Monthly Archives: April 2009

1989’s Road to Omaha

April 22, 20098:31 a.m.

A series of “This Day in History” posts from Wichita State’s 1989 College World Series championship team.

April 22-23, 1989

The game: WSU 14-4, Bradley 3-0

The skinny: WSU wins two in Peoria and two games are lost to rain, causing WSU coach Gene Stephenson to blast Bradley, the MVC and express his desire to leave the conference. Stephenson felt the games were canceled too hastily. He accused Bradley coach Dewey Kalmer of trying to avoid playing to avoid losing to WSU.

The quote: “As far as I’m concerned, they can have their league without Wichita State. We don’t need to be in a league that doesn’t want to compete and compete on a national level.” WSU coach Gene Stephenson.

WSU’s record: 41-8

Big picture: WSU remained No. 5 in the Baseball America poll.

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under 1989 CWS, Baseball | Comments (0)

Live from Eck

April 21, 20097:26 p.m.

Hey — it’s me, Jeff Lutz. Just filling in for somebody tonight, namely Paul Suellentrop. The Shockers are playing Oklahoma State on possibly the best night for baseball of the season, and WSU is looking to snap a worst-ever six-game losing streak. It’s a pair of hard-throwing left-handers tonight — Brian Flynn for WSU and Andrew Oliver for the Cowboys. Read More »

By Jeff Lutz | Filed under Baseball | Comments (0)

1989’s Road to Omaha

April 20, 200911:12 a.m.

A series of “This Day in History” posts from Wichita State’s 1989 College World Series championship team.

April 20, 1989

The game: WSU 9, Kansas 2

The skinny: The Jayhawks commit four errors, walk 11 batters and throw four wild pitches. Mike McDonald hits a three-run home run.

The quote: “Tonight we won, but we haven’t been playing like we are capable,” WSU coach Gene Stephenson.

WSU’s record: 39-8

Big picture: WSU starts a seven-game win streak.

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under 1989 CWS, Baseball | Comments (1)

Wichita State at Missouri State

April 19, 200912:31 p.m.

Rain, rain, rain, rain. Not playing at 1 p.m., that’s for sure.  Maybe later. Apparently, the teams are prepared to wait until late afternoon. The radar does not look promising for at least two-three hours. Valley rules allow a game to start up until 6 p.m. on Sunday. Read More »

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Baseball | Comments (0)

Basketball news from Hungary

April 18, 20091:42 p.m.

P.J. Couisnard’s Soproni Beer Devils made the playoffs with a victory Friday. P.J. had 22 points, five rebounds and six steals in the win. His father, Prince, is in Hungary watching his son play.

Wichitan Manny Dies had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Soproni, which will be the eighth seed.

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball | Comments (0)

WSU at Missouri State

April 18, 20091:15 p.m.

WSU skips batting practice and arrives at the park about an hour later than usual. Can’t hurt.

Lineups – Ryan Jones drops to No. 8 in the batting order. Taylor Brown is DHing and hitting second. The shuffles continue.

It’s cloudy and cool here. Rain is a threat. Other MVC teams are playing two today to beat Sunday’s weather. Creighton’s non-conference game against Illinois-Chicago is canceled because of weather.

Another traditional winner in a bad way – Long Beach State.

At stake

  • WSU has lost four straight. Its longest losing streak under Gene Stephenson is five (earlier this season).
  • WSU has won 20 straight MVC series (3-0 this season, 8-0 in 2008 and 2007 and one in 2006). WSU’s last MVC series loss was at Illinois State May 5-7, 2006.
  • WSU has not lost a series to MSU since 2003, when the Bears took three of four in Springfield.

Rain delay before the start of the second inning. Tarp is on.

Rain has passed, at least for now. The tarp is coming off.

We are resuming at 3:15.

We’re back with Chris O’Brien batting in a 0-0 game in the second inning.

WSU 2, MSU 0 (bottom 2nd) - MSU starter Buddy Baumann walks in two runs. That is the good news for WSU. The bad news is WSU had the bases loaded in both innings and managed only two runs. Baumann threw 45 pitches in that inning and is at 73.

MSU 3, WSU 2 (top 5th) - Daniel Torrente hits a two-run home run off Lowell to give the Bears a lead. A leadoff walk to Carlson scored on a double by Hord. The strike zone is tight, although consistent. Lowell fell behind both Torrente and Hord 1-0.

Rains return. Tarp is going on. Lightning in the area, which means at least a 30-minute break. It is raining hard.

The tarp is coming off with light rain coming down. Looks as if we will try again. The Bears are in a good position because more rain is possible.

