A three-hour rain delay could’ve produced a different weekend. But Wichita State used it to regain.
Trailing by two runs when the tarp was rolled out in the bottom of the third inning of Friday’s series opener against Texas-San Antonio, the Shockers used the extra time to receive pointers, watch film and adjust for what was next.
“Me and Coach O (Courtney Oliver-Elkins) watched film, went over what went wrong in the earlier innings,” sophomore Ryley Nihart said. “I felt a thousand times better back out after that rain delay, and I think it showed.”
It did. Nihart delivered four scoreless innings afterward and the Shockers tacked on three runs of their own in the fifth for a 3-2 win.
The momentum from the reset then translated into a Saturday doubleheader originally scheduled for Friday, as WSU completed its second series sweep this season with 12-4 and 3-1 wins. The Shockers (24-15, 12-6 American) have now won five straight games in conference play.
“There’s so much parity in our conference. Every single chance that somebody gets to play each other, you just never know who’s going to win,” head coach Kristi Bredbenner said.
“For us to have two (sweeps) this year and just continue to play good softball at the right time and getting better and different people stepping up was a really good weekend for us.”
Freshman Kammie Smith was one of the players Bredbenner mentioned to have stepped up over the weekend. She helped flip the scoreboard in the fifth inning of Friday’s rain-delayed game.
On a 2-2 count with one out, Smith rifled a shot to deep center field, allowing Kinzey Woody and Morgan Lloyd to cross home plate. The hit went down as Smith’s first triple of her collegiate career. Graduate student Johnna Schroeder hit a single later in the frame that decided the final score.
“I knew it was a big-time situation,” Smith said later.
Smith has hit 14-for-26 and has driven in nine runs over an eight game hitting streak that started March 29 at South Florida.
The Shockers then followed up the series-opening win with a 12-4 decision that ended after the fifth inning.
Sophomore Ava Sliger (6-1) started in the circle and pitched a complete game, giving up four runs on nine hits and striking out one batter.
“Ava’s growing and she’s really learning, and she’s taking advantage of her opportunities,” Bredbenner said. “She’s proven that she can be a really good starter for us and an excellent No. 2.
“We’re excited about her growth and her growth mindset more than anything.”
WSU ended up using just two pitchers over the weekend: Nihart and Sliger. Nihart (10-9) was given the start in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader and gave up the lone run on a solo homer and struck out four Roadrunners.
“Everything was working well this weekend,” Nihart said. “Off-speed was on. The rise (ball) helped us a lot today (Saturday). … That was what led to the success.”
And while Sliger’s arm kept UTSA (20-15, 8-10) in check during Game 1, the Shockers’ bats came alive. They put up a five-spot in the second inning after Mackenzie Rooney and Ausha Moore each hit multi-RBI home runs.
Woody, a freshman, added four more in the third with a towering grand slam to left field. She later sealed the run-rule victory with a two-run shot to right-center field for her second home run of the game and seventh of the season.
WSU didn’t stop there.
In Game 2, sophomore Aeryn Shuman and Moore each went yard for solo home runs in the second and third innings, respectively. Woody added an insurance run later in the fifth on an RBI single.
Bredbenner said the way the underclassmen showed up over the weekend is a positive sign for the program moving forward.
“That’s huge,” Bredbenner said. “Because, I think foundationally, you hope you’re going to have them for another three years.
“They’re getting so much experience, and the part that’s so cool is to see them from Feb. 8 to where we are on April 11 — they’ve grown. They’ve gotten better. They’re so much more mature, and they’ve got so much more growth in them.”
With a weekend sweep now behind it, Wichita State will look to carry its momentum into a series at Charlotte from April 17-19 to begin an eight-game stint on the road.
