Wichita State (8-16, 1-2 American) vs. UAB (15-10, 1-2 American)

Friday, March 28 | 6:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Grant Adler (2-1, 6.34) vs. LHP Cole Cheatham (3-2, 4.99)

Saturday, March 29 | 2:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Aaron Arnold (3-1, 4.02) vs. RHP Colin Daniel (3-1, 3.89)

Sunday, March 30 | 12:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Brady Hamilton (1-1, 5.65) vs. RHP Chase Ingram (2-2, 3.27)

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SCENE SETTER: Wichita State returns to Eck Stadium for the first home conference series of 2025, hosting the UAB Blazers for a three-game set beginning on Friday night. Last time out, Wichita State dropped a midweek contest at Oklahoma State, 9-5, on the heels of a 1-2 showing in the conference-opening series at Tulane in which WSU won 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 of all three contests with the Blazers. The games will also be streamed on ESPN+ ($), with Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis on play-by-play and former Shocker outfielder Corrigan Bartlett as color commentator. Live audio, in addition to live statistics, will be available at GoShockers.com/listen and ShockerStats.com. 

SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers and Blazers met for the first time last season, squaring off in a three-game series in Birmingham before meeting again in the conference tournament. Wichita State dropped the Friday game 5-3 in what was the 2024 conference opener but bounced back with 9-2 and 9-1 wins to claim the series. The Shocker bullpen allowed just one run over 10 total innings in the series. The two teams faced off at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida in the opening round of the AAC Championship; a great start from Caden Favors (6.1 IP, 1 R, 7 K) and homers from Josh Livingston and Seth Stroh powered the Shockers to an 8-2 win.

SCOUTING UAB: The Blazers bring a 15-10 overall record to Wichita, including a 1-2 mark in American Athletic Conference play after losing two of three in their conference-opening series against South Florida last weekend. UAB opened the season 13-3, highlighted by a win over nationally ranked Auburn on March 5, but have dropped seven of the last nine and three in a row after a midweek home loss to Jacksonville State. Offensively, UAB is led by senior outfielder Logan Braunschweig, who has reached based in 53 straight games and leads the conference with 14 stolen bases, and junior college transfer Todd Clay, who is hitting .422. The Blazers have already totaled 10 saves this season, including four apiece from Brendan Conner and Ryan Olson. Head coach Casey Dunn is in his fourth season at UAB after 17 seasons at Samford; he owns a career record of 539-522 (.508) in 21 total campaigns.

SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY: Two Shockers made the most of their starting spot in Tuesday's game against Oklahoma State. Jordan Black (first start since March 1) had two walks and an RBI triple while Kaleb Duncan (second start since March 5) had an RBI single and a run-scoring groundout in four at-bats.

WALK WOES: Wichita State pitchers handed out 10 walks in Tuesday's loss at Oklahoma State, the second time this season WSU has cracked double digits in that category (17 vs. Louisiana Tech on March 14). The Shockers rank last in the American Athletic Conference with 5.51 walks per nine innings.

GIVE HIM A MULLIGAN: Friday night starter Grant Adler enters the UAB series with a somewhat pedestrian season ERA of 6.34 through six starts. The overall numbers are largely skewed by an outing against Louisiana Tech in which wind gusts of nearly 50 miles per hour produced a 27-12 game and 12 earned runs on Adler's line. With the exception of that start, the righty has pitched to a 3.30 ERA.

POWER SURGE: A power-starved Wichita State lineup put together the best extra-base hit barrage of the season in last 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.

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 20 hits in 35 at-bats for a staggering .571 average, while hitting a more modest .279 against righties.

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 15 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.

NEW NAME, NEW PERKS: February 28 marked the first game under the enhanced naming at Eck Stadium, now known officially as Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park. What was originally known as Shocker Field when the baseball program was reinstituted in the 1978 season, Eck has undergone several major renovations to reach its current form. This past offseason, the facility added new state-of-the-art lights, mesh chairback seats behind home plate and loge boxes down the first base line.

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 49 times this season, including nine 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, 1,293 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.