West Georgia (1-11, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) at Wichita State (9-3, 0-0 American)

Friday, March 6 | 3:05 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Maverick Torres (0-1, 1.86) vs. RHP Matthew Cuccias (0-0, 0.69)

Saturday, March 7 | 1:05 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Lex Kenny (0-1, 3.71) vs. RHP Brady Hamilton (2-1, 3.86)

Saturday, March 7 | TBA | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
RHP Luke Ridley (1-0, 9.45) vs. LHP Reese Kortum (1-0, 3.00)

Sunday, March 8 | 12:05 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: After another home series win, Wichita State welcomes West Georgia for the first time in program history as part of a four-game series in Wichita. The series begins with a single game on Friday followed by a Saturday doubleheader and single contest on Sunday to conclude the set. Wichita State is off to a 9-3 overall start and has won or split each of their first three weekend series for the first time since the 2018 season. Wichita State's 9-3 start is the best 12-game start to a season since the 2020 club opened the year 10-2. The Shockers are looking to bounce back from a 20-36 record in 2025, the fewest wins in the modern era of the WSU program (1978-present). Wichita State is also 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 all four games of the West Georgia series. All 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: Friday will be the first meeting on the diamond between the Shockers and Wolves.

SCOUTING WEST GEORGIA: The Wolves bring a 1-11 record to Wichita after a three-game sweep at the hands of South Alabama this past weekend. West Georgia won their season opener at home against Central Michigan, but have dropped 11 straight games since (Central Michigan x3, Kennesaw State, Little Rock x3, Auburn, South Alabama x3). UWG is their second season of the three-year Division I transitional process, with an expected date of full membership in the Fall of 2027. The Wolves had previously competed at the D-II level as members of the Gulf South Conference. West Georgia was picked fifth out of six teams in the Atlantic Sun Graphite Division Preseason Coaches Poll. Head coach Jeff Smith is in his seventh season at the helm of the Wolves, with a career record of 130-137 (.487).

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 12 games of 2026, that number is already at six and has come from five different sources (Caleb Reed, Ryan Morrison, Matthew Cuccias, Brok Eddy, Brady Pacha). The Shockers had three straight games in the Omaha series with a relief outing of two or more shutout innings, highlighted by five scoreless frames from Reed in the series opener.

SMALL BALL: Despite slugging 13 home runs through the season's first 12 games, Wichita State has shown an increased willingness to sacrifice bunt. The Shockers rank fifth nationally and tops in the American Conference with 13 sacrifices already this season, led by five from Alex Ulloa and four from Zeb Henry.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Wichita State did not have a player recognized as American Conference Player of the Week at any point in 2025. They have already secured two such honors in 2026: Jayson Jones in week one after homering all four games of the Northern Colorado series, and most recently Owen Washburn, who brought home the conference's top weekly honor after finishing 10-for-16 in the series against Omaha with four multi-hit games.

START IT UP: Wichita State ranks 25th nationally in ERA at 3.21, a mark that would represent an improvement of more than three full runs from a year ago. Starting pitching has been a particular strength, as WSU starters have combined for a 2.93 ERA and a 57:16 strikeout-to-walk ratio. No starter has allowed more than four runs in a start through the first three series.

LEADING OFF: Senior outfielder Jaden Gustafson had never batted leadoff in any game of his career before Brian Green inserted him into that lineup spot to begin 2026. The decision has paid off through the first 12 games, as Gustafson is slashing .342/.500/.527, good for a 1.027 OPS. Gustafson has reached base in all 12 contest with either a hit or a walk.

BIG INNING(S): Wichita State put together their biggest single-inning outburst in 11 years on February 15 against Northern Colorado. Leading just 1-0 into the 5th inning of the doubleheader's first game, the Shockers put up 10 runs on seven hits with the help of four walks and two hit by pitches. It was the most runs scored in an inning since 2015, but the mark did not stand for long. The Shockers one-upped themselves by scoring 11 runs in the third inning of Sunday's win at Hawaii. The frame was highlighted by a pair of three-run doubles from shortstop Alex Ulloa, establishing a new program record with six RBI in a single inning.

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES: It was a historic start to the season for Wichita State third baseman Jayson Jones, who homered in all four games of the series against Northern Colorado. The Oklahoma State transfer became the first Shocker to homer in four consecutive games since future MLB All-Star Alec Bohm accomplished the feat in 2018. The program record is five straight games, established by Jeff Ryan in 1998. Jones was named American Conference Player of the Week and tabbed to the Baseball America Team of the Week after going 7-for-15 with 12 RBI in the four-game series.

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.

HOME SWEET HOME: Wichita State will get very familiar with the friendly confines of Eck Stadium in the opening months of the 2026 season. The Shockers play 21 of their first 26 games at home, departing only for a four-game series at Hawaii on February 19-22 and a midweek game at Kansas State on March 10. Wichita State is scheduled to play 33 home games in total, the most since the 2016 Shockers played 34 home contests.

TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE: With a program record of 2,371 wins, 1,316 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.