WICHITA, Kan.—Brock Rodden hit a two-out, go-ahead, three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Wichita State rallied past Oklahoma 8-7 on Tuesday night at Riverfront Stadium.
The win marks the first time since 2006 that the Shockers have beaten the Sooners twice in the same season. Dating back to 2022, Wichita State has now won three straight games in the series.
The Shockers (14-10) trailed 7-4 with two outs and a runner at second in the home half of the eighth. Jack Little chopped a ground ball to third base that seemed to end the inning, but Oklahoma third baseman Wallace Clark bounced his throw past first base, allowing the runner from second to score and keeping the inning alive. Now trailing 7-5, Chuck Ingram battled back from a 1-2 count to work a walk, bringing Rodden to the plate. Rodden also fell into a 1-2 hole, but turned on the next pitch from Sooners reliever Carson Pierce (2-1) and drove it over the wall in the right field corner for a three-run homer.
The go-ahead shot capped a monster offensive performance for the Shockers second baseman, who set a new career high with five RBI as part of a 3-for-5 day at the plate.
After taking the lead, the Shockers turned the ball over the Cameron Bye, who struck out the side in the ninth to nail down his first career save.
It was an evening of resiliency for Wichita State, who overcame two different multi-run deficits to secure the victory. After the Shockers took a 2-0 lead in the second on a double steal from Jack Little and Kyte McDonald and a Rodden RBI single, Oklahoma (13-12) responded with three runs in the fourth and two in the seventh to build a 5-2 advantage. Rodden and Garrett Pennington each slammed run-scoring doubles in the bottom of the seventh to pull the Shockers back to within 5-4, but the Sooners got the two runs right back in the top of the eighth to set the stage for Rodden's heroics.
Matt Wilkinson (1-0) picked up his first win as a Shocker in relief, one of six different WSU pitchers who appeared in the game. Starter Caden Favors settled for a no-decision after three scoreless innings, his second straight start against the Sooners in which he did not allow a run.
Pierce took the loss for Oklahoma, allowing four unearned runs in 1.2 innings out of the Sooner bullpen.
The Shockers hit the road to open conference play this weekend at Cincinnati. First pitch of Friday's series opener is scheduled for 4:00 pm CT.