#7 Wichita State (28-27, 12-15 American) vs. #6 Florida Atlantic (28-27, 12-15 American)

Wednesday, May 20 | 12:00 pm CT | Clearwater, Florida (BayCare Ballpark)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
 RHP Matthew Cuccias (4-3, 3.09) vs. RHP James Litman (8-3, 3.66)

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SCENE SETTER: After clinching a spot in the conference tournament on the final day of the regular season, Wichita State kicks off the American Conference Championship as the #7 seed on Wednesday afternoon at 12:00 pm CT against #6 seed Florida Atlantic at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida. Unlike in previous years, the first round of games (seeds 5 vs. 8 and 6 vs. 7) are single elimination. If the Shockers defeat Florida Atlantic, they advance to the double elimination portion of the bracket against #3 seed Rice, also at 12:00 pm CT. Should the Shockers reach the championship on Sunday, the final is a winner-take-all single game.

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 American Conference Championship, with Denning Gerig joining the broadcast as color commentator. Live audio, in addition to live statistics, is available at GoShockers.com. All games of the tournament will air on ESPN+

SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers and Owls have just nine all-time meetings over the span of three regular season series, with Florida Atlantic holding a 6-3 edge. The Shockers won two of three in Wichita when the two programs met for the first time in 2024, but FAU has claimed the last two series, sweeping all three games in Boca Raton last season and winning two of three in Wichita two weeks ago. The Shockers and Owls have never clashed in the postseason.

SCOUTING FLORIDA ATLANTIC: The Owls put together a strong closing kick to the regular season, winning five consecutive conference series before suffering a sweep at the hands of East Carolina this past weekend. FAU enters the tournament with an identical record to Wichita State, 28-27 overall and 12-15 in American Conference play. Florida Atlantic has struggled offensively, averaging just over 5.9 runs per game (228th nationally) on the strength of only 38 home runs (also 228th), but are a strong defensive club with a conference-best .978 fielding percentage. Longtime head coach John McCormack is in his 18th season with the Owls, bringing a career record of 605-399-2 (.602) to Clearwater.

GRITTY, NOT PRETTY: The Shockers were not able to coast into Clearwater, instead having to struggle to an extra-inning win over South Florida in the regular season finale to earn their spot in the tournament after dropping the first two games of the series with the Bulls. WSU led on Saturday 5-3 into the bottom of the ninth inning, but a two-run double tied the game and USF later got the potential winning run to third base before the Shockers escaped the inning. In the 10th, a squeeze bunt gave WSU the lead and a dropped fly ball in the sun added two more runs before Heitaro Hayashi closed out the win with a 1-2-3 bottom half of the inning.

AWARD SEASON: Three Shockers earned recognition on the American Conference Postseason All-Conference Team on Tuesday. Senior third baseman Jayson Jones took home Newcomer Position Player of the Year and First Team honors, junior right-handed pitcher Matthew Cuccias was named Second Team Starting Pitcher and graduate student righty Brady Pacha snagged Second Team Relief Pitcher. Jones is the first Shocker to be named Newcomer Position Player of the Year since Brock Rodden in 2022.

TIGHTENING UP THE ROTATION: The Shockers used just seven total pitchers in the South Florida series, tied for the fewest number of arms used by WSU in any series this season (also seven vs. Rice, 4/24-4/26). The only relievers utilized were Brady Pacha, Amar Tsengeg, Brady Hamilton, and Heitaro Hayashi. Pacha and Hayashi have worked in 17 and 14 conference games, respectively.

MAKING IT WORK: With regular third baseman Jayson Jones dealing with lingering effects from a hamstring injury sustained at UTSA, Wichita State has been forced into some unique defensive alignments in the Florida Atlantic and South Florida games. Evan Escobar made just his second start of the season at third base in the series opener against FAU, then Owen Washburn, who had been exclusively a DH, made his first start of the year in right field on Friday. Both Saturday and Sunday, WSU used Nolan Ganter, who had only played first base, as a second and third baseman so that Jones could make his first start of the year at first. Against USF, Jones and Zeb Henry would switch between second and third base depending on the handedness of the opposing hitter.

CONSISTENTLY CUCCIAS: Friday starter Matthew Cuccias does not have a double-digit strikeout performance or shutout outing in conference play but has solidified himself as one of the American's most reliable starting pitching options by avoiding bad starts. The junior college transfer has not allowed more than six hits or four earned runs in any appearance this season, holding opponents to a .194 batting average with just three home runs allowed.

HANG THE BUNTING: The Shockers continued their small ball ways over the weekend against South Florida, matching a season high with three sacrifice bunts in Saturday's series finale. Wichita State's 41 team sacrifice bunts are 18th nationally and second-most in program history (2006 - 49 sacrifices). Wichita State catcher Ethan Gonzalez set a new single-game program record with three sacrifice bunts on 4/19 in the win over East Carolina and leads the conference with 10 sac bunts on the year. The individual program record is 11, set by Andrew Stewart in 2022.

ERROR MESSAGE: Wichita State's .961 team fielding percentage is the lowest in the American Conference and the Shocker have struggled defensively over the last month of the season. WSU has committed 35 errors over the last 21 games, including seven miscues in the first game of the series at UTSA on 5/2. The seven errors are tied for the second-most in single-game program history.

TWO-OUT MAGIC: The Shockers have done much of their damage offensively this season with two outs. WSU has produced a staggering 129 two-out RBI, 35 more than their opponents. Alex Ulloa and Owen Washburn are the top two-out producers, with 20 and 19 RBI in those situations, respectively. The Shockers racked up a season-high 10 of those two-out RBI on 4/19 at East Carolina.