Wichita State (8-15, 1-2 American) at Oklahoma State (11-10, 1-3 Big 12)
Tuesday, March 25Â | 6:00Â pm CT | Stillwater, Oklahoma (O'Brate Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFHÂ 97.5Â FM/1240Â AM
RHP Brady Hamilton (1-2, 6.07) vs. TBA
SCENE SETTER: Wichita State heads back on the road for a midweek contest at longtime foe Oklahoma State on Tuesday night. The Shockers have yet to play a home midweek game this season and have dropped each of their four previous midweek matchups (Chaminade, Abilene Christian, Nebraska 2x). Last time out, Wichita State went 1-2 in the conference-opening series at Tulane, winning the Friday contest before falling on Saturday and Sunday. The Shockers are coming off a 32-29 season in 2024 that included a 15-12 mark in American Athletic Conference play, tying for third in the final conference standings. WSU went on to reach the championship game of the AAC Tournament for the first time in program history, falling to Tulane, 11-10. 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 2025. "The Voice of the Shockers" Mike Kennedy will have the call from Stillwater, with Denning Gerig joining the broadcast as color commentator. The game will also be streamed live on ESPN+ ($). Live audio, in addition to live statistics, will be available at GoShockers.com/listen and ShockerStats.com.Â
SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers and Cowboys meet for the 108th time on Tuesday, with Oklahoma State holding a 69-38 lead in the all-time series. The Cowboys have won 15 of the last 18 meetings, including three victories last season against the Shockers. In the only game last season in Stillwater, Oklahoma State rolled to a 21-6 win in seven innings, led by four home runs and seven RBI from Nolan Schubart. Wichita State allowed a program-record nine home runs in the defeat. Prior to the WSU program's rebirth in 1978, the Shockers were just 2-25 against the Cowboys. The two programs have battled 15 times in NCAA postseason play, including a pair of matchups in the College World Series. Wichita State defeated the Cowboys in Omaha in 1982 and 1993.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE: The Cowboys enter play on Tuesday with an overall record of 11-10 coming off a weekend series loss at Utah. Oklahoma State is led by the potent duo of sluggers Colin Brueggemann (.366, 6 HR, 26 RBI) and Nolan Schubart (.338, 5 HR, 24 RBI) as part of an offensive unit that is slugging .482 and averages just over seven runs per game. The Cowboy pitching staff has combined for a 4.21 ERA, ranking second in the Big 12 and in the top 20 nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (10.8) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.08). Head coach Josh Holliday is in his 13th season leading the Cowboys, boasting an overall record of 456-248 for a .647 winning percentage. Former Shocker Garrett Bayliff is on Holliday's staff as a strength and conditioning/sports performance coach.
POWER SURGE: A power-starved Wichita State lineup put together the best extra-base hit barrage of the season in Friday's win against Tulane. The Shockers opened the game with four consecutive extra-base hits (2B, 2B, 2B, HR), the first time WSU has had four consecutive extra-base hits in an inning since March 5, 2023 against Oakland. All told, Wichita State finished the game with a season-high six doubles plus two home runs from Josh Livingston, the first time this season WSU has hit multiple home runs in a game.
PROS AND CONS: The good news from Wichita State's series-finale game against Tulane is the Shockers worked a season-high 12 walks and matched a season-high with four hit by pitches for a total of 16 free passes. The bad news is the Shockers failed to do much with the charity, going 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position, hitting into two bases-loaded double plays and stranding a season-high 16 runners on base. The 16 LOB is the most in a single game for Wichita State since they matched that number against Oklahoma State on April 9, 2024 at Riverfront Stadium.
ALL THE WRONG RECORDS: Last Friday night's loss to Louisiana Tech was a night to forget for the Shockers. The Bulldogs drew 17 walks, had 13 extra-base hits and rolled to a 27-12 win. The 27 runs are the third most allowed in Wichita State program history and the most in the modern era of the program. The 17 walks are the second most in program history, behind only a 23-walk game against Lamar in 1985. Six of seven Wichita State pitchers in the game issued multiple walks.
