Eight months and 14 days ago, Matt Rose’s solo shot for South Florida at BayCare Ballpark ended Wichita State’s season and left a stinging number: 36.

Thirty-six losses. Tied for the second-most the Shockers have worn. A number and lingering taste they’re looking to erase for good.

Jaden Gustafson, a Wichitan and one of seven returners, is reminded of what could have been and what’s still left on the table.

“There was never really any thoughts about leaving. Seriously,” the Maize High alum said. “I felt like there was some unfinished stuff I have here. I don’t like the way that last season… the taste it left in our mouth. I was ready to come back and end it on a better note.”

Gustafson wasn’t alone. Brady Hamilton, Zeb Henry, Karsen Richard, Nico Rodriguez, Owen Washburn and Kaleb Duncan were ready, too.

“They’ve been at the center of this thing, in terms of making it feel right,” coach Brian Green said. “Proud of these guys. We’re ready to go. We could go tomorrow.”

The Shockers will have to wait a little longer. They open their season at home for the first time since 2021 against Northern Colorado from Feb. 13-15. Valentine’s Day will feature a doubleheader, creating a four-game series.

It’s the first sign of a season built with intent. Five of WSU’s six nonconference series will be four games. Of the 55 games this season, 33 will be at Eck Stadium.

The Shockers have eight midweek games scheduled — five on friendly turf — including a two-game series at home against Nebraska March 17-18. They went 2-9 in 11 midweek matchups last year, with wins against cross-town Division II Newman and Oral Roberts. 

The change in scheduling is by design. 

One: It limits travel time.

“You get into six-hour travel days, and to fill our 55, 56 games, we really wanted to establish that at home,” Green said.

Two: It allows a team with 31 new players (14 four-year transfers, 16 junior college transfers and one true freshman) to maximize time spent with coaches at their own facilities and with their own equipment.

“With all of the home games that we have, it gives us an opportunity to coach our players and maintain developing our players,” Green said. “You go on the road, and there’s five, six players that are left at home. They’re not working with the coaches. That’s a big deal as you get into April.”

While scheduling was a piece to this season’s puzzle, so was establishing a 38-player roster. 

New era of NCAA means a new era of recruiting

Recruitment has changed everywhere — from transfer portal chaos, NIL, and last summer’s unprecedented House vs. NCAA settlement. Green estimated that coaches get 48 hours from the first interaction with a portal prospect to when that player signs with the university.

Green still aligns himself with player goals, familial relationships with players and the team’s goals. But his aim this offseason was to build the culture from the ground up. 

He’s tired of entitlement and players putting themselves before the program.

“Everybody’s got nice facilities and everybody’s got resources or money for players,” Green said. “The alignment piece is where the culture piece is going to improve our program. I felt like I failed at that last year. That’s why I feel like we’ve got really positive alignment with the culture of our group this year.”

When scouting, experience was at the top of the list. It didn’t matter what your numbers were to Green. If you had 200 at bats or started every game at a position, it showed him that your team had trust in you.

“That was one of the things that we really tried to target,” Green said. “If you look at our (14) guys coming out of the portal, they all had major experience with their team. At least 15 appearances on the mound, at least 75 at bats at the plate. Number one was experience.”

That philosophy and those metrics are just part of the roster rebuild. A cultural turnaround was at the forefront, too.

Returners ‘anchor’ the locker room vibe

With 31 new faces, those who are mainstays are the glue. And it’s no easy task to get that many new players bought into the same locker room.

They’ll have to keep everyone in the same framework and lead by example if the Shockers want to make another conference title game push and an NCAA Tournament berth.

“We talk every day about, ‘Adversities come. It’s guaranteed,’” Green said. “We’re going to have to patch where it’s not going well, whether it be the individual or the group. What I like most, and what I’m so thankful and appreciative with these guys, is their integrity and desire to make Wichita State great again. They mean it.

“We didn’t have a great season last year,” Green continued. “But from day one, Brady and Gus and Zeb and Wash and Dunk and Nico and Rich, they’ve held that locker room to a standard that says, ‘We’re not going through that again. We’re not going to have entitlement. We’re going to have something to prove.’ I really feel like they’ve anchored the beginning of what we want to be the culture.”

For Gustafson, that looks like playing and practicing with a competitive edge — that no workout or drill should be lackadaisical. As a self-proclaimed nonverbal leader, he thinks his actions will have a trickle-down effect.

It’s already starting to show.

“Last year when things went wrong, we just kind of laid down instead of fighting,” Gustafson said. “I’ve always been the type of person when things don’t go right, you have to get up and fight. I think we’ve got a lot of guys who have that same mentality.”

When junior pitcher Brady Hamilton was thrust into a leadership role last season in the bullpen, he admitted he didn’t have an idea of what being a cornerstone meant or what it looked like to keep everyone engaged when adversity hit. 

It became apparent in the locker room that they didn’t have the right frame of mind. But from last year’s learning curve heading into this season, Hamilton thinks he’s in a better position to lead.

“I don’t think that we built, player-wise, a ‘team locker room’ that was able to still be tough with that adversity that we hit throughout the season,” he said. “That’s definitely not something we’re letting happen again. A bunch of new guys coming in, the good news is those guys, they’re all old. They’re experienced, and they’re really competitive.

“It’s a complete turnaround in the vibe of the locker room that I’ve seen in the past two years.”

More on the battery mates

The pitcher and catcher, the battery mates, for any team, help dictate the game. When they’re humming, so is everyone else.

But with two returning pitchers and the loss of former catcher Mauricio Millan, whom former players say they would “hang his banner” for his leadership, questions surrounded if the Shockers will improve on their struggles from a season ago.

They allowed the second-most runs in the American and even hit a program-low when they gave up 27 in a game to Louisiana Tech — one single blemish during a season with 36 of them.

It was a point of emphasis to shore up the mound as Green signed 16 pitchers over the offseason, including Ethan Rogers out of high school, who turned down an MLB contract to attend Wichita State.

Green pointed to right handers Matthew Cuccias (Glendale), Johnny Nuanez (Grossmont) and left hander Mitchell Johnson (Cowley) as pitchers to look out for from the JUCO ranks.

“Really impressed with our portal pitchers,” Green added. “Amar (Tsengeg) from Northwestern and Brady (Owens) from Georgia State are guys that you’re going to see a lot of.”

Paring down the lineup to just four starters remains the next challenge. So is filling Millan’s shoes.

“I think you’re going to see a little bit of a committee situation,” Green said of the catchers.

Max Kaufer, a South Carolina transfer, brings an elite defensive skillset. Once he finds his bat, Green believes Kaufer has a shot in the pros.

“He can really, really receive. That was one of the things that Mo was so good at in his career,” Green said.

Ethan Gonzalez, a Blinn College (Texas) transfer, already has the pop in the batter’s box. He hit 48 homers last season and finished the year batting .381. He made the NJCAA National Championship in both of his seasons for the Buccaneers and won the whole thing as a freshman.

On the staffing side of the bullpen, the hiring of Collin Wilber to coach the catchers full-time has already helped fill the gaps.

“Hiring a true professional catching coach was going to majorly impact this,” Green said. “Brady would tell you, ‘Thank you, coach.’ We’re stealing strikes, and we’re keeping strikes in the zone. … Our catching core is outstanding.”

Last year’s scars won’t fade, but they’ve scabbed into something useful. With new faces, old voices and a locker room built on a vibe shift, the Shockers don’t just expect to find success — they expect to be different.