Wichita State (12-20, 4-5 American) vs. UTSA (25-9, 7-2 American)

Friday, April 11 | 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 (3-2, 5.89) vs. RHP Zach Royse (3-4, 5.36)

Saturday, April 12 | 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 (4-1, 3.28) vs. RHP Braylon Owens (4-1, 4.57)

Sunday, April 13 | 1:00 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 (1-3, 5.50) vs. LHP Conor Myles (2-1, 4.68)

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SCENE SETTER: Wichita State hosts American Athletic Conference leaders UTSA for a three-game series this weekend at Eck Stadium, with first pitch times of 6:00, 2:00 and 1:00 pm. WSU brings a 12-20 record into the series opener after a 14-2 home victory over Newman on Tuesday afternoon in game that was called after seven innings due to the 10-run rule. 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 the series against UTSA. All three games will also be streamed on ESPN+ ($), with Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis on play-by-play and former WSU outfielder Corrigan Bartlett joining the broadcast 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 Roadrunners met for the first time last season, a three-game series in San Antonio that ended with Wichita State winning two of three. UTSA held off Wichita State in the series opener, 6-5, before the Shockers swept a doubleheader the following day. Caden Favors tossed a complete game five-hitter in the first contest, an 11-2 WSU win, then the Shockers rallied for an 8-4 win in the nightcap. Wichita State scored seven runs in the top of the seventh to erase a 2-0 deficit, highlighted by a pinch-hit grand slam from Josh Livingston.

SCOUTING UTSA: The Roadrunners are off to a strong start in 2025, bringing a 25-9 overall record and 7-2 conference mark to Wichita. UTSA has won all three of their conference series: at Charlotte, home vs. Florida Atlantic (sweep) and at UAB. The Roadrunners have dominated at Roadrunner Field in San Antonio, boasting a 17-1 record. UTSA also owns road wins against ranked teams in Texas A&M, Dallas Baptist and Texas. The Roadrunners lead the American Athletic Conference in seven offensive categories: batting average (.319), on-base percentage (.426), runs (281), hits (362), RBIs (256), total bases (550) and stolen bases (50). Head coach Pat Hallmark is in his sixth season at the helm of the Roadrunners with a 165-105 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.

HOME COOKING: Wichita State has been a significantly better offensive team at the friendly confines of Eck Stadium in 2025. The Shockers are slashing .315/.424/.466 in 14 home games but just .225/.330/.347 in 17 road contests. Most notably, WSU's strikeout rate at home (19.3% of at-bats) is nearly eight full percentage points better than the same figure on the road (27.1%).

CAN'T KEEP CAM DOWN: Sophomore infielder Camden Johnson set a new career high with four walks in Tuesday's win over Newman, the first time since 2014 (Dayne Parker) that a Shocker has drawn four walks in a non-extra inning game. The free passes extended Johnson's current on-base streak to 25 consecutive games.

ALL ABOARD THE GUS BUS: Since the middle of March, junior outfielder Jaden Gustafson is one of the hottest hitters in the country. Over the last 14 games, the Wichita native has eight multi-hit games and is hitting .429 (18-for-42) with 10 RBI after driving in just three runs in his first 17 contests. Six of his 18 hits in that time frame have gone for extra bases and Gustafson has added 13 walks in the 14 games.

KEEP IT CLEAN: Wichita State turned in one of their best defensive performances of the season against Charlotte. The Shockers committed just one error over the course of the three-game series, which came on a pickoff attempt in the first inning of Saturday's game. The one error is the fewest by Wichita State in a series this season.

FREE PASSES: Wichita State pitchers handed out nine walks in last Wednesday's loss vs. Kansas State, the fourth time this season WSU has walked eight or more (17 vs. Louisiana Tech on March 14, 10 at Oklahoma State on March 25, vs. UAB on March 30). The Shockers rank last in the American Athletic Conference with 5.43 walks per nine innings and have hit 53 batters, third-most in the conference.

BASES LOADED BLUES: This season with the bases loaded Wichita State has recorded just nine hits (three for extra bases) in 50 at-bats, good for a .180 average. The Shockers have more double plays grounded into (11) than hits in bases loaded situations.

TRIPLE THREAT: The Shockers have hit 11 triples this season, ranking 29th nationally and nearly twice as many as the next closest team in the American Athletic Conference (Tulane, 6). Wichita State hit three triples in the UAB series, capped off by the first of Mauricio Millan's career in the Sunday series finale.

SMALL BALL: With just 16 home runs through the first 32 games of the season, Brian Green has turned to the small ball approach more consistently in an attempt to generate offense. The Shockers rank 30th nationally with 22 sacrifice bunts this season and had five in the UAB series. Wichita State had 30 sacrifice bunts last season.

GANNON GETS GOING: After a slow start to the season in which he went 3-for-17 and started only three of the first 18 games, sophomore Gannon Snyder has surged into a regular role thanks to a recent hot stretch. Snyder is 18-for-52 over his last 14 games (.346) and has worked nine walks after walking just once in his first 13 contests.

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 22 hits in 46 at-bats for a staggering .478 average, while hitting a more modest .280 against righties. 

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 68 times this season, including 12 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 2,354 wins, 1,297 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.