Senior Mauricio Millan called his at bat in the ninth inning of game two of a weekend series against Memphis the best at bat of his career.
He stepped up to the plate with the game tied at five runs. A win would solidify Wichita State baseball’s spot in the American Athletic Conference Championship.
On a 2-1 count with two outs, Millan smashed a ball to left-center field that nearly went over the fence, but dropped just in time for the Tigers’ outfield to not make a play on it to walk off for the win, 6-5.
Junior Jaden Gustafson was on first base and scored during Millan’s big bop. When the ball hit the turf, he knew that was the game.
“I’m happy for Mo (Millan) and happy for our team,” Gustafson said. “… We just made the tournament after a real rough season. So, it was just kind of a relieving feeling knowing that we got to Clearwater. Now we got more work to do to go compete and try to go win the thing.”
When Millan went up to the plate for that at bat, he said he had a plan and executed it to a tee.
“I knew that the pitcher on the mound had a really good fastball and knew he liked his fastball,” Millan said. “I knew I was going to get a fastball at some point in the at bat, it was just a matter of when.”
WSU head coach Brian Green said the moment for Millan was huge.
“I mean, everybody’s here,” Green said. “His family’s here, it’s his last weekend. He hit probably the hardest ball he’s hit all season. I was really happy for him.”
After the Shockers (20-34, 11-16 in the AAC) walked off in game two and won in game one, they ended their final weekend series of the season against Memphis (22-33, 8-19 in the AAC) with a sweep.
Because WSU swept the Tigers and USTA swept Rice, the Shockers managed to secure the No. 7 seed heading into the AAC Championship, which starts on May 20. WSU will face the conference’s No. 2 seed, Charlotte, at 3 p.m. next Tuesday, in Clearwater, Florida.
After Millan walked off, the Shockers secured the sweep on their senior day on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 win. The team honored 15 graduating players and staff members before the senior day game.
Green said he doesn’t know if he’ll ever have a senior class this big again, given the age of the transfer portal, but to sweep the team’s final opponent going into the AAC Championship was big. WSU is now riding a five-game winning streak heading into Clearwater.
“It was (also) pretty emotional,” Green said. “Those guys have done a lot for me, personally, and (I’m) very thankful to them and their families. It’s really important for me that these kids have great experiences, and that’s why this year was a challenge.
“But to be able to finish on a high note, I know their experience has changed dramatically. We’re going to the tournament with momentum. We get to go hang out on the beach and see if we can make some noise down there in Clearwater.”
Throughout the series finale, both teams’ pitchers got it done on the mound. Green said that WSU’s performance earlier this week against Oral Roberts and the five allowed hits on Saturday brings confidence to the team going into the conference tournament.
“We’re going to need 10 arms to do anything in that tournament,” he said. “So for those guys to come out and do something, build some confidence, I think it could be really valuable for us.”
After the Shockers gave up an RBI single in the game’s second at bat, they held Memphis to no runs and just three hits during the next eight innings.
Senior Josh Livingston came up big for the team at the plate as well. He drove in WSU’s first two runs on separate RBI-singles in the third and seventh innings. Millan said that for his friend and teammate to come up with two runs for the team in a pitcher’s duel was immense.
“I’m proud of Livy (Livingston) for continuing to work,” Millan said. “And he came up big for us. He’s come up big for us all year, and he’s a key aspect of our team.”
Sophomore Gannon Snyder added an insurance run in the eighth inning with an RBI single of his own.
Before the game two heroics and the win on senior day, the Shockers handled business in the series opener on Thursday evening, 9-5.
WSU trailed by a run in the fourth inning, and Millan said he knew the team would have to respond.
“It’s a game where things are always going to go bad — it’s inevitable,” Millan said. “So we did a really good job responding.”
In that frame, the Shockers trailed 3-2. Afterward, they outscored Memphis seven runs to two.
Sophomore Kaleb Duncan was WSU’s unlikely hero out of the nine-hole during the game. He hit a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and coerced a walk. Green said that for Duncan to be able to turn the lineup over has been one of the reasons the Shockers are playing winning baseball.
“He’s just having quality at bats,” Green said. “He’s gaining confidence at the plate and … doing stuff that really changes the way we operate.”
Heading into the AAC Championship with a five-game winning streak and a series sweep to end the regular season, Green said the team finally has a chance to “relax a little bit.”
“I think our guys feel really good,” Green said. “They feel confident. And most importantly, they’re going into the tournament loose — you have to be loose to play conference baseball.”
