Wichita State baseball went 1-2 to begin their season. The Shockers traveled to Louisiana to play McNeese State University (MSU).
The Cowboys took two of the three games from Friday to Sunday. Senior catcher Mauricio Millan missed the series due to a wrist injury.
Friday
The Shockers’ season did not start as planned as they lost to the Cowboys, 7-1.
MSU struck first with a solo home run in the third. Wichita State was able to push across a run of its own in the fifth, which happened without a hit in the inning. Three consecutive Shockers were plunked by pitches, scoring a run.
The Cowboys retook the lead in the bottom of the inning and kept adding to it. Four different pitchers went on the mound for Wichita State and gave up six earned runs.
Saturday
On Saturday, the Shockers lost in a high-scoring contest, 11-6.
Senior Grant Adler, in his return to WSU, started on the mound and pitched a 1-2-3 first inning with two strikeouts.
The Shockers got on the board with a three-run second inning, capped off by a two-RBI double from sophomore Camden Johnson.
The Cowboys tied the game right back up with a three-run second inning of their own. MSU added one more run in the fourth and fifth innings.
The Shockers stormed back with a Johnson two-run triple and help from a Cowboys error, taking the lead, 6-5. The eighth inning doomed the Shockers, however, as five MSU players crossed home plate.
Sunday
The Shockers avoided the sweep in their opening weekend as they were able to secure a 6-2 win on Sunday.
The Shockers started fast as Johnson hit a leadoff home run in the first. Senior catcher Cole Dillon tripled to left field in the second inning, scoring two runs and expanding Wichita State’s lead. Then, Dillon scored on a Johnson single.
In his return for the Shockers, senior pitcher Jace Miner started the game with four straight no-hit innings. In the fifth, the Cowboys found their only two runs of the ball game.
In the eighth, the Shockers added two runs with bases-loaded walks. The Cowboys loaded the bases in their final two innings, but Wichita State gave up no runs, preserving a 6-2 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, with the tying run at the plate and one out, the Shockers turned to junior pitcher Nick Potter. He ended the game by striking out both hitters to get the save.
Baseball will travel to the Aloha State to play the University of Hawaii and Chaminade University, a Division II school in Honolulu, Hawaii, from Thursday, Feb. 20, through Monday, Feb. 24. The first pitch is scheduled for 10:35 p.m. CT on Thursday.
