WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State posted five multi-run innings and got another excellent start from
Grant Adler, rolling past Oakland 16-2 on Sunday afternoon at Eck Stadium. With the victory, the Shockers (6-4) clinched a series win by taking two of three in the home-opening set against the Golden Grizzlies.
Adler (3-0) struck out nine over seven strong innings of work, issuing just one walk while allowing five hits and two runs. He ended five of his seven innings of work with strikeouts, exiting with a 14-2 lead.
It was a balanced Wichita State attack, as eight Shockers recorded at least one hit and nine drove in at least one run. A six-run bottom of the third opened the barrage, highlighted by four consecutive doubles from
David Herring,
Kyte McDonald,
Brock Rodden and
Sawyre Thornhill. A two-run blast from
Seth Stroh in the bottom of the fifth made it 8-0, and after Oakland (2-8) grabbed a run in the top of the sixth, WSU answered back immediately with two more in the home half of the inning. A wild pitch plated one run, then
Garrett Pennington got the Shockers into double-digits with a run-scoring groundout that swelled the lead to 10-1.
Thomas Green homered for the Golden Grizzlies in the top of the seventh to make it 10-2, but Wichita State fired back with four runs in the bottom half. Herring capped off his outstanding series with an RBI single, followed by a McDonald sacrifice fly and Rodden run-scoring triple. Thornhill put the final run on the board with an RBI groundout.
Caden Favors and
Nate Snead each tossed a scoreless inning in relief to close out the win, notching three combined strikeouts and allowing just one hit in the process.
Herring led the Shockers with three hits, while Rodden, McDonald and Stroh each had two. Rodden knocked in a game-best three runs.
Travis Densmore (0-2) took the loss for Oakland, allowing six runs in two-plus innings of work.
The Shockers will play two midweek contests this week, beginning on Tuesday with a home date against Oral Roberts. First pitch from Eck Stadium is scheduled for 3:00 PM.
