Tulane (22-19, 7-8 American) vs. Wichita State (21-21, 7-8 American)

Friday, April 26 | 6:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Luc Fladda (1-3, 4.56) vs. LHP Tyler Dobbs (5-3, 3.57)

Saturday, April 27 | 2:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Chandler Welch (5-1, 4.70) vs. LHP Caden Favors (5-4, 3.86)

Sunday, April 28 | 1:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
TBA vs. RHP Tommy LaPour (3-1, 4.20)

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SCENE SETTER: Wichita State returns to American Athletic Conference play this weekend with a three-game home series against Tulane. The Shockers have lost 11 of their last 13 games entering the series, sandwiching six and five-game losing skids around a pair of wins against Florida Atlantic. WSU is coming off a 3-1 road loss against #18 Oklahoma on Tuesday night, a low-scoring affair that featured a combined 16 pitchers (nine for Wichita State, seven for Oklahoma) but only eight combined hits. Wichita State is 15-7 at Eck Stadium this season but just 6-14 in road and neutral contests. 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. "The Voice of the Shockers" and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Mike Kennedy will have the call against the Green Wave. The series will also be streamed live on ESPN+, with former Shocker pitcher (1991-94) and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis handling play-by-play duties. Live audio, in addition to live statistics, will be available at GoShockers.com/listen and ShockerStats.com. 

SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers and Green Wave have met 26 times dating back to the 1993 season, with Tulane holding a 14-12 lead in the all-time series. Two of Wichita State's wins in 2012 were later vacated by the NCAA. Wichita State won two of three games against the Green Wave last season in New Orleans, splitting a Friday doubleheader before claiming the series finale on Sunday. The Shockers swept the last meeting in Wichita, taking all three games during the 2022 season including an 18-8 win in the middle game for WSU's first run-rule win in the series history. The first-ever matchup with Tulane came in Honolulu in 1993, a 5-3 Tulane win.

SCOUTING TULANE: The Green Wave bring a 22-19 overall record to Wichita, tied with the Shockers in the American Athletic Conference standings at 7-8 after taking two of three on the road at Florida Atlantic last weekend. Tulane has already surpassed their win total from a season ago when they finished 19-42 but pulled off a stunning run to the AAC tournament championship and a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Tulane offense is built around power, with a conference-high 88 doubles and 54 home runs that rank second on the circuit. Preseason conference player of the year Teo Banks is hitting just .229 but paces the Green Wave with 10 homers and 10 doubles. On the mound, Tulane has worked to a 5.18 team ERA led by closer Jacob Moore (3-2, 1.57, four saves). Head coach Jay Uhlman is in his second full season at the helm after taking over on an interim basis late in the 2022 season.

BY COMMITTEE: Wichita State slowed down one of the nation's hottest offenses on Tuesday night using a Johnny Wholestaff approach. Nine Shocker pitchers held #18 Oklahoma to just three hits on the night, with no single hurler recording more than four outs. The quartet of Mason Munz, Peyton Walters, Ronald Zayas and Ryan Geraghty entered the game with a combined 26.1 innings between them and held the Sooners to just one hit over 3.1 scoreless frames.

ROGERS REJUVENATION: The Shockers only offense on Tuesday night came courtesy of a Jordan Rogers solo home run in the top of the fourth inning. The long ball snapped a 24-game homerless drought for Rogers, who had launched five round-trippers in his first 16 games. Rogers also added a triple later in the contest, matching his extra-base hit total over the last 19 games combined.

SLIPPING AWAY: In Saturday's doubleheader at #9 East Carolina, Wichita State twice jumped out to significant leads but could not hold on against a talented Pirates offense. In game one, the Shockers used a seven-run third inning to take a 7-0 lead, but ECU answered immediately with a five-run home half and had taken the lead by the fifth. In game two, it was a three-run top of the first for Wichita State that lasted until the fourth inning when East Carolina scored three of their own. In both games, the Pirates scored 11 unanswered runs.

SLAM SHARING: Dayvin Johnson launched Wichita State's fourth grand slam of the season in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, matching the Shockers total from last season. All four of WSU's slams have come from different players (Seth Stroh - March 13 vs. Nebraska, Jordan Rogers - March 15 vs. Gonzaga, Derek Williams - April 14 vs. Florida Atlantic). The Shockers are hitting .302 (19-for-63) this season with the bases loaded.

BACK-TO-BACK: After Johnson's grand slam, Derek Williams followed with a solo home run to cap the scoring in a seven-run top of the third inning for Wichita State. It was the first time this season that the Shockers have connected for back-to-back home runs.

WHIFF WOES: East Carolina Friday night starter Trey Yesavage is a projected first round pick in this summer's MLB Draft and showed why in the series opener against the Shockers. The right-hander struck out a career-high 15 over 6.2 innings, including a stretch of nine of ten batters from the fourth through the sixth innings. Reliever Ethan Norby struck out all four men he faced to finish the game, leaving Wichita State with a season-high 19 strikeouts for the contest.

MUNZ EMERGENCE: For much of the season, Wichita State's primary bullpen options have been Hunter Holmes (24 appearances, 4th nationally), Caleb Anderson (22 appearances, 13th nationally) and Nate Adler (five saves). The mid-season emergence of right-hander Mason Munz has added a valuable arm to the mix; the Cloud County CC transfer has allowed just three hits over 10.0 innings on the season and has surrendered a run in just one of his nine appearances (4/2 vs. Oklahoma).

INNINGS EATER: Friday starter Caden Favors entered the 2024 season with a single-game career high of 5.0 innings, coming in a 2023 midweek start against Oklahoma. As the front man in the Wichita State weekend rotation this season, Favors has evolved into a durable starter, logging at least 5.2 innings in each of his 10 starts and 7.0 innings or more in four of them. The southpaw has walked just three batters combined over his last four starts.

POWER OF THE PLUNK: Wichita State tied a program record for hit by pitches twice in the Rice series, earning six HBPs on both Thursday and Saturday. The Shockers lead the conference and rank eighth nationally with 88 hit by pitches; Jordan Rogers (18), Mauricio Millan (15) and Derek Williams (14) rank 1-2-3 on the conference leaderboard. Rogers is 13th in the nation individually and has moved into third in program history with 31 career HBP.

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 270-222-1, good for a .548 winning percentage.

TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE: With a program record of 2,331 wins, 1,268 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.