Wichita State (13-30, 5-13 American) vs. East Carolina (26-19, 10-8 American)

Friday, May 2 | 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 (3-5, 6.63) vs. LHP Ethan Norby (5-4, 3.67)

Saturday, May 3 | 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 Brady Hamilton (2-5, 5.37) vs. TBA

Sunday, May 4 | 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
TBA vs. TBA

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SCENE SETTER: Wichita State hosts the defending American Athletic Conference regular season champion East Carolina Pirates in a crucial three-game series beginning Friday night. After a 1-2 showing against South Florida, WSU is currently in ninth place in the AAC standings; only the top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament. Wichita State's win over South Florida on Saturday snapped a nine-game losing streak, the second longest in the modern era of the program (11 - 2022). 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 East Carolina. 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 Pirates have met 25 times in the all-time series, with Wichita State leading 13-12. The two teams played six times in 2024, a three-game series in Greenville that the Pirates swept (6-4, 11-7, 11-4) and then three times at the conference tournament in Clearwater, where Wichita State won the first and third matchups to eliminate top-seeded East Carolina. WSU swept the last series in Wichita, outscoring #7 East Carolina in 2023 by the combined total of 23-3. The only matchup prior to 2018 came in the 1991 Midwest Regional in Wichita, when the Shockers opened the regional with a 10-5 victory over the Pirates.

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates bring a 26-19 record to Wichita after a midweek win at Elon on Tuesday. East Carolina is 10-8 in AAC play, currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings. ECU has won five consecutive regular season titles in The American (not including COVID-shortened 2020 season) and reached the NCAA tournament eight times under head coach Cliff Godwin. The Pirates current .578 winning percentage would be the second lowest in Godwin's 11 seasons at the helm (2017 - .533). Friday night starter Ethan Norby, brother of former Pirates star Connor Norby, was a Freshman All-American in 2024 and has 85 strikeouts in 61.1 innings this season. Greenville native Dixon Williams leads the conference in walks (39) and is second in stolen bases (18).

REPEAT PERFORMANCE: Last season, shortstop Kam Durnin shook off a slow start by raising his batting average 131 points from March 26 through the end of the season. Now a sophomore, Durnin has once again shed a quiet first two months of the season to become one of the Shockers best hitters. Heading into WSU's game against Oklahoma State on March 25, Durnin was hitting .227 with seven extra-base hits. In the 20 games since, he has gone 27-for-71 (.380) with seven doubles, a triple and two home runs to raise his season average to .296.

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 three outings, going 5.2 frames against UTSA on 4/13 before working 6.0 innings against Florida Atlantic on 4/19 and following up with a 7.2 innings outing against South Florida on 4/26. That start was the first time this season a Shocker starter has recorded an out in the eighth inning.

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 six total runs in innings 1-2 and 6-9 but have been outscored by a staggering 79 runs in innings 3-5. South Florida outscored the Shockers 10-5 during that stretch over the weekend.

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 87 times this season, including a program-record eight on April 15 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 7.09 ERA this season in 191.2 innings, a figure that is exacerbated by an inability to limit extra-base hits. The bullpen has allowed 30 home runs and 49 doubles, nearly twice as many (12 and 28, respectively) as opponents in nearly the same amount of innings.

NO RUNNING: With Jordan Rogers successful steal of second base against South Florida on Saturday, Wichita State snapped a stretch of 12 consecutive conference games without a steal. The Shockers are just 21-for-27 in stolen base attempts this season, ranking 291st out of 299 teams nationally in stolen bases per game (0.49).

FREE PASSES: Wichita State pitchers walked six batters in Sunday's loss to South Florida. The Shockers rank last in the American Athletic Conference with 5.59 walks per nine innings and have hit 68 batters, 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 13 triples this season, ranking 40th nationally with four more than the next closest team in the American Athletic Conference (Tulane, 9). 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 28 home runs through the first 43 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 28 hits in 61 at-bats for a staggering .459 average, while hitting a more modest .280 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.

TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE: With a program record of 2,355 wins, 1,306 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.