Nebraska (9-4, 0-0 Big Ten) vs. Wichita State (9-5, 0-0 American)

Tuesday, March 12 | 6:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Will Walsh (0-0, 6.00) vs. RHP Brady Hamilton (0-1, 2.00)

Wednesday, March 13 | 6:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KNSS 98.7 FM/1330 AM
RHP Ryan Harrahill (0-0, 0.00) vs. TBA

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SCENE SETTER: Fresh off a series win against Long Beach State over the weekend, the Shockers look to continue their strong start to the 2024 season with a two-game midweek set against Nebraska at Eck Stadium. Wichita State has not played a two-game midweek series against the same opponent since the 2020 season when the Shockers defeated Air Force twice. The Shockers were scheduled to play Nebraska later that season when the remainder of the campaign was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series victory against the Dirtbags was the first for Wichita State over Long Beach State since the 2009 season, when the Shockers also took two of three. The Shockers are in the midst of a stretch that will see them play 12 of 13 games at home. Wichita State is 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. Wednesday'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 will handle the radio broadcast for both contests. Both games will also be streamed live on ESPN+, with Pat Strathman calling the action Tuesday and Denning Gerig taking over play-by-play duties on Wednesday. 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 Huskers have met 50 times in program history with Nebraska holding a slim 26-24 advantage. In the modern era of the Wichita State program (1978-present), WSU leads the series 23-20. The two teams last met in 2018, a three-game series in Wichita in which the Shockers took two of three. WSU nearly completed the sweep, but the Huskers rallied to tie the series finale with two runs in the ninth and one more in the tenth for a 10-9 victory that handed Wichita State their first loss of the season. Future major leaguer Alec Bohm homered in all three games of the series for Wichita State. The Shockers and Huskers have one postseason meeting, an 8-1 Nebraska victory in the championship game of the 2000 Minnesota Regional in Minneapolis.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA: The Huskers bring an overall record of 9-4 into play on Tuesday following a series win over South Alabama in the first home games of 2024 for Nebraska. Led by a strike-throwing pitching staff that ranks second nationally with 2.55 walks per nine innings and 15th nationally with a 3.18:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the Huskers have won each of their three weekend series after going 1-2 against three different Big 12 teams to open the year. Nebraska has not played a midweek game yet this season. Offensively, the Huskers rely primarily on a small-ball approach with more sacrifice bunts (13) than home runs (11). Junior Rhett Stokes was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday after going 9-for-12 with three-hit games in all three contests of the series against South Alabama. Nebraska alum Will Bolt is in his fifth season as head coach of the Huskers, owning a career record of 106-79 (.573). The Huskers ranked third in the last edition of the RPI announced on Monday.

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 258-206-1, good for a .556 winning percentage.

DON'T CHOP AT IT, IT'S NOT A SWORD: The WSU pitching staff has been among the toughest teams in the country to barrel up in 2024. The Shockers are holding opponents to a .205 batting average and allowing just 6.77 hits per nine innings, the ninth-best mark in the country. Over the weekend against Long Beach State, Wichita State surrendered a total of 13 hits (4 on Friday, 5 on Saturday, 4 on Sunday).

CADEN IN COMMAND: The arms are led by senior left-handed pitcher Caden Favors, who was named American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for a second consecutive week on Monday. Favors ranks among the nation's leaders in virtually every meaningful category, including wins (3, 13th), strikeouts (35, 13th), ERA (1.59, 43rd) and WHIP (0.99, 94th). Dating back to a start against Virginia on February 23, the southpaw has not allowed an earned run over his last 19.0 innings of work.

SHARK ATTACK: One of the goals for the Wichita State offense in 2024 is more production with two outs, with the team assigning the term "shark" to a two-out RBI. The result has been nearly twice as many two-out RBI as the opposition (29-15) and a two-out batting average that is 35 points higher than their opponents (.243-.208).

RISING TO THE OCCASION: Senior right-handed pitcher Nate Adler logged just 3.2 innings last season over five appearances. It has been a different story in 2024, as Adler has yet to allow an earned run over 8.2 innings and ranks tied for fifth nationally with four saves. 

PINCH-HIT POP: Coming into the 2024 season, WSU had not had a pinch-hit home run since Mason O'Brien came off the bench and homered against South Florida on May 11, 2018. Junior Josh Livingston has already accomplished the feat twice through the first 11 games of 2024, cranking a three-run shot against Iowa on February 25 and replicating the achievement with a solo blast against Oklahoma on March 5.

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).

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.

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 2,319 wins, 1,253 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.