After a rocky start in the early innings on Sunday, the Shockers made a comeback to beat the Evansville Purple Aces 6-5 on an eighth-inning home run by Tyler Baker. 

“I won’t call it good coaching, I’ll call it good hitting,” said Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson. 

Evansville catcher Kyle Pollock was the first to put points on the board when he nailed a home run in the top of the third inning off of WSU pitcher Drew Palmer. Outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski followed up shortly after with a two-run shot to give the Aces a 3-0 lead. 

The Shockers didn’t manage to score their first points until the bottom of the fifth inning. They started fighting back with an RBI-single to right field by outfielder Garrett Bayliff, followed closely behind by an RBI on a ground ball by infielder Erik Harbutz. 

The Aces retaliated in the top of the sixth with another home run off of Palmer. A visit to the mound by Stephenson led to Palmer being replaced by TJ McGreevy, who fired off a strikeout to end the inning. 

The Shockers weren’t done with their offensive game, however, as they came out swinging in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead for the first time in the game.

After a single by Casey Gillispie to start the bottom of the inning, Johnny Coy knocked out a double to left field, advancing Gillispie to third. Gillispie would get a standing steal at home plate on a wild pitch thrown to Baker as Coy moved to third base. Baker hit a long ball to center to send Coy home and score his first run of the night. 

The Shockers continued, as Tanner Dearman knocked out an RBI-single to center to give WSU the lead. 

The WSU coaching staff decided to move Dearman up in the lineup to the leadoff position after performing well against Evansville on Saturday.

The Shockers still weren’t in the clear when a hit by Kevin Kaczmarski and a questionable balk call against McGreevey put the Aces within scoring position. 

Aces outfielder Jason Hockemeyer got a hit to center field to bring home Kaczmarski, which led to a WSU pitching change to Brandon Peterson. 

“We never gave in, we kept battling, and we made it exciting for everybody,” Stephenson said.

Baker responded with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, which ended up being the game winner.

“I reacted to it and there it went,” Baker said. “Crazy baseball, crazy game—you never know.” 

The win on Sunday improved WSU’s record to 23-18 overall and 9-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference, tying Missouri State for the lead in the conference. 

The Shockers next game is Tuesday night in Stillwater, Okla., against Oklahoma State.