Florida Atlantic (25-23, 10-11 American) vs. Wichita State (26-23, 10-11 American)

Friday, May 8 | 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 James Litman (8-3, 3.80) vs. RHP Matthew Cuccias (4-2, 3.20)

Saturday, May 9 | 2:05 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Kide Adetuyi (2-2, 4.09) vs. RHP Brady Hamilton (3-6, 5.55)

Sunday, May 10 | 11:05 am 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: Wichita State looks to respond from a three-game sweep at the hands of UTSA by returning to the friendly confines of Eck Stadium for the final home series of the 2026 season, hosting a three-game set against Florida Atlantic. The series is a crucial one for seeding purposes at the American Conference Championship, as both the Shockers and Owls enter play on Friday deadlocked in a tie for fifth place with a 10-11 conference mark. Rice has moved into sole possession of fourth place at 11-10; under the new conference tournament format, the top two seeds receive a double bye and seeds three and four receive a single bye. The first round of the championship (seeds 5 vs. 8 and 6 vs. 7) are single elimination.

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 the Owls. The series will also 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: The Shockers and Owls have just six all-time meetings over the span of two series, with Florida Atlantic holding a 4-2 edge. In the first series at Eck Stadium in 2024, the Shockers won two of three games; FAU claimed the series opener 4-2, but Wichita State bounced back to take the next two contests by scores of 14-9 and 10-5. Last season in Boca Raton, Florida Atlantic swept all three games of the series by scores of 9-2, 8-4 and 7-4. WSU squandered a 4-2 seventh inning lead in the Saturday game, as FAU scored six times in the inning capped off by a go-ahead grand slam from Patrick Ward.

SCOUTING FLORIDA ATLANTIC: The Owls have surged down the stretch to a 25-23 overall record, including a 10-11 mark in American Conference play. Last time out, they bested in-state foe UCF on Tuesday night, 6-5. FAU has won four consecutive conference series after a 2-7 start, defeating Memphis, Tulane, Charlotte and most recently South Florida. In all four series, the Owls won the first two games before dropping the finale. Florida Atlantic has struggled offensively, averaging just over six runs per game (201st nationally) on the strength of only 37 home runs (202nd), but are a strong defensive club with a conference-best .977 fielding percentage. Longtime head coach John McCormack is in his 18th season with the Owls, bringing a career record of 602-395 (.604) into the series.

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 and three earned runs in any appearance this season, holding opponents to a .199 batting average with just two home runs allowed.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS: In Wichita State's three losses at UTSA, the Shockers out-homered the Roadrunners 3-0, including two blasts in Sunday's series finale. Unfortunately for the Shockers, all three home runs were solo shots; 29 of the Shockers 53 homers this season are solos.

ERROR MESSAGE: Wichita State's .960 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 29 errors over the last 15 games, including seven miscues in the first game of the series at UTSA. 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 123 two-out RBI, 34 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.

MIDWEEKS WON'T BE MISSED: Wichita State closed out the midweek portion of their schedule on Tuesday night, dropping a 14-1 decision to Kansas in a game called after eight innings by the 10-run rule. The Shockers went 0-7 in midweek games against D1 opponents, getting outscored 68-20. Wichita State had a lead in just one of those games, grabbing a 1-0 and 3-1 edge at Kansas State on March 10.

HANG THE BUNTING: 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. The junior laid down a sacrifice bunt in five consecutive games and now leads the American Conference with nine sacrifices on the season. The individual program record is 11, set by Andrew Stewart in 2022. Wichita State's 36 team sacrifice bunts are already fifth-most in program history.

INJURY UPDATES: Wichita State announced on 4/14 that catcher Max Kaufer and reliever Ryan Morrison are both out for the season due to injury. Kaufer led the nation with a 1.747 OPS and 11 home runs in 50 at-bats, while Morrison had posted a 3.65 ERA in 12.1 innings out of the bullpen.

OFF THE BENCH: Head coach Brian Green has had remarkable success in 2026 when calling upon pinch hitters. The Shockers are 24-for-76 (.316) in pinch-hit situations, compared to a 8-for-54 (.148) mark from opponents. 11 different Shockers have recorded a hit off the bench this season.

PACHA PAYOFF: The Shockers can thank righty Brady Pacha for their 10 wins in American Conference play, as the Wichita native has had a hand in all nine of the 10 WSU victories. In those nine wins, in which he has earned four saves, Pacha combined for 19.2 innings and allowed just three earned runs on 14 hits, racking up 19 strikeouts with just one walk. Pacha went 94 consecutive batters without issuing a walk from March 13 against Butler to April 24 against Rice.

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. Since the start of conference play, Wichita State has had just two starts of six or more innings: Johnny Nuanez's 6.2 innings at UAB on April 12 and 7.1 innings from Matthew Cuccias on April 24 vs. Rice. The start from Cuccias was the longest by any WSU hurler this season.