Baseball | 4/25/2026 8:18:00 AM
By
Paul Suellentrop
The Cuccias family came from California and Oklahoma. They wore their Shocker baseball gear, most prominently black shirts with a No. 18 in yellow.
They came to see pitcher
Matthew Cuccias, and he made their trip memorable with a standout performance in Wichita State's 5-1 win over Rice on Friday at Eck Stadium.
"We brought him all sorts of good vibes," said Toshia Cuccias, his aunt. "We're the biggest cheerleaders."
Good vibes from grandparents, cousins and a changeup carried the night at Eck Stadium in front of 2,621 fans. Cuccias limited the Owls to five singles, struck out seven and didn't walk a batter in 7 1/3 innings, the longest outing for a Shocker this season. Rice's first three hits didn't leave the infield.
"He had a really good feel for his changeup," catcher
Ethan Gonzalez said. "Him being able to throw that changeup in any count was huge. It was just suffocating the hitters. They were guessing."
Cuccias, a junior from Simi Valley, Calif., has given the Shockers (25-18, 9-7 American Conference) solid starts on the weekend. Pitch counts hurt his ability to go deep into a game. His previous longest outing in American play was 5 1/3 innings vs. Memphis.
On Friday, the off-speed pitches helped him produce an efficient night, highlighted by an eight-pitch fourth inning against the top of the lineup for Rice (24-19, 7-9). He went to two three-ball counts and struck out both hitters. He threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 28 batters faced.
"He was getting outs on changeups, getting outs on curveballs," WSU coach
Brian Green said. "He had the changeup going and, with them featuring some of those left-handers, he was getting early count outs with that changeup."
Cuccias and pitching coach
Anthony Claggett targeted 15 pitches each inning to help him think about moving through the lineup and stay in the game. He finished with 104 pitches to meet that goal.
"Not getting too cute when it was two strikes," Cuccias said. "Getting early outs was huge. I had a lot more command with (the changeup) and it was important for me to throw that early. People were expecting fastballs. That's where I got that weak contact."
Getting a Friday-night-level start on a Friday night sets WSU up for the rest of the weekend by saving the bullpen.
Brady Pacha threw 31 pitches after relieving Cuccias with two runners on in the eighth.
"It's essential," Cuccias said.
The Shockers can consider this series essential to their goals of finishing at the top of the conference. They are in fourth place, two games out of first, with 11 games remaining in American play. They also enjoy a two-game cushion over the fifth-place teams.
Efficient pitching performances like Friday's will go a long way to keeping the Shockers in that position.
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
Season tickets are on sale now, and season ticket renewals are available as well. To purchase, visit
GoShockers.com/Tickets, dial 316-978-FANS (3267) or stop by the Shocker Ticket Office, located inside Charles Koch Arena, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
