Wichita State (12-27, 4-11 American) at Kansas State (23-17, 10-8 Big 12)

Tuesday, April 22 | 6:00 pm CT | Manhattan, Kansas (Tointon Family Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Tyler Dobbs (1-2, 5.59) vs. RHP Tanner Duke (1-2, 5.40)

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SCENE SETTER: Wichita State attempts to snap a season-long seven-game losing skid Tuesday night on the road at Kansas State. The Shockers have just one midweek win in eight tries this season, a run-rule victory over Newman on April 8. WSU was swept in a three-game series at Florida Atlantic last time out, dropping into last place in the American Athletic Conference standings. 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 game against Kansas State, 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 Wildcats meet for the 106th time in program history on Tuesday, with the Shockers holding a 58-47 lead in the all-time series. Since restarting the baseball program in 1978, Wichita State has gone 55-35 against the Wildcats. The two teams played a wild game earlier this season in Wichita, with Kansas State hanging on for a 13-10 win on April 2. Wichita State trailed 12-1 into the bottom of the seventh inning but brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth in a game that featured a combined 24 hits, 15 walks, seven errors and five hit by pitches. The last NCAA postseason appearance for Wichita State came in Kansas State's regional back in 2013.

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE: The Wildcats bring a 23-17 record into Tuesday's game after suffering a sweep at the hands of Kansas over the weekend. Combined with a midweek sweep at Northeastern, Kansas State has dropped five consecutive games. The Wildcats have been nearly unbeatable at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, with a 13-1 home record compared to 10-16 in road/neutral games. A powerful lineup ranks second in the Big 12 with 64 home runs (25th nationally) led by double-digit dingers from Maximus Martin (12) and Keegan O'Connor (10). The Wildcats struggle defensively, with a team fielding percentage of .960 that is the worst mark in the Big 12 conference. Head coach Pete Hughes is in his seventh season at Kansas State and 28th overall, totaling a career record of 843-651-3 (.564).

MR. ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD: Redshirt senior Jordan Rogers has found his power stroke over the last two weeks. In the last 10 games, Rogers is slugging .703 with four doubles, three home runs and seven RBI. The veteran utility player homered twice in the Florida Atlantic series and is now tops on the team with 20 extra-base hits after recording 27 a year ago.

QUALITY START: On a pitching staff desperate for length out of the starting rotation, the Shockers have gotten a recent boost from sophomore Brady Hamilton. The right-hander set a career high in innings pitched in each of his last two outings, going 5.2 frames against UTSA on 4/13 before working 6.0 innings against Florida Atlantic on 4/19 for his first career quality start. The Shockers have not had a starter pitch into the eighth inning yet this season.

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 four total runs in innings 1-2 and 6-9 but have been outscored by a staggering 68 runs in innings 3-5. Kansas put up 11 runs (seven in the third, four in the fourth) in that stretch last Tuesday.

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

BULLPEN STRUGGLES: Wichita State relievers have combined for a 7.04 ERA this season in 171.1 innings, a figure that is exacerbated by an inability to limit extra-base hits. The bullpen has allowed 24 home runs and 42 doubles, nearly twice as many (11 and 25, respectively) as opponents in nearly the same amount of innings.

NO RUNNING: For the third 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 286th out of 299 teams nationally in stolen bases per game (0.51).

FREE PASSES: Wichita State pitchers walked 16 batters over 24 innings of the Florida Atlantic series, compared to just 18 strikeouts. The Shockers rank last in the American Athletic Conference with 5.72 walks per nine innings and have hit 64 batters, tied for second most in the conference.

BASES LOADED BLUES: This season with the bases loaded Wichita State has recorded just 11 hits (three for extra bases) in 59 at-bats, good for a .186 average. The Shockers have the same amount of double plays grounded into (11) as hits in bases loaded situations.

TRIPLE THREAT: The Shockers have hit 12 triples this season, ranking 34th nationally and four more than the next closest team in the American Athletic Conference (Tulane, 8). 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 23 home runs through the first 39 games of the season, the Shockers are on pace for their fewest homers in a season since the BBCOR era (24 homers in 2013). Wichita State has hit 50 or more homers in each of the last four seasons, including 74 last year.

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 25 hits in 56 at-bats for a staggering .446 average, while hitting a more modest .305 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, 1,304 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.