Wichita State baseball’s poor start to the 2025 season continued during their home opening series at Eck Stadium over the weekend. The Shockers dropped two of three games against California State University, Fullerton, with the only bright spot coming from a walk-off homer in the first game.
Both Fullerton and Wichita State sit with 3-8 records after the series. The Shockers have lost all three of their series to open the season.
WSU has played the 28th strongest schedule in the country to this point in the season, although the team dropped a game against a Division II opponent last week.
Friday
Sophomore Lane Haworth stepped up to the plate at the bottom of the ninth inning with the Shockers down a run and facing their last out. Haworth delivered a walk-off home run — his first long ball of the season — to snatch a victory for WSU in its home opener, 5-4.
Wichita State fell behind earlier in the third inning when sophomore starting pitcher Brady Hamilton gave up a three-run homer.
Down 4-1, the Shockers sneaked across runs in the fifth and seventh innings to narrow the margin. However, with a runner on first and one out in the seventh, senior Jordan Rogers hit a line drive that turned into a double play when sophomore Camden Johnson was beaten to the first base bag, extinguishing the scoring threat.
Five WSU pitchers combined to throw 4 ⅔ scoreless innings in relief, collectively giving up just two hits. Junior Aaron Arnold earned the win.
Saturday
The Shockers out-hit the Titans in the second game of the series but failed to score any runs, losing 5-0. Wichita State had 10 hits in the game while Fullerton had just eight, yet three errors and a lack of timely hitting cost the Shockers a win.
Neither team managed a run until the seventh inning. Senior Grant Adler threw six innings of scoreless ball on the mound for WSU.
Johnson couldn’t make a play on a two-out ground ball in the seventh inning, allowing the Titans to score their first run. Fullerton tacked on a run in the eighth and three more in the ninth through two wild pitches by junior Nick Potter.
The Shockers loaded the bases in the fourth and eighth innings but came away scoreless. In the eighth, Haworth struck out and sophomore Gannon Snyder grounded out to end the scoring threat.
Sunday
Wichita State led for the majority of the series finale but still dropped the series’ rubber match, 7-5.
The Shockers rallied to take a 5-2 lead in the third inning and held onto it until the seventh inning. In that frame, Fullerton hit a three-run bomb and another solo shot two batters later to take the winning advantage.
Junior Caleb Anderson, who gave up the three-run homer, was tagged with the loss. Four Fullerton relievers kept the Shockers scoreless for six innings.
Wichita State will return to the road in a single-game showdown against Abilene Christian University on Wednesday, March 5. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
