Wichita State (2-1, 0-0 American) vs. #14 Virginia (4-0, 0-0 ACC)/Auburn (4-0, 0-0 SEC)/#18 Iowa (3-1, 0-0 Big Ten)

Friday, February 23 | 1:00 pm CT | Jacksonville, Florida (121 Financial Ballpark)
TV: D1Baseball.com | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Caden Favors (1-0, 6.35) vs. LHP Evan Blanco (1-0, 0.00)

Saturday, February 24 | 11:00 am CT | Jacksonville, Florida (121 Financial Ballpark)
TV: D1Baseball.com | Radio: KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM
RHP Tommy LaPour (0-0, 10.12) vs. RHP Joseph Gonzalez (1-0, 0.00)

Sunday, February 25 | 11:00 am CT | Jacksonville, Florida (121 Financial Ballpark)
TV: D1Baseball.com | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Daniel Zang (1-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Cade Obermueller (0-0, 0.00)

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SCENE SETTER: Following a 2-1 opening weekend in Little Rock, Wichita State heads to the Jacksonville College Classic for three games against a trio of college baseball's best programs. The Shockers open the tournament against #14 Virginia on Friday before squaring off with Auburn on Saturday and #18 Iowa on Sunday. All three opponents reached the NCAA tournament in 2023, highlighted by Virginia's appearance in the College World Series. The Shockers are coming off a 30-25 season in 2023 that included a 13-10 mark in American Athletic Conference play, good for third place in the final conference standings. 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 2024. Saturday's game will air on KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM. Former Shocker pitcher (1991-94) and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis and Denning Gerig will have the call of the action in Jacksonville, with "The Voice of the Shockers" Mike Kennedy returning to the airwaves following the conclusion of the Wichita State men's basketball season. All games of the tournament will also be streamed live on D1Baseball.com($). Live audio, in addition to live statistics, will be available for all games at GoShockers.com/listen and ShockerStats.com. 

SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers have never played Virginia or Auburn but lead the all-time series with Iowa 12-0. Wichita State played Iowa twice in 2022 for the most recent meetings, defeating the Hawkeyes 8-7 at the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas and then 6-4 in the opening game of the Frisco College Baseball Classic in Frisco, Texas. The first meeting between the two programs came in 1983 at the Hawaii Rainbow Easter Tournament in Honolulu.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA: The Cavaliers are off to a 4-0 start in 2024 after a 50-15 campaign and a spot in the College World Series a year ago. Virginia has made the trip to Omaha two of the last three seasons and six times since 2009. Offensively, the Cavaliers are led by juniors Ethan Anderson and Griff O'Ferrall; O'Ferrall was a unanimous preseason All-American while Anderson earned preseason All-America recognition from D1Baseball and the NCBWA. The 'Hoos led the nation in hits (766) and doubles (172) in 2023 while tying for the nation's top spot in batting average (.332). Head coach Brian O'Connor is in his 21st season with Virginia, owning an overall record of 843-353.

SCOUTING AUBURN: The Tigers head to Jacksonville with a 4-0 record after sweeping Eastern Kentucky and downing fellow AAC member UAB in the midweek. Auburn is coming off back-to-back regional host bids for the first time in program history after a 34-23-1 mark in 2023; the Tigers went 0-2 in the Auburn regional with losses to Penn and Southern Miss. A veteran pitching staff returns all three weekend starters from a year ago, while preseason All-SEC picks Ike Irish and Bobby Peirce headline the lineup. Head coach Butch Thomposon is in his ninth season with the Tigers, boasting a record of 260-187.

SCOUTING IOWA: The Hawkeyes check into Jacksonville with a 3-1 record following a 2023 season that ended with a 44-16 mark, tied for the most wins in a single season in program history. Iowa advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship game and made its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2017, going 2-2 at the Terre Haute Regional. Friday starter Brody Brecht was named preseason first team All-America by D1Baseball and Perfect Game, one of three preseason All-Big Ten selections. Longtime head coach Rick Heller is in his 11th season at Iowa and 37th overall, entering Friday with a 1,013-757 record.

GREENER PASTURES: Brian Green was named the fifth head coach in the modern era of Wichita State baseball on June 5, 2023, replacing interim head coach Loren Hibbs. Green comes to Wichita State after four seasons at the helm of Washington State, where he guided the Cougars to four straight seasons above .500, the first such stretch of success for the Cougars since 2006-10. Green went 91-79 overall in Pullman, including a 29-win season in 2023 that matched the most wins for Washington State since 2010. Prior to his tenure with Wazzu, Green revitalized the program at his alma mater New Mexico State, taking the Aggies from 11 wins in 2015 to 40 in 2018. In 10 total seasons as a head coach, Green owns a career record of 251-202-1, good for a .554 winning percentage.

