Wichita State (11-5, 0-0 American) at Kansas State (11-4, 0-0 Big 12)

Tuesday, March 10 | 6:00 pm CT | Manhattan, Kansas (Tointon Family Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Dax Sharp (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Cohen Feser (1-1, 1.17)

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SCENE SETTER: Following a four-game series split at home against West Georgia, Wichita State hits the road for their first midweek game of the 2026 season, a Tuesday night showdown against in-state foe Kansas State. WSU went 2-9 in midweek games last season, defeating Newman and Oral Roberts but falling to Chaminade, Abilene Christian, Nebraska (2x), Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State (2x) and BYU. 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. Shocker Hall of Famer Shane Dennis will have the call on Tuesday night, with Denning Gerig joining the broadcast as color commentator. The game will also be streamed on ESPN+ ($). Live audio, in addition to live statistics, is available at GoShockers.com. 

SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers and Wildcats meet for the 107th time in program history on Tuesday, with the Shockers holding a 58-48 lead in the all-time series. Since restarting the baseball program in 1978, Wichita State has gone 55-36 against the Wildcats. Kansas State won both games last season, defeating the Shockers 13-10 in Wichita and 14-8 in Manhattan. The Wildcats have won four straight in the series, sweeping both games in 2024 after WSU managed the feat in 2023. The last NCAA postseason appearance for Wichita State came in Kansas State's regional back in 2013.

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE: The Wildcats enter play on Tuesday at 11-4 overall after sweeping a three-game home series against SIUE, capped off by a 20-7 run-rule victory in Sunday's series finale. Kansas State opened the season with a 4-0 showing at the MLB Desert Invitational and then picked up wins against Nebraska and Michigan as part of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field. A powerful Wildcats offense has already slugged 24 home runs and averages 8.8 runs per game, led by the combination of sluggers Dee Kennedy (.393/.471/.857) and Ty Smolinski (.464/.585/1.036). Former Wichita State pitcher Aaron Arnold transferred to Kansas State and has worked in one game out of the Wildcats bullpen. Head coach Pete Hughes is in his eighth season at Kansas State and 29th overall, totaling a career record of 863-664-3 (.565).

TOUCH 'EM ALL: The Shockers launched 13 home runs in the four-game series against West Georgia, highlighted by five in just eight innings of Sunday's series finale. The five homers are the highest in a single game for Wichita State since March 25, 2023 against UMass. Wichita State is already at nearly 70% of their season home run total from a year ago (36 HR in 2025, 25 in 2026).

RALLY CAPS: Wichita State staged one of the largest comebacks in recent program history in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against West Georgia. The Shockers trailed 7-0 after three and a half innings and 7-1 into the bottom of the seventh but scored six runs in the seventh to tie and five more in the eighth to surge to a 12-7 win. Max Kaufer was the driving force behind the rally, coming off the bench to deliver a pinch-hit, three-run homer that tied the game in the seventh and then a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth. The comeback was Wichita State's largest since May 14, 2016, against Illinois State, when WSU erased a nine-run deficit. The Shockers very nearly one-upped themselves in Sunday's series finale, trimming a 13-2 deficit to 13-11 in the eighth before the game was called by travel curfew.

MAX POWER: Kaufer's heroics on Saturday were just a part of a jaw-dropping weekend for the Wichita State catcher. Kaufer finished the West Georgia series 7-for-11 with all seven hits going for extra bases (five home runs, two doubles), driving in 12 runs while scoring eight of his own. The South Carolina transfer has now reached base in seven consecutive plate appearances, including four home runs, becoming the first Shocker to accomplish the feat since Payton Tolle in 2023. Kaufer is tied for the national lead with a slugging percentage of 1.162 and has more extra-base hits (11) than strikeouts (9). 

DYNAMIC DUO: Wichita State is one of just two teams in the American Conference with multiple qualified hitters batting .400 or better. Owen Washburn (.464) and Kaufer (.432) are joined only by Charlotte's Robert Nedry (.404) and Spencer Nolan (.403).

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 16 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 three times in the first 13 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, and 11 more in the sixth against West Georgia on March 6. The latest offensive outburst helped the Shockers to a 22-4 victory, the Shockers most runs since putting up 26 against North Dakota on February 25, 2012.

SMALL BALL: Despite slugging 25 home runs through the season's first 16 games, Wichita State has shown an increased willingness to sacrifice bunt. The Shockers rank sixth nationally and tops in the American Conference with 14 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.

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 2,373 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.