Shocker baseball wins after tough game with umpires
Wichita State’s Jordan Boyer celebrates with teammate Jacob Katzfey after scoring against UTA on March 9, 2018 at Eck Stadium.
The Shockers won 5-4 after going 10 innings in their last game of the series against UT Arlington, and it came with some tough obstacles.
WSU baseball faced UT Arlington on Friday night for game one of the weekend series and won 12-3.
On Saturday the team won Saturday 5-1 and junior Jordan Boyer scored the only home run of the game in his first at bat of the day. The Shockers did not even let UTA score until the fifth inning but kept the Mavericks slow at the plate most of the game.
Sunday’s game was more difficult for the Shockers. The team was first to score in the bottom of the second, but UTA came out with a different pitching lineup and their batters were more prepared today after losing the past two games.
Junior pitcher Connor Lungwitz went for five innings, but only recorded three strikeouts compared to the Mavericks’ pitcher Trae Patterson recording six.
The Shockers scored in the bottom of the second when freshman Hunter Gibson singled through the left side then took second on the throw, which let junior Dayton Dugas take third and junior Luke Ritter scored to put the Shockers in the lead 1-0.
Later in the bottom of the fourth Ritter walked and Dugas singled to right field to let Ritter take second. Then junior Josh DeBacker came in for a pinch hit and grounded out to the pitcher on a sacrifice bunt, allowing Dugas to advance to second and Ritter to third.
Afterwards, senior Gunnar Troutwine singled to center field with two RBI, for Ritter and Dugas to score, keeping the Shockers ahead 3-0.
The Mavericks had not scored until the seventh inning when their batters totaled to four runs, putting them in the lead 4-3. The Shockers were anxious for another run, but the tables turned.
UTA changed pitchers for the bottom of the seventh, and junior Greyson Jenista was the first at bat and struck out.
Junior Alec Bohm was next at bat and had two strikeouts. Then Bohm had supposedly swung at the third pitch, which the home plate umpire ruled as the third strike, making it the second out.
In a disagreement with the umpire, WSU coach Todd Butler claimed it was not a strike and it resulted in Butler being thrown out of the game.
The next inning, senior Trey Vickers had a pinch hit and singled to right center field and advanced to second on a fielding error, which allowed Dugas to score and putting the teams at a tie 4-4.
After the Mavericks had not scored in the top of the tenth, the Shockers knew they had a chance to break the tie.
Ritter was second at bat after one out and reached on a throwing error by second base. Then, Dugas hit a pop fly to second base but reached on a fielder’s choice, but Ritter was called out on the play by the umpire as he advanced to second base. This resulted in the second out.
Soon after sophomore Alex Jackson singled to right field, allowing Dugas to take third base. Then when Troutwine was at bat, Jackson took second base. Troutwine singled through the right side with an RBI, which let Jackson advance to third and Dugas score at home, ending the game 5-4.
The Shockers are now 12-2 and will be in Columbia, Mo. when they face Missouri on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The team will start their weekend series against Creighton in Omaha, Neb. on Friday at 6:30 p.m., and continue through Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
Joseph Barringhaus was the sports photo editor for The Sunflower. Joseph majored in marketing with a minor in communications. He was born in Michigan but...
