Wichita State (15-32, 7-14 American) at Rice (15-34, 8-13 American)

Friday, May 9 | 6:30 pm CT | Houston, Texas (Reckling Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Grant Adler (4-5, 6.44) vs. RHP Davion Hickson (2-6, 3.90)

Saturday, May 10 | 2:00 pm CT | Houston, Texas (Reckling Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Brady Hamilton (2-6, 5.37) vs. TBA

Sunday, May 11 | 1:00 pm CT | Houston, Texas (Reckling Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
TBA vs. TBA

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SCENE SETTER: Wichita State hits the road for the final time in the 2025 regular season, traveling to Houston for a crucial three-game series with Rice. Last time out, WSU was bested by BYU 9-2 on Tuesday afternoon at Eck Stadium, dropping Wichita State's record in midweek contests to 1-9. 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 Rice, 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 have played just eight times in program history, three of which have occurred in NCAA postseason play. Wichita State swept the first conference series between the two clubs last season in Wichita by scores of 7-5, 10-3 and 15-3 in seven innings. Prior to last year, the only regular season meeting between the two came in 1986, as the Shockers swept a two-game series in Houston by scores of 8-7 and 4-1. In 1996, the Shockers routed Rice 16-6 in Wichita to claim the Midwest Regional crown and advance to the College World Series. The Owls got their revenge in 2003, downing the Shockers 10-1 and 5-2 in the Houston Regional championship game. Rice went on to win the College World Series that season.

SCOUTING RICE: The Owls check in to play on Friday with a 15-34 record, including an 8-13 mark in American Athletic Conference play. Rice opened the season 2-16, prompting the firing of head coach José Cruz Jr. and the hiring of former assistant coach David Pierce. The Owls are coming off a series win against Charlotte and a midweek victory over Prairie View A&M on Wednesday night at Reckling Park. Offensively, Rice ranks near the bottom of the national leaderboard in several categories, including scoring (5.0 runs per game - 281st nationally), on-base percentage (.334 - 295th) and slugging percentage (.387 - 252nd). The pitching staff is bolstered by talented junior righty Davion Hickson, who fired a one-hit shutout against Charlotte last Friday. Reliever Jack Ben-Shoshan has picked up three wins and a save in his last six outings.

SETTING THE SCENE: With just two weekends remaining in the regular season schedule, the American Athletic Conference race has begun to take shape. The top eight teams in the conference standings qualify for the AAC Championship in Clearwater, Florida. UTSA (18-3) has already clinched at least a share of the league title and can secure the outright championship with any win in their last six games or losses by Florida Atlantic, Charlotte or South Florida (12-9). Those three teams are all deadlocked in second place and just one game clear of both Tulane and East Carolina (11-10). Rice (8-13), UAB, Memphis and Wichita State (7-14) are battling for the final two spots.

WALK-OFF WINNERS: Jaden Gustafson delivered Wichita State's latest walk-off on Sunday against East Carolina, punching an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to cap an 8-7 win. The Shockers have already logged four walk-off wins this season: Lane Haworth's two-run homer against Cal State Fullerton on February 28, Mauricio Millan's RBI single against Missouri State on March 9, and Kaleb Duncan's two-run homer vs. UAB on March 28 (run-rule). Wichita State had just one walk-off among their 19 home wins last season.

IN THE ZONE: Wichita State pitchers put together one of their best series of the season against East Carolina in terms of limiting free passes. The Shockers combined to issue just seven walks (3, 3, 1) in the three-game series, their fewest in a series this season and a significant departure from WSU's season average of 5.38 walks per nine innings that ranks last in the American Athletic Conference.

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 three straight 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.

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 89 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. Jordan Rogers has been hit 50 times in his career, one shy of the program record set by Tyler Grimes.

BULLPEN STRUGGLES: Wichita State relievers have combined for a 7.03 ERA this season in 210.0 innings, a figure that is exacerbated by an inability to limit extra-base hits. The bullpen has allowed 32 home runs and 52 doubles, nearly twice as many (12 and 32, respectively) as opponents in the same amount of innings.

NO RUNNING: With Jordan Rogers successful steal of second base against South Florida last Saturday, Wichita State snapped a stretch of 12 consecutive conference games without a steal. The Shockers are just 21-for-28 in stolen base attempts this season, ranking 291st out of 299 teams nationally in stolen bases per game (0.45).

BASES LOADED BLUES: This season with the bases loaded Wichita State has recorded just 13 hits (four for extra bases) in 64 at-bats, good for a .203 average. Two of those hits came in Friday's win over East Carolina, when WSU got an infield single from Kam Durnin and a two-run double from Jordan Rogers, both with two outs. The Shockers have grounded into or lined into 11 double plays with the bases loaded.

TRIPLE THREAT: The Shockers have hit 13 triples this season, ranking 54th nationally and tops in the American Athletic Conference. The pace has slowed, however, as Wichita State has just one three-bagger in their last 10 games.

SMALL BALL: With just 28 home runs through the first 47 games of the season, the Shockers are on pace for their fewest homers in a season since the BBCOR era (24 homers in 2013). Of the 28 home runs, 25 of them have been either solo or two-run homers. Wichita State has hit 50 or more long balls 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 29 hits in 65 at-bats for a staggering .446 average, while hitting a more modest .278 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 2,357 wins, 1,308 losses and nine ties, Wichita State ranks in the top ten of all college baseball programs with a .642 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.