Wichita State Athletics
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year Blake Gillespie struck out 13 over 8.0 dominant innings as Charlotte bested Wichita State 7-1 on Tuesday evening at BayCare Ballpark.
The Shockers (20-35) drop into the loser's bracket and will take on the loser of the East Carolina-South Florida game that takes place later Tuesday evening.
Gillespie (7-4) allowed just four hits and one run over his 8.0 innings, conceding just a single walk. He held the Shockers off the board until the top of the eighth inning, when Zeb Henry yanked a one-out triple and Camden Johnson singled him home one batter later to break up the shutout.
By then Charlotte (36-20) had built a 6-0 lead, scoring one run in the first, three in the second and two more in the third against Wichita State starter Grant Adler (5-6), who was tagged for eight hits and six runs in his 2.1 innings.
Wichita State got good work from the bullpen, headlined by four scoreless innings from Jeremiah Arnett. All told, the combination of Arnett, Drew Iverson and Karsen Richard allowed just one run in 5.2 total innings.
Five different Charlotte hitters finished with two hits apiece as part of a 12-hit attack.
Wichita State will play the second of two loser's bracket games tomorrow, 47 minutes after the conclusion of the first game that begins at 12:00 pm CT.