#18 Wichita State @ #16 East Carolina, 3 Game Series

[Shocker85]

Good aggressive approach at the plate this season is making a huge difference in confidence and results

The pitching staff overall is doing their jobs well.

I am feeling optimism and am still hopeful for Consistency.

Go Shox!

[Cdizzle]

I mean, that was behind the woodshed stuff.

[ShockerFever]

Nice job fellas. Very happy to be wrong about what I expected to happen today. Very cool!

Ditto

[1972Shocker]

I guess when you score 14 runs your pitching doesn't have to be great. Still I think the key to being a good team is the pitching and it was again solid tonight.

I'm looking forward very much to seeing how young Mr. Eddy handles his chores on the bump tomorrow. You know ECU is going to be motivated. With the exception of one bad inning agaisnt Creighton Liam has been consistently very good this year.

[SPEShockAlum]

We gave up 2 earned runs. That’s pretty good.

[Cdizzle]

Shocks' team batting average improves to .293 and runs per game moves to 7.1, ERA drops to 3.19 following tonight's win.

The offensive numbers aren't completely surprising. We knew this lineup had the potential to be pretty potent if they put things together. Honestly, I could even see those numbers continuing to improve with Vickers now healthy and some intriguing young guys getting more ABs.

The pitching numbers on the other hand, are literally unbelievable. I do not believe it. But it is what it is. And it is fun.

[ShockerFever]

I agree. The pitching (specifically the starting pitching) has been very unbelievable. Overall, there has been improvement throughout the year so far. That is definitely a difference than the previous few years.

Heuer has been superb and the frosh Eddy has been nails. I'm not sure anybody saw that coming.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Some people has seen glimpses. I trusted thier judgement, but had some reservations. After the McNeese series and seeing them in person, I was more convinced. Taking the Nebraska series moved me completely on board.

All that said, the only thing that matters is tomorrows game. Need Liam to do what he does best and get people out.

[WSUwatcher]

Wow -- just saw today's box. Who ARE those guys, Sundance?

Especially the pitchers: if this is what happens when you take the summer off to work out and get stronger, there are going to be a lot of guys thinking about Wichita from June through August instead of the Cape or Alaska.

Plus, the cold war with Gene is over at last -- and that may be more than just a feel-good story; old #10 remembers some baseball, too, and may be having a chance to impart a little wisdom in an informal sort of way.

[Play Angry]

WSU's RPI improves to 4 with the win.

[Play Angry]

The offensive numbers aren't completely surprising. We knew this lineup had the potential to be pretty potent if they put things together. Honestly, I could even see those numbers continuing to improve with Vickers now healthy and some intriguing young guys getting more ABs.

The pitching numbers on the other hand, are literally unbelievable. I do not believe it. But it is what it is. And it is fun.

I definitely agree that the pitching improvement is utterly incredible so far this season. You almost never see this sort of leap, and especially without a huge amount of roster turnover (or a once-a-decade (not for a school, but across the entire collegiate landscape) recruiting class where a team lands a couple of Strasburgs).

The improvement on offense isn't quite as stark, but it is a ridiculous improvement in its own right - last year, we put up the following line:.267 avg., .749 OPS, 5.4 runs/game, 40 HR. This year, we are posting the following: .293 avg., .856 OPS, 7.1 runs/game, 30 HR (pacing for 72 in the regular season).

There may be some dropoff eventually (or maybe not, as you noted we have Vickers back and some of our young guys are showing a lot of promise in limited looks so far) but the jump in OPS, runs/game and HR is really a marvel.

The pitching improvement to date is unprecedented at WSU outside of the jump between 1978 and 1979 (and probably one of the biggest 2 year improvements in NCAA baseball's modern era). The offensive improvement doesn't hit a hurdle quite that high, but it's still a remarkable achievement so far. The fact that both are happening in the same season is truly lightning in a bottle - you could simulate this season a bunch of times on a gaming system and never see something like this play out.

Lots of season left of course - we might continue this amazing trendline, we might regress some, we might hold steady. Regardless, the play over the first 23 games (42% of the regular season) has been simply incredible. I know I keep beating this drum, but really from a nerd numbers standpoint it's hard to overstate what an amazing start to the year this has been.

[WuDrWu]

In 23 games, the number of times 4 runs wouldn't have won......7, and 2 of those would have been good enough for extra innings.

For comparison, Oregon State has 10 such games, Florida State has 14 games, Stanford just 6, Ole Miss 11, Texas Tech 11. Almost every one of these teams has a head scratcher or 2. Texas Tech is outstanding, but dropped a 1-0 decision to West Virginia yesterday. Stanford was blitzed by Oregon 10-1 yesterday. Oregon State has back to back losses to Washington and Utah. You might forgive the UW loss as they are 11-11, but Utah..yuck. They're 5-19 AFTER yesterday's win.

Almost every time you look at it, the stat in question is remarkable. And that alone may suggest a return to the norm. But I think everyone has to at least admit that this is a good team. Might not be a great team, and it might BE a great team, but it's at least a good team.

And they are fun to watch and support.

[Cdizzle]

Yeah, that's crazy. I made a comment early last night that "4 runs wouldn't win it," and who knows, things may have gone differently if WSU hadn't continued to pour it on offensively, but....they did continue to pour it on, and 4 runs would have been enough. Against a good team on what was clearly a hitters night.

[1972Shocker]

Shocker - ECU Highlights

http://theamerican.org/news/2018/3/29/baseball-wichita-state-wins-conference-debut-tulane-and-uconn-collect-thursday-victories.aspx

[1972Shocker]

D-1BASEBALL.com Article:

Wichita’s Bohm Squad Greets AAC

Bohm is well on his way to his best spring season yet, hitting .360/.472/.698 with seven homers, eight doubles and 28 RBIs in 23 games. He was a consistent run producer over his first two college seasons; now he’s a bona fide college baseball superstar.

I guess Alec made a good impression.

Looks like there is more to the article but I don't have a subscription.

[WheatShock]

nm

[WstateU]

D-1BASEBALL.com Article:

Wichita’s Bohm Squad Greets AAC



I guess Alec made a good impression.

Yipes Stripes Beechnut Gum!