Courtesy of Wichita State Athletics
Memphis (21-20, 4-8 American) vs. #25 Wichita State (24-16, 8-4 American)
Friday, April 28 | 6:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP JT Durham (3-2, 5.68) vs. RHP Clark Candiotti (6-2, 3.93)
Saturday, April 29 | 2:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
LHP Dalton Fowler (5-3, 3.49) vs. LHP Payton Tolle (7-1, 3.62)
Sunday, April 30 | 12:00 pm CT | Wichita, Kansas (Eck Stadium)
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KFH 97.5 FM/1240 AM
TBA vs. RHP Grant Adler (4-2, 2.56)
SCENE SETTER: Wichita State returns to American Athletic Conference play with a crucial three-game home series against Memphis beginning Friday at Eck Stadium. The Shockers are tied with Houston atop the American Athletic Conference standings with four series still to play; at the moment the Cougars hold the tiebreaker by virtue of a series win in Wichita earlier this season. The Shockers are coming off a 7-5 loss in 10 innings on Wednesday against Kansas, a back-and-forth game that was played through a steady rainfall. WSU rallied to tie the game in the ninth when down to their final strike, but the Jayhawks struck for two runs in the tenth to snatch the victory. Monday's edition of the Collegiate Baseball poll ranked the Shockers #25, the first time Wichita State has been nationally ranked by a major publication since April of 2018. With 15 games still to play, WSU has already bested their win total from a season ago when the Shockers went 21-36. Wichita State is hunting their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since the 2013 season, a regional bid that was later vacated by the NCAA.
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 2023. "The Voice of the Shockers" and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Mike Kennedy will handle the play-by-play duties against the Tigers. All three games will will also be streamed live on ESPN+ ($), with former Shocker pitcher (1991-94) and Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Famer Shane Dennis on the call. Live audio, in addition to live statistics, will be available for all games at GoShockers.com/listen and ShockerStats.com.
SERIES HISTORY: The Shockers and Tigers have met just 13 times in the all-time series history, with every game taking place after Wichita State joined the American Athletic Conference in 2017. The Shockers hold a 9-4 lead in the series, winning two of three games in Memphis last season. The Tigers won the Friday game, extending Wichita State's season-long losing streak to 11 games, but Wichita State bounced back to take the next two games and the series. Chuck Ingram set career highs in the Saturday game victory with six RBI and three runs scored. WSU has won all four series against the Tigers, including a four-game set in Wichita in 2021.
SCOUTING MEMPHIS: The Tigers arrive in Wichita with a 21-20 overall record, 4-8 in the American Athletic Conference. Memphis has followed an identical script in all four of their conference series, dropping the first and third games sandwiched around a game two victory. Most recently, the Tigers dropped two of three games at home against Houston before picking up a 4-2 midweek victory against UT Martin on Tuesday. Memphis has struggled offensively in 2023, ranking 273rd nationally in scoring with just 5.0 runs per game. The Tigers are slashing .254/.351/.413 as a team, all worst or next-to-worst in the AAC entering play on Friday. Memphis does possess a potent running game, totaling 65 steals to rank top-50 in the country. Mississippi State transfer Brayland Skinner paces the Tigers with 15 swipes and a conference-best five triples. Two talented lefties headline the pitching staff; senior Dalton Fowler has been excellent as the Saturday starter, coming in fifth nationally with 84 strikeouts. Junior Dalton Kendrick has racked up 10 saves, third-most in the country. Memphis is led by first-year head coach Kerrick Jackson, who returned to the collegiate ranks after a stint as president of the MLB Draft League. Jackson was previously the head coach at Southern for three seasons, and has also coached at Emporia State and Coffeyville Community College in Kansas.
TWO-OUT TUG OF WAR: Wednesday's loss against Kansas was decided almost entirely by successes and failures with two outs. Eight of the game's 12 runs were plated with two outs, including three hits that drove in a pair of runs. Wichita State tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out, two-strike single from Jack Little, and loaded the bases later in the inning before Garrett Pennington lined out. In the 10th, Kansas scored the eventual winning runs on a two-out, two-run single from Michael Brooks.
LITTLE BIG TIME: Over the last week, true freshman Jack Little has showcased the electrifying skill set that made him one of the Shockers most highly touted recruits. In his last 11 at-bats, Little has recorded eight hits, putting together three consecutive multi-hit games in the process. The recent hot stretch has raised his batting average 58 points from .218 to its present .276. Little's most prominent tool is his speed, leading to 9 stolen bases in 11 attempts, The native of Katy, Texas in on pace to record the most steals by a Shocker true freshman since Taylor Doggett stole 17 in 2012.
