Wichita State (22-25, 8-10 American) vs. UTSA (26-18, 12-6 AAC)

Friday, May 3 | 6:00 pm CT | San Antonio, Texas (Roadrunner Field)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Tommy LaPour (3-3, 4.86) vs. RHP Zach Royse (0-3, 5.97 ERA)

Saturday, May 4 | 2:00 pm CT | San Antonio, Texas (Roadrunner Field)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Caden Favors (6-4, 3.79) vs. RHP Ulises Quiroga (6-0, 3.72)

Sunday, May 5 | 1:00 pm CT | San Antonio, Texas (Roadrunner Field)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
TBA vs. TBA

---

SCENE SETTER: Wichita State opens a vital three-game American Athletic Conference series on Friday against UTSA, the league's second place team. The AAC standings from spots 3-8 are separated by just a single game, and even last-place Memphis is only three games back of third. The Shockers head into the weekend with a 22-25 overall record having dropped 15 of their last 18 games, including 10 straight road contests. Wichita State was run-ruled 21-6 on Tuesday at #14 Oklahoma State and dropped an 8-1 decision to Kansas on Wednesday in WSU's final midweek game of 2024. 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 of the series against the Roadrunners with Denning Gerig joining the broadcasts as color commentator. The games will also be streamed live on ESPN+. Live audio, in addition to live statistics, will be available at GoShockers.com/listen and ShockerStats.com. 

SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers and Roadrunners will be meeting for the first time on Friday.

SCOUTING UTSA: The Roadrunners enter the series on Friday with a 26-18 overall record and 12-6 mark in AAC play, besting Texas State 11-9 on Tuesday night. UTSA opened conference play by taking two of three games at home against top-10 East Carolina and had not lost a conference series until dropping two of three on the road Rice this past weekend. The Roadrunners boast one of the nation's most potent lineups with a team batting average of .312 that leads the conference and ranks 23rd nationally. Oregon transfer Mason Lytle has racked up 76 hits, third-most in the nation. A strike-throwing pitching staff issues just 3.56 walks per nine innings, the 20th-best mark in the country. Versatile righty Ruger Riojas leads the team in innings with 55.2 despite making just one start. Head coach Patrick Hallmark is in his fifth season at the helm of the Roadrunners with a 134-90 mark in San Antonio. As a player, he spent three seasons with the Wichita Wranglers (1999, 2000, 2002) while in the Kansas City Royals minor league system.

HOLMES ON THE CASE: No pitcher in college baseball has been busier than Wichita State left-hander Hunter Holmes, who is tied for the national lead with 28 appearances after a scoreless outing on Wednesday at Kansas. Primarily utilized for his ability to neutralize left-handed batters, Holmes has worked less than an inning in 17 of his 28 outings. The junior college transfer has allowed just nine hits in 45 at-bats against lefties for the season, a .200 batting average.

ROGERS REJUVENATION: After homering in Wichita State's midweek game at Oklahoma on April 23, Jordan Rogers homered in each end of the doubleheader on Sunday against Tulane. Rogers had hit just one home run in his first two seasons combined but has already launched eight round-trippers in 2024. This week's power surge follows a 24-game homerless drought for Rogers, who launched five round-trippers in his first 16 games to open the season.

PUMPING THE BRAKES: Derek Williams stole second base in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader against Tulane, a rare occurrence for Wichita State in 2024. The Shockers have stolen just 25 bases in 29 attempts on the season, ranking 262nd nationally, and have not had a game yet this season with more than two steals. WSU attempted only two steals in total over the last 10 games, both of which were successful.

FRESHMAN FINDING HIS FOOTING: Freshman shortstop Kam Durnin was limited in the fall by a hamate injury, an ailment that may have contributed to a slow start to 2024 in which the infielder was hitting just .136 on March 26. Since that time, Durnin has raised his average 112 points to its present .248 mark. In addition to the bump in average, Durnin has added power and patience to his offensive repertoire, with five doubles, two home runs and seven walks over his last 12 games.

KEEP IT IN THE YARD: For much of the season, Wichita State pitchers ranked among the national leaders in preventing home runs, but a recent stretch has seen opposing fly balls leaving the yard at a much higher rate. The Shockers have given up 28 home runs in the last 13 games, including a program-record nine long balls on Tuesday at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys Nolan Schubart hit four individually, the first player to homer four times in a game against WSU.

DEREK DOING DAMAGE: One of the conference's most impactful junior college transfers is Wichita State left fielder Derek Williams, who is tied for the AAC lead with 13 home runs after leaving the yard on Tuesday at #14 Oklahoma State. Williams is the only Shocker with a multi-homer game in 2024, connecting for a pair of round-trippers against Utah Tech on March 2 and again against Tulane on April 26 as part of a four-hit game.

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 11 starts and 7.0 innings or more in four of them. The southpaw has walked just six batters combined over his last five starts.

SLAM SHARING: Dayvin Johnson launched Wichita State's fourth grand slam of the season in game one of last Saturday's doubleheader at East Carolina, 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 had chances to add to their slam total this week but went a combined 0-for-7 with the bases loaded.

POWER OF THE PLUNK: Wichita State has tied a program record three times this season with six hit by pitches in a single game. The Shockers lead the conference and rank 10th nationally with 94 hit by pitches; Jordan Rogers (19), Mauricio Millan (16) and Derek Williams (15) rank 1-2-3 on the conference leaderboard. Rogers is 13th in the nation individually and has moved into fourth in program history with 32 career HBP.

WALK IT OFF: Mauricio Millan's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth against Kansas on April 4 delivered the first walk-off win of the season for Wichita State. The Shockers did not have a true walk-off win (not counting run-rule victories) in the entirety of the 2023 season, and their last such victory also came against Kansas when Garrett Kocis blasted a walk-off, two-run homer on March 23, 2022.

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 271-226-1, good for a .545 winning percentage.

TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE: With a program record of 2,332 wins, 1,272 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.