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Gage Williams

Baseball Preview: Massachusetts

3/24/2023 12:33:00 AM

Massachusetts (3-9, 0-0 Atlantic 10) vs. Wichita State (10-10, 0-0 American)

Friday, March 24 | 12:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Max LeBlanc (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Clark Candiotti (1-2, 4.26)

Saturday, March 25 | 2:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Taylor Perrett (1-2, 4.15) vs. LHP Payton Tolle (4-0, 3.00)

Sunday, March 26 | 1:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Jack Steele (0-0, 7.71) vs. RHP Grant Adler (3-1, 2.79)


SCENE SETTER: Wichita State hosts their fourth consecutive weekend series with a three-game set against Massachusetts at Eck Stadium. Friday's game is Kids Education Day, with local schoolchildren packing the stands for the 12:00 PM first pitch. The Shockers off coming off a pair of midweek defeats at Oral Roberts on Tuesday (5-2) and at home against 20th-ranked Oklahoma State (10-1). After recording 27 hits in two games over the weekend against Creighton, the Shockers were limited to just six hits in both midweek contests. WSU is in the midst of a stretch that will see the Shockers play 15 of 17 games at home. Through the first 20 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)

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 Massachusetts. All three games 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 Minutemen have never played.

SCOUTING MASSACHUSETTS: UMass enters the series with a 3-9 overall record following losses in the midweek at Holy Cross and UConn. The Minutemen have not played a home game in 2023, winning two of three at Navy, suffering a sweep at UNC Asheville, dropping a midweek at Gardner-Webb, and losing two of three at Penn. UMass has mustered just 47 runs in their 12 games played, the third-lowest total in Division I. As a team, UMass is hitting just .224 with eight home runs and four stolen bases. The pitching staff enters play on Friday with a team ERA of 6.29. The Minutemen were picked 11th in the 12-team Atlantic-10 preseason poll. UMass alum Matt Reynolds is in his sixth season leading the Minutemen, with a record of 72-129 entering play on Friday. He led UMass to a 22-26 season a year ago, the most wins in a single season for the program since the 2011 campaign. Reynolds took over his alma mater after three seasons at D-III Washington College. The UMass baseball program has had an alum for a head coach for 57 consecutive seasons (spanning three coaches), the second-longest streak in the country behind BYU (62 seasons).

RIGHT IS ALRIGHT: After hitting significantly better against left-handed pitching in 2022 (.291 vs. LHP, .255 vs RHP), the Shockers have completely flipped the script in 2023. The Shockers head into the weekend hitting 22 points better against right-handed pitching (.295) than against southpaws (.273). Wichita State will face three right-handed starters over the weekend against UMass.

HIT THE GAS: One bright spot in Wednesday's loss against Oklahoma State was the work of freshman right-hander Nate Snead, who wowed fans by hitting 100 miles per hour twice on the stadium radar gun. Snead allowed just one baserunner over the span of two scoreless innings.

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 five times in the nine 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).

BASES LOADED BLUES: The Shockers offense has had no issues generating baserunners so far in 2023, with a healthy .375 team on-base percentage. In prime scoring opportunities, however, the bats have faltered; Wichita State is just 6-for-26 (.231) this season with the bases loaded. The trend bit the Shockers late in Tuesday's loss at Oral Roberts, when the Shockers loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning down two runs but came away empty.

STAY STREAKING: Wichita State infielder Brock Rodden extended his hitting streak to 14 straight games with a home run in the fourth inning of Wednesday's loss to Oklahoma State. Rodden has managed to extend his streak with one hit in 10 of the 14 games.

SHAKING OFF THE RUST: Redshirt sophomore righty Matt Boyer went 18 days between appearances out of the Shocker bullpen, but looked sharp working the final two innings on Wednesday night. Boyer struck out three over two scoreless innings, allowing one hit. The right-hander began last year as the Shockers primary midweek starter before his season was cut short due to injury.

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.

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.

HIGH PRAISE: The Shockers landed four players on the American Athletic Conference preseason all-conference team, most of any club in the league. Infielder Brock Rodden, outfielder Chuck Ingram, designated hitter Payton Tolle and right-handed pitcher Cameron Bye were all selected, with Rodden tabbed as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year. Despite the league-best four honorees, Wichita State was picked fifth in the eight-team American Athletic Conference preseason poll.

RODDEN RETURN:  Infielder Brock Rodden burst on to the scene as one of college baseball's most impactful players in 2022. The Seminole State transfer led the Shockers in batting average (.338), on-base percentage (.441) and slugging percentage (.653) while launching 17 home runs, the most by a Shocker since Drew Moffitt hit 26 long balls in 2004. He was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 10th Round of the 2022 MLB Draft (pick 304 overall) but elected not to sign, one of just three players chosen in the top ten rounds to do so.

JUCO INFLUX: The Wichita State 2023 roster features eight junior college transfers, several of which have stepped in as immediate contributors. Former Mississippi State outfielder Kyte McDonald brings elite speed out in centerfield, and former St. Mary's righty Clark Candiotti has entrenched himself at the front of the weekend rotation. Two members of Cowley College's NJCAA runner-up team play major roles, as infielder David Herring is the everyday starter at shortstop and right-handed pitcher Grant Adler has grabbed the Sunday starter role. Righties Matt Wilkinson, Colton Vercoe and Carter Rost were added to solidify the bullpen, and catcher Mauricio Millan is off to a strong start offensively.

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