SOUTHPAW SWINGS: Wichita State's offense will be tested by a pair of talented Memphis left-handed starters in the first two games of the series in JT Durham and Dalton Fowler. The Shockers do not have pronounced splits this season, hitting .308 against right-handers and .295 against lefties. Kyte McDonald is WSU's most dangerous hitter against southpaws, with a .346 average.
CONSISTENTLY CONSISTENT: Wichita State has had a remarkably consistent starting lineup this season, as six different players have started 38 or more games (Brock Rodden, Payton Tolle, Chuck Ingram, Mauricio Millan, Garrett Pennington, David Herring). After Ingram's move to the leadoff spot in early April, the top six spots in the order have changed just twice in the last 21 games.
BREAKING OUT THE BROOMS: It was a historic weekend at Eck Stadium for Wichita State, who garnered their first sweep against a top-10 opponent since the 1991 season with three dominant wins against #7-ranked East Carolina. The Shockers outscored the Pirates 23-3, out-hit them 41-14, and got two complete game shutouts from Payton Tolle and Grant Adler to bookend the series. East Carolina only produced one inning the entire series in which more than five batters came to the plate (first inning of game two), and managed just one runner to third base in 18 innings against Tolle and Adler. The three victories catapulted Wichita State into a tie atop the American Athletic Conference standings with Houston.
SHOCKERS IN THE RPI: Wichita State heads into Friday ranked 97 in the last edition of the RPI, good for second in the American Athletic Conference behind East Carolina (19). The Shockers jumped a staggering 59 points last week, comfortably the largest increase in the country (next closest: Georgetown, +40 to 119). Houston (111) is next-closest in the conference, followed by UCF (119) and South Florida (149). Memphis checks in at 195 as of Thursday's rankings.
STARTING WITH A BANG: Junior outfielder Chuck Ingram grabbed national headlines on April 14 at Tulane with a leadoff home run that traveled a Trackman-confirmed 501 feet, easily the longest by any Shocker this season. Ingram's homer was the first leadoff round-tripper for the Shockers since David VanVooren opened a game against Texas Tech with a solo shot on March 9, 2019.
DOUBLE UP: Head coach Loren Hibbs made no secret of his desire for the Shockers to hit more doubles in 2023, believing the stat represents a good offensive approach and aggressive baserunning. The Shockers have lived up to that expectation this season, leading the American Athletic Conference and ranking 25th nationally with 91 team two-baggers. WSU has nine players with five or more doubles.
BACK IN THE SADDLE: Interim head coach Loren Hibbs is in his first season leading the Shockers after taking over for Eric Wedge in December of 2022. Hibbs starred as a record-setting outfielder for the Shockers, helping WSU to the program's first-ever CWS appearance in 1982, and still holds the NCAA record for single-season runs scored with 125. He then served as an assistant under legendary Shocker head coach Gene Stephenson before moving on to Charlotte, where Hibbs guided the 49ers for 27 seasons and more than 800 wins. He returned to the Wichita State program following the 2019 season, joining the staff as Director of Baseball Operations.
HIGH PRAISE: The Shockers landed four players on the American Athletic Conference preseason all-conference team, most of any club in the league. Infielder Brock Rodden, outfielder Chuck Ingram, designated hitter Payton Tolle and right-handed pitcher Cameron Bye were all selected, with Rodden tabbed as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year. Despite the league-best four honorees, Wichita State was picked fifth in the eight-team American Athletic Conference preseason poll.
RODDEN RETURN: Infielder Brock Rodden burst on to the scene as one of college baseball's most impactful players in 2022. The Seminole State transfer led the Shockers in batting average (.338), on-base percentage (.441) and slugging percentage (.653) while launching 17 home runs, the most by a Shocker since Drew Moffitt hit 26 long balls in 2004. He was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 10th Round of the 2022 MLB Draft (pick 304 overall) but elected not to sign, one of just three players chosen in the top ten rounds to do so.
JUCO INFLUX: The Wichita State 2023 roster features eight junior college transfers, several of which have stepped in as immediate contributors. Former Mississippi State outfielder Kyte McDonald brings elite speed out in centerfield, and former St. Mary's righty Clark Candiotti has entrenched himself at the front of the weekend rotation. Two members of Cowley College's NJCAA runner-up team play major roles, as infielder David Herring is the everyday starter at shortstop and right-handed pitcher Grant Adler has grabbed the Sunday starter role. Catcher Mauricio Millan has caught all but two games this season.