In this weekend’s matchup against the Southern Illinois Salukis, the men’s baseball team gained their first sweep since their opening weekend by way of two run rules and an extra-inning game.

Friday  

Pitching has always been the Shockers strong suit against opponents, but on Friday night, the boys’ bats heated up before run ruling the Southern Illinois Salukis 10-0 in 7 innings.

At the bottom of the first, the Shockers started things off quickly, gaining a 5-0 lead against the Salukis thanks to a two-run double by Casey Gillaspie and a three-run homer by Chase Simpson.

After the initial lead, pitcher A.J. Ladwig silenced Southern Illinois, only letting them get two hits off of him.

“I think he located very well,” head coach Todd Butler said. “He made it a little tough for them.”

In the bottom of the fifth, Simpson was once again an integral part of the Shockers offense getting a double before being driven in by Tyler Baker’s single, extending the lead to 6-0.

Wichita State showed offensive promise once again in the bottom of the sixth, but left the bases loaded despite Garret Bayliff, Tanner Dearman, and Tanner Kirk’s base hits.

While the game ended with 10 men left on base, each player had at least one base hit, which is a breath of fresh air,q especially after the on-road hitting struggle the boys faced only a week ago.

“I think we just tried to simplify things— mainly our swings,” said Simpson about their offensive adjustment.

Saturday

While the runs were minimal on Saturday’s game against the Salukis, the Shockers had to play 12 innings to determine the win of 4-3.

The men’s baseball team gained a one-run lead in the bottom of the third thanks to Kihle stealing home.

The score remained 1-0 until the top of the fifth where the Salukis tied it up by a throwing error from starting pitcher Cale Elam.

Casey Gillaspie’s homerun pulled the Shockers ahead once again, extending the lead 2-1 after a controversial call ended in Butler getting thrown out of the game.

The Salukis’ head coach was also thrown out after Elam struck one of their players out in the top of the ninth.

Foster Vielock relieved Elam after he gave up the tying homerun to the Salukis in the top of the ninth with a strong left wind.

“He (Elam) is a competitor,” Butler said. “He walked two guys, but it’s uncharacteristic of him.”

In the top of the 11^th, Southern Illinois pulled ahead by one making the score 3-2 because of a ball dropped in right field. The mishap was quickly redeemed in the same inning by a single home run that tied the game, courtesy of Dayne Parker.

“I was just trying to get something going,” Parker said. “I didn’t hit it as good as I could, but I got it up in the air and it went out.”

Parker also got the final RBI to win the game after Joe Haddox stole second and Chase Simpson walked.

“It was one of those in-betweeners, but I’m glad it fell in our favor,” Parker said.

“This is a big win,” Butler said. “Every win is big from here on out.”

Saturday’s win marked the Shockers’ first win to come from behind.

Sunday

Butler called the day “Sunday Runday,” because the Shockers did just that— they scored enough runs to end the game in the seventh inning, beating the Salukis 11-1.

While the Shockers were scoreless in the second inning, their third was a loud one with three runs batted in.

The inning began with Daniel Kihle doubling to left center and Parker advancing his runner to third. Gillaspie singled to center field, bringing Kihle home for a run. Simpson doubled to left center as well gaining an RBI. The last run of the inning was Zair Koeiman, who singled to shortstop after advancing walked Green to second and Kihle to home. This made the score 5-1.

Sam Tewes was the starting pitcher yesterday, pitching six of the innings, until Drew Palmer relieved him. Tewes has one earned run off of him, but gained the win making his record 6-2.

Daniel Kihle had the only run in the bottom of the fourth thanks to his solo homerun making the score 6-1.

The fifth inning was by far the loudest. Garret Bayliff and Koeiman scored thanks to a triple by Tyler Baker, and Baker scored by means of Kihle’s single to right field. Parker brought Tanner Kirk home by grounding out to the shortstop while advancing Kihle to third. Gillaspie had the final RBI, bringing Kihle home after a single to center field. The fifth ended with Shockers 11, Salukis 1.

The Shockers were silent for the remainder of the game until the bottom of the seventh. A mercy rule called the game, since the Shockers had 10 run.

Daniel Kihle was another game highlight. Kihle had just came back from an injury but ended the weekend batting .405 and surpassing hitting machine Casey Gillaspie’s .402. Kihle has had half as many at bats as the rest of the team, but now has the highest batting average.