ROSTER REVAMP: It is a new-look Wichita State roster in 2024, as only 11 players return from the 2023 club. AAC Player of the Year Brock Rodden was drafted in the 5th Round by the Seattle Mariners, senior Sawyre Thornhill exhausted his eligibility, and the remaining 23 players transferred. 17 of those 23 ended up at another Division I institution. Catcher Mauricio Millan (54 starts), outfielder Seth Stroh (32 starts) and utilitymen Jordan Rogers (10 starts) and Will Stark (10 starts in 2022) lead the returners in experience, while Caden Favors (21 appearances) and Matt Wilkinson (18 appearances) are the senior members of the pitching staff.

JUCO BANDITS: Following the 25 departures from the 2023 club, head coach Brian Green turned to the junior college ranks to form his first roster with the Shockers. Wichita State has 14 newcomers who played at the NJCAA level a year ago: pitchers Mason Munz, Gavin Oswald, Caleb Anderson, Daniel Zang, Hunter Holmes, Peyton Walters and Jack Mount (7) and position players Brayden Luikart, Dayvin Johnson, Logan Kreske, Ryan Callahan, Derek Williams, Josh Livingston and Sammy Harris (7).

IRON MAN: On a roster with so much turnover, the steadying presence of catcher Mauricio Millan is an important one for the Shockers on both sides of the ball. Millan started an incredible 53 games at catcher for WSU in 2023, hitting .315 with 15 doubles and 26 RBI to go along with excellent defense. The junior from El Paso, Texas ranked among the nation's leaders in framing pitches and committed just three errors behind the plate.

SOUTHPAW SWISS ARMY KNIFE: Senior Caden Favors has handled nearly every role possible on the Wichita State pitching staff in his two seasons as a Shocker, ranging from starter to long reliever to closer. He begins the 2024 campaign as Wichita State's Friday starter following a 2023 season in which he went 3-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 21 appearances, three of which were starts. For his career, the southpaw has nine starts among his 44 total outings, toting a 5-5 record and 3.38 ERA. 

BRIGHT FUTURE: Green was hard at work on the recruiting trail after taking the reigns, bringing in a class ranked 32nd nationally by Perfect Game. In addition to keeping nearly the entirety of the previous staff's class in place, Green was able to add two top-400 players nationally in shortstop Darnell Parker Jr. (#311, originally committed to Washington State) and right-handed pitcher Tommy LaPour (#388, originally committed to Cincinnati). The highest ranked player in the class is right-handed pitcher Ryan Geraghty, ranked by PG as the #165 player in the country.

MEET THE STAFF: Green wasted little time finalizing his assistant coaches, announcing the hires just two weeks after joining the Shockers. Veteran pitching coach Anthony Claggett came along from Washington State, recruiting coordinator Clay Overcash was brought on board after six seasons in the same role at Oklahoma, and hitting coach Anthony Miller, who as a player was committed to play for Green at NMSU, rounded out the assistants following four seasons at the junior college level. The Shockers director of baseball operations is Tad Reida, a former Shocker infielder who helped Wichita State to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in 2004 and 2005.

GONE PROSPECTING: Wichita State was well represented on D1Baseball's Top Prospect rankings of the American Athletic Conference. Senior left-handed pitcher Caden Favors (#12), junior catcher Mauricio Millan (#23) and junior left-handed pitcher Hunter Holmes (#39) cracked the list among 2024 prospects, with sophomore righty Daniel Zang (#5) on the 2025 leaderboard. The Shockers made the most noise among Impact Freshman, with Tommy LaPour (#2), Ryan Geraghty (#5), Darnell Parker Jr. (#8) and Kam Durnin (#25) all earning recognition.

PRESEASON PROJECTION: The Shockers were picked seventh in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll out of 10 teams, the lowest preseason projection for Wichita State since joining the AAC in 2017. The conference features new blood in Charlotte, UTSA, Florida Atlantic, Rice and UAB, helping to offset the losses of Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to the Big 12. Defending champion East Carolina comfortably topped the poll, earning all nine other first place votes. The Pirates lead the conference with six preseason All-AAC selections, including the preseason Pitcher of the Year in Trey Yesavage. South Florida has five representatives; no other school has more than one. 

TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE: With a program record of 2,312 wins, 1,249 losses and nine ties, Wichita State ranks in the top ten of all college baseball programs with a .648 winning percentage. The Shockers have won 20 regular season conference championships and 18 conference tournament championships, earning a trip to Omaha for the College World Series on seven different occasions. WSU claimed the 1989 national championship and finished as national runner-up in 1982, 1991 and 1993.