Nebraska (14-5, 3-0 Big Ten) at Wichita State (15-6, 0-0 American)

Tuesday, March 17 | 6:05 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Cooper Katskee (2-0, 1.40) vs. LHP Ethan Rogers (0-1, 9.82)

Wednesday, March 18 | 2:05 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Pryce Bender (0-0, 5.19) vs. TBA

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SCENE SETTER: Following a record-breaking four-game sweep of Butler over the weekend, Wichita State continues their longest homestand of the season with a double midweek against Nebraska, hosting the Huskers on Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon at Eck Stadium. The Shockers outscored Butler 77-16 in the four-game sweep, including outbursts of 30 and 27 runs. Wichita State has already earned six run-rule victories in 2026, something the Shockers accomplished just twice a year ago. WSU went 2-9 in midweek games last season and dropped their first midweek of 2026 last Tuesday at Kansas State. 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 2026. Denning Gerig will have the play-by-play call for the first game of the midweek series, with the Voice of the Shockers Mike Kennedy returning to play-by-play duties for Wednesday's contest. Both games of the series will be streamed on ESPN+ ($), with Shocker Hall of Famer Shane Dennis on play-by-play and former Shocker outfielder Corrigan Bartlett providing color commentary. Live audio, in addition to live statistics, is available at GoShockers.com. 

SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers and Huskers have met 55 times in program history with Nebraska holding a slim 29-26 advantage. In the modern era of the Wichita State program (1978-present), WSU leads the series 24-23. This is the third consecutive season the two programs have played a two-game midweek series; Wichita State and Nebraska split a pair of games in Wichita in 2024 and the Huskers swept the double midweek in Lincoln in 2025. The Shockers and Huskers also have one postseason meeting, an 8-1 Nebraska victory in the championship game of the 2000 Minnesota Regional in Minneapolis.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA: The Huskers are one of the nation's hottest teams, riding a nine-game winning streak to a 14-5 overall record entering play on Tuesday. Included in that streak was a three-game sweep of Michigan State in the first series of Big Ten play. Nebraska is 9-0 at Haymarket Park in Lincoln and 3-0 in midweek contests. A talented pitching staff ranks top-50 nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.14), strikeouts per nine innings (10.5) and WHIP (1.32). The Huskers are hitting .307 as a team, led by Mac Moyer's .426 average. Former Nebraska standout Will Bolt is in his seventh season at the helm of the Huskers and owns a career record of 184-131-1 (.584). Assistant coach Mike Sirianni and Director of Operations Conor Behrens were both previously members of the Wichita State coaching staff.

BIG NUMBERS: Wichita State's 77-run outburst against Butler vaulted the Shockers among the nation's leaders in most offensive categories. WSU ranks second nationally in total runs (228), third in runs per game (10.9), sixth in total hits (237), ninth in batting average (.341), 10th in doubles (50), 11th in on-base percentage (.447), and 12th in slugging percentage (.566). In 28 offensive innings against the Bulldogs, Wichita State scored multiple runs in an inning 17 times and incredibly had just one inning where they scored a single run (first inning of game two).

30-PIECE: The Shockers scored 30 runs in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against Butler, the 6th-highest output in a single game in program history. The 30-1 win was tied for the largest margin of victory against a D1 opponent, matching a 31-2 win over Howard in 2002. The offensive explosion was highlighted by a 13-run bottom of the sixth, the largest single-inning total since April 6, 2011 against Alcorn State (14 runs). WSU recorded 10 hits in the inning, all singles.

ONE-UPPING THEMSELVES: The 30-run explosion came two days after the Shockers scored 27 runs in the series opener against Butler, a game where Wichita State scored in every inning for the first time since April 11, 1999 against Illinois State. Entering 2026, the Shockers had not scored more than 20 runs in a game since 2015 but accomplished the feat three times in the first 20 games of 2026.

MULTI-HIT PARADE: Redshirt senior Owen Washburn enters play on Tuesday riding a team-high 14-game hitting streak that included a 10-game stretch of multiple hits. From February 26-March 12, Washburn went 23-for-41, good for a .561 batting average. 

