Wichita State (11-20, 4-5 American) vs. Newman (8-26, 4-20 MIAA)

Tuesday, April 8 | 11:00 am CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Jeremiah Arnett (0-1, 6.04) vs. RHP Brycen Schoenhofer (0-2, 12.00)

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SCENE SETTER: Wichita State returns home for their annual Kids Day game at Eck Stadium, hosting Newman in the first meeting between the two Wichita schools since the 1998 season. WSU dropped two of three games at Charlotte this past weekend, stealing the Saturday game with a three-run ninth inning in between losses on Friday 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 the game against Newman. The game will also be streamed on ESPN+ ($), with Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis on play-by-play and 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 Jets have played 17 times in program history, with Wichita State winning all 17 contests. 16 of the 17 games have been decided by six or more runs, the lone exception coming in 1983 when the Shockers claimed a 3-2 win. The most recent meeting came in 1998, a 22-3 Wichita State win. Wichita State hit five home runs in the fifth inning of that game, a program record. The Shockers played the Jets three times in 1978, the first season of the WSU program's rebirth, and in the final meeting that season Wichita State starter Larry Groves threw a five-inning no-hitter as part of an 11-0 victory, the first of six no-hitters in WSU history. Wichita State also hosted Newman in the first game in newly opened Eck Stadium on April 11, 1985.

SCOUTING NEWMAN: The Jets bring an overall record of 8-26 to Wichita, including a 4-20 record in MIAA play. Newman has lost their last 12 games heading into Tuesday, including a three-game sweep at the hands of Pitt State last time out. The losing streak was kicked off by a wild game against Missouri Southern on March 18; the Jets entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 24-14 but scored 10 runs to stay alive before ultimately falling 25-24 in 12 innings. Infielder Trent Trammel leads Newman with a .424 batting average, while Blake Mitchell and Hunter Brown have each launched seven homers. Jets pitchers have combined for a 9.66 ERA and 2.12 WHIP, both worst in the MIAA. Head coach Drew Maus is in his sixth season with the Jets, bringing a career record of 85-152 into play on Tuesday.

UNEXPECTED HERO: The Shockers got an unexpected boost from true freshman Hunter Carlson in Saturday's win over Charlotte. With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth and WSU trailing 2-1, Carlson was summoned as a pinch-hitter for his first at-bat since March 8. He blistered the second pitch of the AB into right field where it was misplayed by Charlotte right fielder Noah Furcht, scoring all three runs in what was ultimately a 4-2 Wichita State win.

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.

RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT: Wichita State did not attempt a single stolen base for the entirety of the three-game series at Charlotte, the first time this season the Shockers have gone three straight games without a stolen base attempt.

FREE PASSES: Wichita State pitchers handed out nine walks in 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 5.54 walks per nine innings and have hit 53 batters, second-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 48 at-bats, good for a .188 average. The Shockers have more double plays grounded into (10) than hits in bases loaded situations.

TRIPLE THREAT: The Shockers have hit 11 triples this season, ranking 25th 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 14 home runs through the first 31 games of the season, Brian Green has turned to the small ball approach more consistently in an attempt to generate offense. The Shockers rank 27th 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 16-for-49 over his last 13 games (.327) and has worked eight 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 45 at-bats for a staggering .489 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 63 times this season, including 11 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 2,352 wins, 1,295 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.