REVERSE SPLITS: Sophomore infielder Camden Johnson has defied all the conventional wisdom of left-on-left matchups so far this season. When facing same-side pitching, Johnson has 19 hits in 34 at-bats for a staggering .559 average, while hitting a more modest .276 against righties.Â
SMALL BALL: With just 10 home runs through the first 23 games of the season, Brian Green has turned to the small ball approach more consistently in an attempt to generate offense. The Shockers lead the American Athletic Conference and rank 31st nationally with 16 sacrifice bunts this season, including three apiece from Jordan Black, Ryan Callahan and Jordan Rogers.
ON THE RUN: The Wichita State running game was virtually nonexistent in the early weeks of the 2025 season, as the Shockers were 0-for-5 in attempted stolen bases through nine games. Since then, WSU has found success on the basepaths; the Shockers are 15-for-15 over the last 14 contests, including four total steals in the most recent series at Tulane.
KEEPING UP WITH KRESKE: The Shockers have gotten a significant offensive boost from redshirt senior catcher Logan Kreske, who had just four hitless at-bats last season. The veteran backstop has reached base in half of his 16 plate appearances, including five hits. Kreske reached base in all six of his plate appearances over two games against Louisiana Tech.
WALK-OFF WINS: After recording just one walk-off win in 2024, the Shockers have turned the trick twice in their first six home games of 2025. Mauricio Millan capped a wild series finale against Missouri State with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for a 9-8 win and the previous weekend outfielder Lane Haworth launched a two-out, two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift WSU to a 5-4 win over Cal State Fullerton on February 28. Haworth's blast was the first walk-off home run for Wichita State since Garrett Kocis connected for a two-run shot against Kansas on March 23, 2022.
POWER OF THE PLUNK: Wichita State shattered the program record for hit by pitches in 2024, drawing 116 HBPs to best the previous mark (84 in 2019) by 32. The Shockers have already been hit 46 times this season, including eight games with three HBPs or more. WSU finished 16th nationally in team HBPs last season, led by Mauricio Millan's new program and conference record 24.
PRESEASON PUB: Wichita State was picked second in the 2025 American Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll, the highest preseason projection for the Shockers since joining the conference in 2017. The Shockers had never been picked higher than fourth in the American preseason poll, a status they reached just once in the 2022 edition. WSU also matched Tulane for the most representatives on the Preseason All-Conference Team; catcher Mauricio Millan, first baseman Josh Livingston, second baseman Jordan Rogers and shortstop Camden Johnson were all recognized by the conference, with Millan as the unanimous selection behind the plate.
GETTING THE GANG BACK TOGETHER: Wichita State returned just 11 total players to their 2024 roster following the coaching change that brought Brian Green to Wichita, but this season the Shockers enter the year with significantly more experience. On the position player front, WSU returns nine players who started 10 or more games, while the pitching staff features nine hurlers who appeared in eight or more contests.
PORTAL POWER: Wichita State turned to the portal for seven D1 transfers: Grant Adler (Kansas), Cole Dillon (Arizona), Jace Miner (Oklahoma), Arnad Mulamekic (Siena), Owen Reynolds (Oral Roberts), MJ Seo (LSU) and Owen Washburn (Texas Tech). Adler and Miner both began their D1 careers at Wichita State before transferring during the coaching change, with Adler named the AAC Newcomer Pitcher of the Year in 2023 and Miner earning Second Team All-Conference honors as a reliever.
UPS AND DOWNS: The 2024 season was a true roller coaster ride for Wichita State. The Shockers entered the month of April at 18-9 following a three-game sweep of Rice, but had a miserable month that threatened to derail the season. WSU went 4-17 in their next 21 games, suffering a pair of conference sweeps at the hands of South Florida and East Carolina. But the Shockers righted the ship in May, winning a season-best seven games in a row from May 4-17 and reaching the championship game of the American Athletic Conference tournament with the help of two wins over top-seeded East Carolina.
TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE: With a program record of 2,350 wins, 1,292 losses and nine ties, Wichita State ranks in the top ten of all college baseball programs with a .644 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.
