HOUSTON -- Wichita State fought back from a five-run deficit to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but
Brock Rodden's two-out blast fell just short of the wall as Houston escaped with a 7-5 victory on Saturday night at Schroeder Park.
Trailing 7-2 into the eighth, the Shockers (27-19, 10-7) began to chip away courtesy of a long two-run homer off the bat of
Garrett Pennington, his 13th long ball of the season to tie him for the team lead. Then in the ninth,
David Herring led off with a single and came around to score when
Jaden Gustafson lashed an RBI double to the gap in left-center, cutting the deficit to 7-5 and bringing the tying run to the plate.
Chuck Ingram was retired on a bouncer to shortstop, then Rodden skied a high fly ball deep to right field that was brought in on the warning track to end the game.
The Cougars (28-19, 12-5) used a trio of clutch hits to take control of the game early. Nine-hole hitter Drew Bianco provided the first two, banging a two-run double in the second and a two-run triple in the fourth. Cameron Nickens knocked in two runs of his own with a fifth-inning single that capped off the scoring for the Cougars.
All seven runs were charged to Wichita State starter
Payton Tolle (8-2), who was tagged for 10 hits while striking out three over 5.0 innings of work.
Kyle Ayers (3-1) picked up the win out of the Houston bullpen, working 5.0 innings in relief. He surrendered three hits and two runs while striking out four and walking three.
Wichita State chased Houston starter Dan Wright after two innings with a pair of runs in the second, getting an RBI single from Herring and a
Jack Little sacrifice fly to take a 2-1 lead before the trio of Houston two-run knocks put the Cougars in front to stay.
Justin Murray closed out the victory to earn his eighth save of the season.
Matt Wilkinson and
Austin Wallace turned in scoreless appearances out of the Shocker bullpen. Wallace's outing was the first since he was sidelined due to injury on March 30, 2022.
The Shockers and Cougars conclude the series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Schroeder Park is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
