Men’s tennis

The Wichita State men’s tennis team lost to both Drake and No. 23 Oklahoma State University over the weekend. 

The Shockers lost to Drake on Friday, 5-2, and were swept by Oklahoma State on Sunday, 7-0.

The Shockers are now 2-8, holding a losing streak of five games. 

In doubles, Drake built up an early lead on courts one and two. 

In his first career start, freshman Ziwen Ju won on court six, and sophomore Luke Bracks won on court five. However, the remainder of the Shockers fell short in their matchups. 

On Sunday, the Shockers could not get anything going on the courts as Oklahoma State took its seventh win in a row. 

Wichita State came close to winning a point in doubles, but the Cowboys came back on court one against graduate student Misha Kvantaliani and sophomore Richey King, 6-4. 

The Shockers will seek to end their losing streak as they go on the road to Colorado against the University of Montana on Saturday, March 2 and the University of Denver on Sunday, March 3. 

Baseball

Wichita State baseball played in the Jax College Baseball Classic in Jacksonville, Florida. The Shockers lost their first game on Friday against No. 14 The University of Virginia, 4-5, lost against Auburn, 19-8 on Saturday, but managed to beat No. 18 The University of Iowa on Sunday, 12-6. 

The Shockers took a 3-2 lead going into the eighth inning against No. 14 Virginia, but the Cavaliers tied the game in the bottom of the eighth and scored two runs in the extra tenth inning to secure the victory. 

Senior left-handed pitcher Caden Favors had a career-high in 6.2 innings with seven strikeouts. He allowed eight hits and two runs, one earned.

Auburn was able to capitalize on 16 walks handed out by Wichita State pitchers. The game was called after seven innings due to the tournament’s mercy rule. 

Auburn went up by six in the first inning and never looked back. The Shockers got close in the bottom of the second, 7-3, when senior Dayvin Johnson launched a three-run homer, but the Tigers’ four-run third inning restored the cushion to 11-3.  

In its final match, Wichita State would not go quietly, beating No. 18 Iowa thanks to a trio of three-run home runs. 

Iowa made four runs in the second inning and one in the fifth to give them the lead, 5-0. Junior Josh Livingston came off the bench for Wichita State and promptly delivered a towering three-run homer that cut the deficit to 5-3. 

The Shockers would plate five runs in the seventh inning and four in the eighth inning to seal the deal. Iowa could not get much going after only scoring one run in the fifth and one in the seventh.