At home against Oral Roberts University (ORU) on Wednesday, Wichita State baseball gave up six runs in the second inning en route to an 8-3 loss.
The Shockers’ overall record dropped to 21-17 this season and 15-8 at home after the loss. ORU improved its record to 13-21-1.
Wichita State head coach Brian Green said the players who came in and competed on the mound were positive to look at after the loss.
“The guys who came in during the middle innings were able to at least keep (us in) the game,” Green said. “If offensively we could have done something, that would have got us back into it.”
Wichita State was 4-for-31 at the plate as a team, scoring its only runs off of sacrifice ground outs in the second and sixth innings and a wild pitch in the third.
“I thought that we performed better than the numbers,” Green said. “But anytime you get four hits, you’re probably not going to win.”
Sophomore Caleb Anderson got the start on the mound for the Shockers and earned his second loss of the season. Anderson went 1 1/3 innings and gave up the costly six runs with one out in the second.
“We felt the matchup was good,” Green said. “We intended for him to go three or four innings, and he was nibbling. He didn’t have his stuff, and he wasn’t really getting after it.”
Green said that going down by six in the second inning changed the shape of the game.
“It was confident in the dugout,” Green said. “And we got back with one and then two and then it was four. At that point, we were confident and prepared … I just think we couldn’t get anything going at the plate.”
Freshman Drew Iverson stepped in relief for Anderson and got the Shockers out of the jam in the second inning with two critical strikeouts to end the inning.
“I knew that I’d have to dig deep, get after it and compete,” Iverson said. “I knew if I did that, I would succeed or do the best of my abilities and get out of it.”
Iverson pitched three full innings, the most for him this season, made three strikeouts, and gave up two hits. Iverson said his fastball was working best for him on the mound.
“Lots of away, coming inside on the hitter too sometimes to set up the off-speed,” Iverson said.
Going into its series on the road against No. 9-ranked East Carolina University, Green said the team will need a short memory.
“Get rid of this one, and get back into our process and keys at the plate,” Green said.
Wichita State baseball’s series at East Carolina University will be from Friday, April 19, to Sunday, April 21. The first pitch is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m.