MAX POWER: Senior catcher Max Kaufer leads the nation with a 1.204 slugging percentage, clubbing 11 home runs in 49 at-bats. Kaufer already has four multi-homer games, including an incredible performance against West Georgia on March 7, when he came off the bench in the seventh inning to hit a game-tying three-run homer, then one inning later hit a go-ahead grand slam.

DYNAMIC DUO: Wichita State are one of just two teams in the American Conference with multiple qualified hitters batting .400 or better, joining UTSA. Kaufer (.449) and Washburn (.447) rank 14th and 16th in the nation in batting average, respectively. 

LONG RELIEF: An encouraging trend for the Shockers in the early stages of the 2026 season is the pitching staff's ability to get length out of the bullpen. In 2025, Wichita State had nine instances of a reliever working more than two scoreless innings; through 21 games of 2026, that number is already at seven and has come from six different sources (Caleb Reed, Ryan Morrison, Matthew Cuccias, Brok Eddy, Brady Pacha, Dax Sharp).

BIG INNING(S): After going more than a decade without scoring double-digit runs in an inning, Wichita State did so five times in the first 20 games of 2026. The Shockers scored 10 in the 5th inning against Northern Colorado on February 15, 11 in the third against Hawaii on February 22, 11 in the sixth against West Georgia on March 6, 11 in the third against Butler on March 12 and 13 against Butler in the sixth on March 14. 

SMALL BALL: Despite slugging 33 home runs through the season's first 21 games, Wichita State has shown an increased willingness to sacrifice bunt. The Shockers rank 19th nationally and tops in the American Conference with 15 sacrifices already this season, led by five from Alex Ulloa and four from Zeb Henry.

NEW LOOK: With just seven returners from last season's roster (five position players, two pitchers) Wichita State is looking at a near-complete overhaul from the team that stepped on the field in 2025. The pitching staff in particular returns just Brady Hamilton (2-7, 5.38 ERA in 78.2 innings) and Karsen Richard (0-1, 9.00 ERA in 16.0 innings); the 19 other Shockers who threw a pitch in 2025 have graduated, transferred, or been drafted (RHP Nick Potter, 5th Round, Houston Astros).

AGE BEFORE BEAUTY: Head coach Brian Green made a point to add experience in the transfer portal over the offseason, a mission that resulted in the addition of four grad transfers, eight seniors and three redshirt juniors. All told, the Shockers added 77 seasons of previous college baseball experience to the roster among their 31 newcomers.

LOCAL BOYS: Wichita State's new-look roster includes a healthy dose of newcomers with local ties. Right-handed pitcher Brady Pacha (Bishop Carroll High School), utilityman Drew Bugner (Andale High School), infielder Owen Rush (Goddard Eisenhower High School), and left-handed pitcher Mitchell Johnson (Derby High School) all hail from the greater Wichita area, in addition to returning outfielder Jaden Gustafson from Maize High School.

HIGHLY TOUTED: A trio of Shocker transfers playing their final season of college baseball in 2026 bring noteworthy pedigrees to Wichita. Jayson Jones (Oklahoma State transfer), Max Kaufer (South Carolina), and Alex Ulloa (Florida International) were all ranked in the top 300 nationally of their respective recruiting classes coming out of high school. Jones leads the way as the #5 player in the 2022 class according to Perfect Game, while Ulloa ranked #65 in 2021 and Kaufer checked in at #257 in 2023.

STAFF CHANGES: Green revamped his coaching staff ahead of the 2026 season, adding three new assistant coaches. Marty Lees was the first addition as recruiting coordinator, bringing experience from previous stops at Oklahoma State, Washington State and Oregon State. Collin Wilber joined the staff as catching coach following stints with Sonoma State and the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, and Jason Foster rounds out the new hires as Pitching Strategist and Director of Analytics. Additionally, Faith Weekley was promoted from Administrative Assistant to Director of Operations.

TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE: With a program record of 2,377 wins, 1,318 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.