In just his third start of the season, Caleb Reed threw 6 2/3 masterful innings against No. 5 Memphis to will the No. 7 Shockers to an upset victory, and give them a spot in the American Baseball Championship semifinals.
Wichita State (30-28) bested the Tigers (24-34) by a score of 6-4 in its third game of the tournament on Friday night at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.
The Shockers will face No. 4 UAB 47 minutes after the conclusion of the 9 a.m. semifinal matchup on Saturday. If Wichita State wins, it will play the loser of this semifinal game between No. 1 UTSA and No. 2 East Carolina to earn a place in the championship on Sunday.
Reed, a junior right-handed pitcher, is a huge reason why WSU remains in contention to win the American Baseball Championship. His number of innings pitched, 105 pitch count and eight strikeouts were all season-highs.
An Olathe native, Reed (6-1) earned the win after allowing five hits, two walks and three runs against Memphis. He notched consecutive 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth to hold Wichita State’s 4-1 lead.
After a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Rice on Thursday, the Shockers showed no signs of a hangover as all nine batters reached base at least once. Jayson Jones, WSU’s offensive leader all season, smashed a no-doubt home run over the left-field wall in the top of the first to put WSU up 1-0 early.
In the next inning, Wichita State hit another homer — this one from an unexpected Shocker — junior catcher Ethan Gonzalez. He ripped his third home run of the season, and first since April 26, to push the lead to 2-0. Gonzalez also threw out two runners trying to steal second base.
Memphis responded with a run in the bottom of the second to trim the WSU lead to 2-1. But the Shockers maintained offensive pressure on Memphis in a variety of ways: eight hits, five walks, two stolen bases and a sacrifice bunt, to go along with reaching base three times on hit batters.
With two outs in the third, junior center fielder Kaleb Duncan singled to left, driving in Nolan Ganter and Owen Washburn. Jacob Gutierrez, a senior right fielder, added another clutch hit in the fifth as his two-out single scored Jones and gave WSU a 5-1 advantage. Wichita State totaled four two-out RBIs in the contest against Memphis.
Shocker pitchers were just as effective in the big moments. In the seventh, the Tigers had cut the score to 5-3 when senior lefty Brady Owens was brought in from the bullpen with two outs and the bases loaded. With the count full, Owens escaped the jam with a fly ball out.
Jaden Gustafson, a fourth-year Shocker from Maize, helped WSU tack on a run with a bases-loaded walk in the top of the eighth inning. The Shockers left Memphis frustrated again in the bottom of the inning when Dax Sharp worked out of a bases-loaded situation to keep WSU’s lead at 6-3.
Sharp gave up a homer in the bottom of the ninth but shut down any Memphis hopes by getting a routine groundout for out number two before striking out Javon Hernandez on three pitches to earn the save and end the game.
A fired-up Sharp pumped his fist and pounded his chest with his mitt in celebration of the upset, which extended the Shockers’ season for at least one more game.
