Wichita State (14-10, 0-0 American) vs. Cincinnati (11-14, 0-0 American)
Friday, March 31 | 1:00 pm CT | Cincinnati, Ohio (UC Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Clark Candiotti (2-2, 3.73) vs. RHP Chase Hopewell (1-1, 3.95)
Saturday, April 1 | 1:00 pm CT | Cincinnati, Ohio (UC Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Payton Tolle (5-0, 3.00) vs. LHP Chase Horst (1-2, 5.92)
Sunday, April 2 | 11:00 am CT | Cincinnati, Ohio (UC Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Grant Adler (3-1, 2.70) vs. TBA
SCENE SETTER: Wichita State opens American Athletic Conference play with a three-game road series at Cincinnati beginning Friday afternoon. The series opener has been rescheduled to 1:00 pm CT due to forecasted inclement weather in the Cincinnati area. The Shockers head into conference action riding a season-best four-game winning streak following a thrilling 8-7 win over Oklahoma on Tuesday night at Riverfront Stadium. WSU trailed 7-4 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning before rallying; Brock Rodden's go-ahead, three-run homer proved to be the decisive blow as the Shockers won their third straight against the Sooners.
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 for the series against Cincinnati, with Denning Gerig joining the broadcast on color. All three games of the series will also be streamed live on ESPN+ ($). 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 Bearcats have met 13 times, with Cincinnati holding a commanding 11-2 lead in the all time series. Wichita State is just 1-6 at UC Baseball Stadium, claiming a 6-1 win on April 24, 2021 for their lone victory. Cincinnati swept a three-game set against the Shockers last season at Eck Stadium, including a wild 14-inning contest in which Bearcats reliever Garrett Harker went six shutout innings in relief in a 7-5 Cincinnati win. The two programs had never played one another prior to Wichita State joining The American in 2017.
SCOUTING CINCINNATI: Cincinnati enters play on Friday with an overall record of 11-15 following a 14-1 run-rule defeat to nationally ranked Louisville on Tuesday. The Bearcats are 6-4 at UC Baseball Stadium, including a series win this past weekend against Butler, but just 5-11 away from home. The Cincinnati offense has put up a curious combination of numbers this season, ranking last in the American Athletic Conference with a .239 batting average but first in the league in walks (137) and second in hit by pitches (37). The results is a healthy .373 on-base percentage and an average of 6.2 runs per game, despite ranking in the bottom 25 nationally in both doubles and triples per game. Bearcats pitchers have struggled to a 6.94 team ERA, hampered by an average of 5.7 walks per nine innings. Defensively, Cincinnati ranks last in the conference with a .964 fielding percentage. The Bearcats are led by head coach Scott Googins, now in his sixth season at the helm. Googins came to Cincinnati after 12 seasons at crosstown rival Xavier; over 18 total years his record stands at 471-496.
DOING A JOB: While Wichita State's offensive numbers have increased across the board when compared to 2022 totals, one overlooked metric is the Shockers ability to score runners from third base with less than two outs. Last season, Shocker hitters drove in a run in that situation 57.1% of the time; this year the figure is at 69.8% entering play on Friday. Every single Wichita State hitter has scored the man from third in at least 50% of their at-bats.
MOTIVATED MAN: In his two seasons at Wichita State, Oklahoma native Brock Rodden has tortured opponents from the Sooner State. In 12 total games against Oral Roberts, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, Rodden is hitting .365 (19-for-52) with four home runs, 13 RBI and 14 runs scored. The switch-hitter has at least one hit in all 12 games played.
GOOD BYE: Junior right-hander Cameron Bye delivered his best outing of the season in perhaps the most high-leverage moment of the young season. Entering Tuesday's game against Oklahoma in the top of the ninth inning to protect an 8-7 lead, Bye struck out the side around a one-out walk to nail down his first career save. All four of Wichita State's saves this season have come from pitchers with no prior saves in their career (one each from Robert Cranz, Jace Miner and Nate Snead).
SOUTHPAW SWISS ARMY KNIFE: Left-hander Caden Favors has showcased his versatility this season by handling a variety of different roles. In 12 appearances, Favors has finished six games and started three others, pitching to a 2.40 ERA in 30.0 total innings. Four of his nine relief outings have lasted at least two innings.
WORKING ON THE WEEKEND: The Wichita State weekend rotation of Clark Candiotti, Payton Tolle and Grant Adler has been remarkably consistent through the first six weekends of the 2023 season. The trio has combined for a 10-3 record, a 3.13 ERA, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 147:24 (6.1:1). The Shockers have had just one game in which a weekend starter has walked more than two batters.
WHO NEEDS A DH?: Two-way sophomore Payton Tolle is off to a phenomenal start to 2023, with a 5-0 record on the mound and a team-best .378 batting average. His numbers go to another level on days in which the lefty is pitching; on his six start days, Tolle is hitting .609 (14-for-23) with three of his four home runs and 12 runs batted in. Tolle did not hit and pitch on the same day last season in an effort to manage his workload.
STAY STREAKING: Wichita State infielder Brock Rodden extended his hitting streak to 18 straight games with a career game on Tuesday against Oklahoma. The Seminole State transfer went 3-for-5 with an RBI single, an RBI double, and a go-ahead three-run homer. All told, Rodden knocked in a career-best five runs. Dating back to the weekend series against UMass, seven of Rodden's last nine hits have gone for extra bases. Rodden's contact rate has also ticked upwards during the hot stretch; he has struck out just once in his last 28 at-bats.
RECORD-SETTING ROUT: The Shockers dominated this past weekend series against UMass, outscoring the Minutemen by a combined total of 38-6 over the course of three run-rule victories at Eck Stadium. The Shockers banged out 43 hits in just 19 offensive innings, and average of 2.3 hits and 2.0 runs per inning. The onslaught was the first time the Shockers have cracked double-figures in all three games of a set since the opening series of the 2018 season, when Wichita State beat McNeese State by scores of 10-7, 11-2 and 11-10.
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.
