Wichita State’s baseball team was able to get their first series win and sweep of the season against Missouri State University from Friday to Sunday.

With the home series win against the former Missouri Valley Conference opponent, the Shockers are now 6-9 on the season. The Bears fell to 5-9 overall.

Friday

Late-game heroics in the closing innings helped Wichita State win the opening game of the series, 7-5.

The Shockers struck first in the first inning, when sophomore Kam Durnin hit an RBI double. In the third, the Bears tied the game, but two runs on three hits gave the Shockers the lead back, 3-1.

Missouri State took the lead in the fifth inning on a strange infield single that didn’t make it halfway to first base and a WSU throwing error later on. The Bears added on one more run on a passed ball.

Junior pitcher Aaron Arnold came to the mound in the fifth inning. Arnold stopped the Bears’ momentum, giving up no runs in his three innings of work and striking out six batters.

In the seventh, senior Josh Livingston hit an RBI single. Then, it was the road team’s turn to commit a throwing error, allowing another WSU run to tie the game.

The Shockers retook the lead in the eighth when senior Mauricio Millan hit a ball with the knob of his bat and it squirted into right field, allowing senior Jordan Rogers to cross the plate. WSU added an insurance run later in the inning when sophomore third baseman Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly.

Saturday

For the first time all season, the Shockers won back-to-back games. WSU won, 4-2, in the second game of the series.

After the first three innings produced zero runs, Wichita State brought all nine of its hitters to the plate and scored three runs in the fourth. 

In Missouri State’s half of the fourth, the Bears’ head coach Joey Hawkins was ejected after voicing his frustration with a check swing call.

The Bears scored their first run in the sixth. After the big fourth inning, the Shockers struggled and went down 1-2-3 in three straight innings. 

Senior starting pitcher Grant Adler pitched seven innings of one-run ball, fanning 10 Bears batters. After Adler was taken out, the Bears added one more run. 

The Shockers got some insurance when Livingston scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning.

In the ninth, the Bears hit a leadoff double but senior Jace Miner struck out the next three batters to earn the save.

The 13 strikeouts as a team ties a season-high for WSU’s pitchers. 

Sunday

Wichita State secured its first sweep of the season in dramatic fashion, walking off to win, 9-8. 

The Shockers put up a four-spot in the first inning. Livingston hit an RBI double to start the scoring. 

In the third, the Bears took their first lead with a big five-run inning, tacking on more runs in the fourth and fifth inning to take a 7-4 advantage.

Down by three in the Shockers’ half of the fifth, Rogers hit an RBI triple to help cut into the team’s deficit. Junior Jaden Gustafson came into the game to pinch hit and singled to cut the Bears’ lead to one run. Senior Cole Dillon tied the game with a double that scored Gustafson.

The Shockers took back the lead in the sixth inning with a Millan double, 8-7. The Bears tied the game in the eighth with a home run but couldn’t manage anything more than that.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Bears gifted Wichita State a bases loaded situation with two errors and a walk. Millan stepped into the batter’s box and hit a walk-off single into left field, sending the Shockers’ fans home happy with the win.

Up next, Wichita State will travel north to play the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in a midweek two-game series. The first pitch against the Cornhuskers is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday.