Baseball | 2/29/2024 5:02:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Camden Johnson remembers getting two or three hits in a fall's worth of scrimmages for Wichita State. Coach Brian Green thinks Johnson recorded one hit in the roughly 22 scrimmages.
 
"One of them was a bunt," Johnson said. "It was pretty rough. You know it was rough when by the second, maybe third, intrasquad of the spring I had more hits than the whole fall."
 
Johnson, an infielder from Boerne, Texas, is still hitting.
 
The Shockers (4-3) open their home schedule with a series against Utah Tech (1-8) starting at 3 p.m. Friday. Johnson is hitting .379 with two doubles, six runs and seven batted in in the leadoff spot. His five walks are tied for the team lead, and he owns one strikeout in seven games.
 
"He changed his game," Green said. "A completely different hitter. He's been the most consistent player we have with approach. Same guy every day."
 
College life can be rough on a freshman, especially when there is a coaching change a few months before school. Johnson went home for the holiday break unsure how he fit in.
 

He did, however, know how to start salvaging a tough fall. Green told him he needed to get stronger and stop trying to hit the ball in the air.
 
"Typical freshman," Green said. "I told him 'This is what you need to do: You're 160 pounds and you hit way too many fly balls in batting practice, and you pull everything. You've got to knock that off. You cannot pull the ball until you get stronger."
 
Johnson went to Boerne determined to eat plenty of chicken enchiladas – his mom's specialty – drink protein shakes and Gatorade, eat protein bars and work out regularly. He drilled on hitting the ball the opposite way in his comfortable high school batting cages.
 
Family, friends, and food. Johnson came back to Wichita State in January a different athlete.
 
"I was trying to impress Coach Green, because he was this new coach that didn't recruit me," he said. "Over Christmas break, I got to home and see all my friends and my family and my parents. Working out with them in my old high school and where I used to train, that was all pretty fun. It helped me realize it was still the same game I had always been playing."
 
Outfielder Lane Haworth, his roommate, credits family time with boosting Johnson's spirits.
 
"It really reset everything," Haworth said. "When we got back, he was more energetic and 'I like baseball.' In the fall, it was more stressful baseball."

 
One mechanical adjustment opened the door for Johnson's early success by helping him hit line drives and work to the opposite field.
 
"Changed his career," Green said. "Completely different hitter. He stopped trying to pull the ball and he started getting his foot down earlier. Scrimmages in the spring, he hit .400, .500. Tough at-bats."
 
Johnson, who has started three games at third and four at shortstop, said he went home for break weighing 180 pounds and returned in January at 191.
 
"That really helped," he said. "The biggest meals I could get. My mom (Patricia) is an amazing cook, so she was cooking for me a lot."
 
Johnson hit .423 as a senior at Boerne with eight triples and 34 steals. Hitting home runs, at least as a freshman, isn't his job.
 
"I'm focusing on staying backside, hitting the ball down, hard line drives, base hits," he said. "Every now and then I might sneak one out. I almost did against Virginia. I've got to hit the weight room a little bit more."
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.