Wichita State faced UTSA, the leader of the American Athletic Conference, over the weekend, falling to the Roadrunners in a sweep at Eck Stadium.
After the series loss, the Shockers fell to 12-23 overall and 4-8 in the conference. UTSA rose to 28-9 and stays firmly in the driver’s seat of the AAC with a 10-2 conference record.
“Every time you get the last at-bat at home,” senior Josh Livingston said. “You want to go ahead and scratch a couple (wins) at home. We want to be better, though. We can’t get swept at home. We want to defend this place.
“We feel like we have an advantage here, and it just didn’t go that way this weekend.”
Friday
Wichita State lost, 9-2, to start the series at home as the team allowed 14 hits. Senior Grant Adler started the game and was tagged with the loss. His record on the mound is now 3-3 on the season.
Adler threw 122 pitches, his highest pitch count so far this season, before being relieved in the seventh inning. It was his fourth consecutive game throwing at least 100 pitches.
Adler gave up four runs and walked six batters.
UTSA had six doubles in the game and got walked as many times as they struck out at seven.
Wichita State only had one RBI, a double to right-center by sophomore Camden Johnson. The other run was scored on a wild pitch by the Roadrunners.
Saturday
The Roadrunners doubled WSU’s run output on Saturday afternoon, 16-8. Junior Aaron Arnold was tagged with the loss, which left his record at 4-2 on the season.
Arnold only played 1 1/3 innings on Saturday, giving up six runs before being pulled. He gave up a two-run home run after walking the leadoff batter to start the game.
Sophomore Jeremiah Arnett came in to relieve Arnold and did not fare any better. He allowed six runs on seven hits.
UTSA had 18 hits on the day, half of those being extra-base hits. This included seven doubles and two home runs.
Wichita State went back-to-back in the sixth as sophomore Kam Durnin hit a three-run homer, which forced UTSA to make a pitching change. Sophomore Lane Haworth then hit a solo homer that made the score 13-5.
Livingston also hit a two-run homer in the seventh. He went 2-3 on the day with one walk. Wichita State had six extra-base hits in total, which included three doubles in addition to the team’s home runs.
“You can be swinging it well and there’s nothing to show for it,” Livingston said. “It’s been frustrating so far, but the guys that were over here a year ago went through the same thing — and we turned it around.”
Sunday
Sophomore Brady Hamilton took the mound to start Sunday afternoon. Hamilton had four runless innings in the game, but the team lacked run support.
In the 5-1 loss in the series’ final game, Hamilton was charged with his fourth loss of the season, which dropped him to a record of 1-4.
Hamilton retired in the first inning, only giving up an infield hit as the batter beat out the throw.
Livingston was the only Shocker to score in the afternoon as he pulled a solo homer to right field to start the game. The home run was his ninth so far this season.
Hamilton threw another scoreless inning in the second, aided by the left shoulder of Haworth, who gunned down a greedy UTSA runner who tried to extend a hit to a double.
Hamilton gave up his first run in the fourth inning. After walking two batters, he allowed a grounder through the infield gap that continued into the outfield.
Despite starting strong, the Wichita State bats turned cold for the rest of the game. This left the defense with the game in their hands.
Hamilton started to lose his command by the fifth inning and ended his day in the sixth after giving up two runs. One of those runs was scored on a wild pitch.
Senior Jace Miner took the mound to finish out the sixth, but the lefty from Justin, Texas, struggled to find the zone. The Roadrunners scored two as Miner walked in a run.
After the sixth, Miner and the rest of the bullpen put together three runless innings — but the aluminum stayed cold as the Shockers struggled to make hits and drive in runners.
The Shockers combined for a .133 batting average. The team managed only four hits on the day.
“We hit the ball hard today (Sunday) and (Saturday),” Livingston said. “Just today, we hit the ball hard just right at people. It’s kind of how baseball works sometimes. I feel like nothing is going our way right now, but we feel close and it just takes one to get on a roll.”
Wichita State will travel for a midweek matchup against Kansas in Lawrence on Tuesday, April 15. The first pitch against the Jayhawks is scheduled for 6 p.m.
