Wichita State (12-24, 4-8 American) at Florida Atlantic (24-12, 6-6 American)

Thursday, April 17 | 5:30 pm CT | Boca Raton, Florida (FAU Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Grant Adler (3-3, 5.90) vs. LHP Trey Beard (6-0, 2.92)

Friday, April 18 | 5:30 pm CT | Boca Raton, Florida (FAU Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Aaron Arnold (4-2, 5.40) vs. RHP Tyler Murphy (3-2, 4.69)

Saturday, April 19 | 12:00 pm CT | Boca Raton, Florida (FAU Baseball Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Brady Hamilton (1-4, 5.82) vs. RHP James Litman (2-1, 4.82)

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SCENE SETTER: Wichita State attempts to snap a season-long four-game losing skid on the road at Florida Atlantic. The series begins Thursday and runs through Saturday to avoid playing on Easter Sunday, with first pitch times of 5:30 pm, 5:30 pm and 12:00 pm. It's a short turnaround for the Shockers after a wild 18-12 midweek defeat on Tuesday at Kansas, a game that lasted more than four hours and featured a combined 29 hits and 30 runs. Wichita State is in search of their first road series win of the season, having dropped sets to McNeese, Hawaii, Nebraska (two-game midweek), Tulane and Charlotte. 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 Florida Atlantic, with Denning Gerig 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 Owls played for the first time last season, with Wichita State winning two of three games at Eck Stadium in Wichita. FAU won the series opener 4-2 behind a pair of home runs from John Schroeder, but Wichita State bounced back to take the next two contests. A six-run eighth inning in the Saturday contest erased a late deficit to even the series with a 14-9 decision, then the Shockers claimed the rubber match 10-5 thanks to five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts from left-hander Tyler Dobbs.

SCOUTING FLORIDA ATLANTIC: The Owls bring a record of 24-12 into play on Thursday, including a 6-6 mark in American Athletic Conference play. FAU was riding high after a three-game road sweep of East Carolina followed by a series opening win over Memphis last Friday, but the Owls have since lost three consecutive one-run games, including a 5-4 decision at Miami on Tuesday. Florida Atlantic owns the best ERA in the conference (4.17) led by Thursday night starter Trey Beard (6-0, 2.92) and closer MJ Bollinger (8 saves, 2.33). The Owls have also clubbed a league-best 44 home runs, paced by nine apiece from John Schroeder and Marshall Lipsey. Longtime head coach John McCormack is in his 17th season with the Owls, boasting a career record of 564-363 (.608).

ANOTHER BARN-BURNER: Wichita State and Kansas played a classic midweek slugfest on Tuesday night in Lawrence, totaling 55 baserunners and 30 runs over more than four hours in an 18-12 Kansas victory. Wichita State banged out a season-high-tying 16 hits but stranded 18 runners on base, a new program record for a nine-inning game. Of the last 19 games the Shockers have played, six of them have featured 20 or more total runs.

MIDDLE INNING MADNESS: For the majority of games, Wichita State has outplayed their opposition on an inning-by-inning basis. The middle frames, however, have proven problematic. The Shockers are outscoring opponents by 15 total runs in innings 1-2 and 6-9 but have been outscored by a staggering 65 runs in innings 3-5. Kansas put up 11 runs (seven in the third, four in the fourth) in that stretch on Tuesday.

REVENGE GAME: Redshirt senior first baseman Ryan Callahan had a game to remember on Tuesday. The former Kansas Jayhawk punished his old team to the tune of three hits and five RBI, matching a career high in the former category and setting a new career high in the latter. Callahan also reached base two more times via a walk and hit by pitch, and nearly added a grand slam to his ledger with a deep fly ball in the second inning that was caught on the warning track.

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 77 times this season, including a program-record eight on Tuesday at Kansas. WSU finished 16th nationally in team HBPs last season, led by Mauricio Millan's new program and conference record 24.

COOLING OFF: Two of Wichita State's hottest hitters found their recent surge blunted in the series against UTSA. Junior Jaden Gustafson had been hitting .429 in his previous 14 games (18-for-42) but went just 1-for-11 in the series and sophomore Gannon Snyder's .346 clip in the same 14 games was snuffed out by an 0-for-11 showing.

NO RUNNING: For the second consecutive weekend series, Wichita State did not attempt a stolen base. The Shockers are just 20-for-26 in stolen base attempts this season, ranking 285th out of 299 teams nationally in stolen base attempts per game (0.56).

FREE PASSES: Wichita State pitchers walked 10 batters in Tuesday's defeat at Kansas, marking the 11th time this season WSU has walked seven or more. The Shockers rank last in the American Athletic Conference with 5.69 walks per nine innings and have hit 61 batters, second most in the conference.

BASES LOADED BLUES: This season with the bases loaded Wichita State has recorded just 10 hits (three for extra bases) in 56 at-bats, good for a .179 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 38th nationally and nearly twice as many as the next closest team in the American Athletic Conference (Tulane, 7). 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 20 home runs through the first 35 games of the season, Brian Green has turned to the small ball approach more consistently in an attempt to generate offense. The Shockers rank 48th nationally with 22 sacrifice bunts this season and had five in the UAB series. Wichita State had 30 sacrifice bunts last season.

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 24 hits in 51 at-bats for a staggering .471 average, while hitting a more modest .299 against righties. 

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, 1,301 losses and nine ties, Wichita State ranks in the top ten of all college baseball programs with a .643 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.