In the first home matchup on the conference schedule this season, Wichita State baseball ended a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 series victory against the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
The series win against UAB is the first in the American Athletic Conference for Wichita State as the team rose to 10-17 overall and 3-3 in the AAC.
With UAB’s victory in the final game of the series, the Blazers ended their own five-game losing streak, but fell to 16-12 and 2-4 in the conference.
“If you just do the formula: don’t get swept on the road and win (the) series at home, you’ll be in (a) good position as you get into the tournament,” WSU head coach Brian Green said.
WSU has a 7-5 record at home in Eck Stadium and a 3-12 record away from Wichita.
Friday
A dominant performance by senior Grant Adler on the mound along with great run support, ended in a WSU run-rule win in seven innings, 11-1. Adler earned his third win of the season, making his record 3-1.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job overall playing well at home,” senior Mauricio Millan said. “We don’t want to lose at Eck. That has kind of been our thing.”
Three Shockers ended the game with two hits: Millan and fellow seniors Jordan Rogers and Gannon Snyder.
The Shockers took control in the second, tallying up six runs.
Adler had a complete game but missed out on the shutout with an unearned run in the seventh. Adler only managed four strikeouts in the game but walked just one batter.
“We would love to strike people out,” Green said. “We just don’t have the stuff (necessary) to punch people out as much as we’d like to.”
Sophomore Kaleb Duncan ended the game in spectacular fashion on a two-run homer — his first as a Shocker — to run-rule the Blazers.
Saturday
The second game of the series was not as explosive as the Friday performance but ended in a 6-2 quality win, nonetheless. Junior Aaron Arnold was awarded the win, his fourth of the year.
Senior Josh Livingston hit a solo home run to match UAB in the first inning, 1-1. The Shockers kept UAB scoreless for six straight innings after the first.
Wichita State scored three runs in the second inning and tacked on another two in the fifth.
The Shockers used five pitchers and generated seven strikeouts, four of them by Arnold. The rotation also walked three batters in the victory. Sophomore Jeremiah Arnett was awarded the save.
“They’re very aggressive in the count,” Green said. “Anytime you can throw a changeup, get some soft contact, we love that. Aaron (Arnold) was throwing a ton of strikes and didn’t walk anybody.”
Sunday
Wichita State came up short in its quest for a sweep on a chilly Sunday afternoon as sophomore pitcher Brady Hamilton gave up seven runs in the first two innings. The Shockers attempted a comeback but were stifled by the Blazers, losing 11-9.
Hamilton was charged with his third loss of the season, leaving his record at 1-3. Hamilton was responsible for just four of the seven runs scored by UAB while he was on the mound, as WSU committed two costly errors in the game.
Hamilton gave up a homer to the leadoff hitter on his fourth pitch of the day, as the ball landed near the flagpole at right field.
The Shockers put the ball into play, but didn’t earn hits as UAB took a 7-0 lead.
The Shockers showed signs of life in the batter’s box when Millan hit a two-RBI triple down the left field line in the third inning.
“I knew there were runners in scoring position,” Millan said. “I was just trying to be aggressive, he (UAB’s pitcher) left a cutter up in the zone and (I) was able to get the head out and pull it down the line.”
Despite the seven-run shelling of Hamilton, the Blazers were the first to execute a pitching change after Wichita State made the score 7-4 in the third. Junior Colton Vercoe did come in as a middle reliever in the fifth inning for WSU after another scoreless inning by Hamilton.
After a scoreless fourth and fifth inning by both teams, Rogers hit a two-run homer to right field to bring the game within one run, 7-6, in the sixth.
“The energy was good,” Green said. “And you’re down seven runs. We didn’t flinch. We just kept playing.”
UAB then responded with a 461-foot two-run homer of its own in the seventh to dissuade any comeback by Wichita State.
Sophomore Camden Johnson was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the seventh. Then, what looked like a routine double play ball hit by Millan was instead bobbled by the UAB shortstop, who then made an errant throw into the dugout as Johnson scored and Millan reached base.
With two outs, Rogers smoked an RBI single to left field to make the score 9-8. Rogers finished the game 4-5 from the batter’s box with five RBIs, including a double and a homer.
“It’s kind of tough to start a game that way always,” Millan said. “But I was really proud of our guys offensively for just finding a way to compete.”
Arnett gave up two runs in the top of the ninth. However, the hitters tried to make up for it in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single by Rogers.
With the bases loaded and no outs, down two runs, the Shockers ended the game without scoring again, after junior Jordan Black struck out swinging and Snyder hit into a 1-2-3 double play.
The Shockers struck out as many batters as they walked with eight.
“The most important thing for us is not necessarily the strikeouts,” Green said. “But keeping the walks down has been a problem for us this year.”
Wichita State will stay home for a midweek game against in-state rival Kansas State University on Wednesday, April 2. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
