Wichita State baseball traveled to Riverfront Stadium on Tuesday afternoon to face off against Oklahoma State University (OSU). The Cowboys defeated the Shockers 9-5.
With its most recent loss, baseball dropped to 19-14 overall, while OSU improved to 22-11.
The Cowboys capitalized early in the game with 12 walks and three hit batters.
OSU sophomore Carson Benge put up an RBI double in the first inning, giving the road team an early 1-0 lead. The Cowboys scored three runs in the second inning on walks with the bases loaded. By the third inning, OSU added one more run, 5-0.
The Shockers failed to respond offensively, but junior pitcher Mason Munz held the Cowboys to a scoreless fourth and fifth innings that slowed its momentum.
Wichita State got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, getting a walk and three consecutive singles from senior Dayvin Johnson, junior Mauricio Millan, and sophomore Jaden Gustafson, which allowed freshman Kam Durnin and Johnson to run home.
“Once that first person walks, that momentum in the dugout just (goes) up, and then the second person walks or hits, and it just keeps building,” freshman Lane Haworth said.
The Cowboys responded in the sixth by adding another run to the board to make it 6-2. OSU shut out the Shockers in the next two innings and scored three more in the eighth to further its lead, 9-2.
Haworth had six appearances at bat and acquired his third hit of the evening in the eighth inning, singling to right field and getting his only RBI of the night. Haworth’s single gave the Shockers another run as redshirt junior Jordan Rogers crossed the plate, 9-3.
Haworth said he had been trying to stay consistent with his bats, but all the travel can catch up to him; however, he said that he stays prepared because he never knows when he will be called up.
“I think it just consistency — it’s a long season, late nights, plane rides,” Haworth said. “It’s just like, take care of your body, and be consistent, and be prepared, and you never know when your name is going to be called.”
The Shockers shut out OSU in the ninth inning, but the Shockers would still come up short, only making two runs from a Durnin triple that allowed Rogers and junior Derek Williams to settle the score, 9-5.
Despite the loss, Wichita State head coach Brian Green said he saw a much better offense than he saw in the previous series against South Florida.
“It’s really tough in these midweek settings,” Green said. “If you come in and you’re not throwing strikes and you stretch your bullpen as early as we did, it makes it tough to get back.”
Green said that back-to-back midweek games are challenging because the team can get thin quickly.
“It’s really all hands on deck,” Green said. “With the teams that we play in the midweeks, we just have to find a way to throw more strikes early in the game.”
Wichita State baseball will be traveling to Manhattan to face off against Kansas State University on Wednesday, April 10. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
