as high as 13 in the latest edition of the RPI rankings. The Cowboys are 16-5 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 play after dropping a series on the road at Texas Tech to open conference action. The highlight of that record is a 12-game winning streak that spanned from February 26-March 14. Oklahoma State is undefeated in midweek games so far this season, with wins against California Baptist, Missouri State, Arizona State (2x), and Dallas Baptist. The Cowboys boast a powerful lineup that comes into play on Wednesday ninth nationally with 51 doubles and top-25 with 36 home runs. Defensively, Oklahoma State has compiled a team fielding percentage of .980 that ranks 28th nationally. Two-way star Nolan McClean tops the national leaderboard with six saves to go along with a .290 batting average and five home runs. The Cowboys are coming off a 42-22 season a year ago, hosting a regional before falling in the final to Arkansas. Head coach Josh Holliday is in his 11th season at the helm, with a 378-204-2 record to his credit.

STAY STREAKING: Wichita State was able to extend a pair of lengthy hitting streaks on Wednesday against Oral Roberts. Brock Rodden lengthened his active streak out to 13 straight with a fifth inning single, and Mauricio Millan made it 12 straight with a base hit in the sixth. Millan's single also extended his current on-base streak to a team-best 17 games.

POWER OUTAGES: It's been an up-and-down season for Wichita State's power numbers. The Shockers hit 15 homers in a seven-game stretch from February 24-March 7, but have homered just four times in the eight games since. One culprit has been the weather; the Shockers have had an average first pitch temperature of 48 degrees over the last nine games.

TRACKMAN TITLE: Designated hitter Payton Tolle's fourth inning RBI single on Sunday was registered by Eck Stadium's Trackman system at an exit velocity of 119.5 miles per hour, the hardest-hit ball since the technology was installed in the facility in 2018. That mark of 119.5 miles per hour would have been the third-best in Major League Baseball last season, trailing only O'Neil Cruz (122.4 mph) and Giancarlo Stanton (119.8).

WORKING OVERTIME: Saturday's 14-inning, 13-6 loss to Creighton was a frustrating one in a number of ways for Wichita State. The Shockers left the potential winning run in scoring position for five consecutive frames from the ninth through the 13th, including two instances in which WSU stranded the bases loaded. All told, WSU left 16 runners on base in the contest, just two shy of the program record. The game lasted five hours and seven minutes, the longest game time since Wichita State and Evansville played  17 innings in six hours and 13 minutes in 2017.

CLOSER COMMITTEE: While the Shocker bullpen has produced solid numbers across the board this season, one interesting aspect of the group is the absence of a traditional closer. Wichita State has three saves this season, one each from Robert Cranz, Jace Miner and Nate Snead. Each of those saves has been a multi-inning effort.

WORKING ON THE WEEKEND: The WSU weekend rotation of Clark Candiotti, Payton Tolle and Grant Adler has been remarkably consistent through the first four weekends of the 2023 season. The trio has combined for an 8-3 record, a 3.31 ERA, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 99:21 (4.7:1). Due to the shortened series against Creighton, normal Sunday starter Grant Adler started the Tuesday game at Oral Roberts.

LOT OF STRIKES: Wichita State enters play on Wednesday averaging 3.13 walks per nine innings, the 15th-best rate in the country. Shocker pitchers have a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.33:1, the 11th best nationally. Both marks lead the American Athletic Conference. Shocker hurlers have recorded 189 strikeouts while handing out just 58 walks.

CUTTING DOWN ON THE K'S: If Wichita State is to take a major step forward offensively in 2023, a key metric to monitor will be the Shockers contact rate. WSU struck out 514 times last season, the most in a single campaign in program history. 10 different Shockers fanned more than 30 times. Through 19 games, Wichita State is striking out in 21.8% of at-bats, down from 26.3% a year ago.

BACK IN THE SADDLE: Interim head coach Loren Hibbs is in his first season leading the Shockers after taking over for Eric Wedge in December of 2022. Hibbs starred as a record-setting outfielder for the Shockers, helping WSU to the program's first-ever CWS appearance in 1982, and still holds the NCAA record for single-season runs scored with 125. He then served as an assistant under legendary Shocker head coach Gene Stephenson before moving on to Charlotte, where Hibbs guided the 49ers for 27 seasons and more than 800 wins. He returned to the Wichita State program following the 2019 season, joining the staff as Director of Baseball Operations.