Wichita State baseball fell one game shy of a sweep on Sunday.

The Shockers won two of three games in the conference opener against Memphis. The Tigers won 6-3 after Wichita State won the first two by a combined score of 15-7.

Keith Stepter put Memphis ahead early with a two-run home run. The ball narrowly escaped the outstretched glove of Wichita State’s Hunter Gibson.

Memphis added to its lead after Paxton Marshall had an RBI single. In the fourth inning, the Shockers’ offense finally started to click. Gibson led off the inning with a single, and Luke Ritter hammered his fifth home run on the season to cut the deficit to one. Gibson later tied the game with a sacrifice fly that sent home Jacob Katzfey.

With two outs in the inning, the Shockers had the bases loaded with Paxton Wallace up. Wallace hit a foul shot just inches right of the foul pole before getting out to end WSU’s chances. 

“Today was the most important game of the season and we didn’t get it done,” Wichita State coach Todd Butler said, adding that he’s searching for a good start to conference play after the team struggled to produce in the American Athletic Conference season last year.

With the loss, the Shockers fall back below the .500 mark, with their record now at 11-12. Next up, the Shockers host Omaha on Tuesday.