Tulane (15-15, 2-4 American) vs. Wichita State (20-10, 4-2 American)

Thursday, April 2 | 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
LHP Jake Toporek (0-2, 3.32) vs. RHP Matthew Cuccias (3-0, 2.84)

Friday, April 3 | 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 Trey Cehajic (1-3, 8.49) vs. RHP Brady Hamilton (3-4, 6.06)

Saturday, April 4 | 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
TBA vs. TBA

---

SCENE SETTER: Wichita State returns to American Conference play with a three-game series against Tulane at Eck Stadium. The series is a Thursday-Friday-Saturday set to avoid playing on Easter Sunday, with 6:05 pm first pitches for games one and two of the series and a 1:05 pm CT start in the finale. The Shockers are coming off a 14-11 win over Washburn on Tuesday afternoon in the annual Kids Day at the ballpark, claiming their first midweek win of the 2026 season in front of just under 2,000 local schoolchildren. With the win, Wichita State improved to 20-10 on the season. It is the fastest a Shocker team has reached the 20-win mark since the 2018 club began the year 20-6.

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. The Voice of the Shockers Mike Kennedy will handle play-by-play duties for the series against Tulane. All three games of the series will be streamed on ESPN+ ($), with Mark Ewing on play-by-play for Thursday and Friday's game and Shocker Hall of Famer Shane Dennis returning to the call on Saturday. Former Shocker outfielder Corrigan Bartlett provides color commentary for all three games of the series. Live audio, in addition to live statistics, is available at GoShockers.com. 

SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers and Green Wave have met 33 times dating back to the 1993 season, with Tulane holding a 19-14 lead in the all-time series. Two of Wichita State's wins in 2012 were later vacated by the NCAA. The Green Wave have won two of three in each of the last two series, including last season in New Orleans in the first series of conference play. Tulane and Wichita State met in the 2024 American Conference championship game, an instant classic that ended on a walk-off solo homer from Tulane's Jackson Linn in the bottom of the ninth for an 11-10 win. The first-ever matchup with Tulane came in Honolulu in 1993, a 5-3 Tulane win.

SCOUTING TULANE: The Green Wave bring a 15-15 record into Wichita after downing Nicholls 6-2 on Tuesday night in New Orleans. Tulane took two of three games at home against Memphis in their first conference series but dropped all three games at UAB in the most recent weekend series. The Tulane offense is slashing .250/.390/.384, offsetting a lack of home runs with one of the most patient lineups in college baseball. The Green Wave are 10th nationally with 179 walks, led by Tanner Chun's 32 bases on balls. The pitching staff has worked to a 4.93 ERA, averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings. Head coach Jay Uhlman is in his fourth full season with the Green Wave, carrying a 106-112 record into the series opener.

GONE STREAKING: Third baseman Jayson Jones brings a 21-game hitting streak into Thursday's game dating back to a hitless series opener against Omaha on February 26. Jones is the 18th Shocker in program history to put together a streak of 20 or more games and the first Wichita State player to reach the mark since Ryan Tinkham hit in 21 straight in 2015. The program record is 47 games, set by Phil Stephenson in 1981. The streak nearly came to an end last Friday night in Memphis, when Jones started the game 0-for-4 before homering in the top of the ninth inning.

PACHA PAYOFF: The Shockers can thank righty Brady Pacha for their 4-2 start to American Conference play, as the Wichita native has had a big hand in all four WSU victories. In those four wins, in which he has earned three saves, Pacha combined for 10.0 innings and allowed just one earned run on five hits, racking up 11 strikeouts without a walk. Pacha has walked just one of the last 67 batters faced dating back to February 28.

BIG DEBUT: With injuries to catchers Max Kaufer and Finn Kaiyala, the Shockers are down to just two healthy backstops on the roster in Ethan Gonzalez and Dominic Archila. Archila earned his first career start on Tuesday against Washburn and delivered a breakout performance, going 3-for-5 with five RBI in the victory. Archila had just one previous at-bat before the Washburn game.

FOUR IN A FRAME: Junior right-hander Brady Hamilton pulled off one of baseball's rarest feats on Saturday at Memphis. In the bottom of the second, Hamilton struck out four batters in one inning, with one reaching via a dropped third strike wild pitch. It was the first instance of a Shocker hurler fanning four in one frame since Charlie Lowell against Dallas Baptist on May 22, 2010.

OFF THE BENCH: Head coach Brian Green has had remarkable success in 2026 when calling upon pinch hitters. The Shockers are 15-for-45 (.333) in pinch-hit situations, compared to a 6-for-43 (.140) mark from opponents. Jacob Gutierrez delivered the latest big blow off the bench against Memphis, punching a two-out, two-strike, two-run single in the sixth inning of Friday's 7-3 win.  Wichita State also has a pair of pinch-hit home runs, one from Max Kaufer and the other from Jacob Gutierrez. Last season, Wichita State had just 12 pinch hits at a .245 average.

SHORT STARTS: The Shockers have leaned more heavily upon their bullpen in recent weeks as WSU starters have struggled to work deep into games on a consistent basis. A Shocker starter has failed to record more than 10 outs 11 times in the last 18 games, including twice in the most recent series against Memphis and again on Tuesday.

SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY: Second base has been a position in flux this season for Wichita State, with five different players earning at least one start there (Zeb Henry, Owen Rush, Drew Bugner, Evan Escobar, Nico Rodriguez). Rush has stepped into the void and given the Shockers some offensive punch in addition to strong defensive work; the Wichita native and Fort Scott CC transfer is hitting .333 with a .529 on-base percentage, thanks in large part to 14 walks (second on the team) in just 53 plate appearances.

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 38 home runs through the season's first 30 games, Wichita State has shown an increased willingness to sacrifice bunt. The Shockers rank 21st nationally and tops in the American Conference with 20 sacrifices already this season, led by a conference-best five from Alex Ulloa.

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.

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 2,381 wins, 1,323 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.