Looks like Justin Kemp will pitch for WSU. MSU goes with Pat Doyle.

WSU 4, MSU 3 (bottom 5th) - McKeever hits a two-run homer to left. High. It doesn’t have to be too far here, where the fence is 315 in the corner. OK, that’s the first good thing going for WSU in about a week. How will the Shockers handle it?

MSU 7, WSU 4 (top 6th) - Your answer – not well at all. Kemp gave up a single and a home run to Kevin Medrano. He entered the series with no home runs and now has two. After an out and a walk, Kemp got hooked. Chris Playter hit Josh Smith’s first pitch for a two-run double.

MSU 11, WSU 4 (top 8th) - Playter hits a two-run home run.

MSU 12, WSU 4 (top 9th) – Bears add a run.

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Baseball | Comments (0)

WSU at Missouri State

April 17, 20096:08 p.m.

Lineups – Bret Bascue, one of WSU’s hottest hitter and a guy who seems to battle at the plate and make the pitcher work, moves up to the fifth spot. Good move. Josh Rosecrans serves as DH for a second straight game. Cody Lassley (catcher) and Chris O’Brien (third) return to their usual spots.

WSU 1, MSU 0 (bottom 1st) – McKeever singles in Baez, who walked and got to third on two wild pitches.

WSU 1, MSU 1 (top 2nd) - MSU’s Aaron Conway hits Tim Kelley’s first pitch out to left. Kelley retires the next three batters.

MSU 3, WSU 1 (top 5th) - Ben Carlson hits a two-run home run. Kelley is not as sharp as usual. He fell behind Carlson 3-1 and had to give in to him. The Bears are swinging early in the count and it worked in that inning. Medrano singled on the first pitch. Drake singled on the second. Player singled on the third.

MSU 6, WSU 1 (5th) - The Bears knock Kelley out. Remington Johnson in.

MSU 6, WSU 1 (top 6th) - Kelley gave up three home runs. He had allowed two in eight starts. The Bears didn’t let him get ahead, which is when his slider is most effective. Tim’s worst outing of the season. I would say most people go into a game thinking 5 or 6 runs is about all that can be expected from WSU. The Shockers had chances to get to Clubb early and failed.

MSU 7, WSU 1 (top 7th) – Bears add a run on a double by the No. 9 hitter. WSU is on its fourth reliever. Max Hutson took over for Johnson and hit two batters. He was relieved by Cobey Guy with a 1-0 count.

MSU 8, WSU 1 (top 9th)

MSU 8, WSU 1 – Final

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Baseball | Comments (0)

Basketball banquet tonight

April 16, 20094:02 p.m.

WSU will announce its awards tonight at its banquet at Koch Arena.

  • My choice for MVP would be Clevin Hannah, although on such a balanced team there are several candidates. Toure Murry and Ramon Clemente would also be good choices. I would go for Clevin because he was WSU’s best ball-handler and best shooter. I felt most confident in something good happening when he was on the floor. He also improved as a defender. Murry’s case is built on his scoring, big shots and defense. His shooting percentage and turnovers hurt. Ramon led the team in rebounding and was the emotional barometer. When he started playing well after an 0-6 MVC start, the team followed. J.T. Durley also deserves a mention as WSU’s most reliable inside scorer.
  • One piece of news before the banquet – Looks like recruiting visitors will heat up over the next week or so. Guard Tyler Richardson, from Huntsville, Ala., will be on campus Tuesday. Richardson is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Lee High. Coach Greg Brown said Richardson will also visit UTEP and Tulane. He enthusiastic about WSU, especially after talking to coach Gregg Marshall on the phone. “Hopefully it will be a marriage,” Brown said. Richardson averaged around 20 points and eight rebounds for Lee. He was an honorable mention All-Class 5A pick. Brown said WSU noticed Richardson while recruiting teammate Leonardo Davis.
  • Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik mentions playing WSU in a recent Q&A. If attendance is an issue, I would say TU could sell 1,000 or so tickets by playing WSU on a Saturday. This is one of those silly scenarios. Schools that play in similar conferences and are located three hours apart and who share a history should play. Every season.
  • Signing news around the MVC: SIU, Indiana State, more Indiana State, Illinois State, more Redbirds, Missouri State, UNI, Drake, Bradley.

Other news from the banquet:

  • Ramon Clemente was not in attendance. He is playing for a pro team in Puerto Rico. He talked the team into flying him back to WSU each week to take classes. On weekends, he plays ball in Puerto Rico. He is on track to graduate in May. Gregg Marshall read a nice letter from Ramon. Mantas Griskenas was in class.
  • Bret Michael, who missed almost all of the season with a concussion, will not play again on the advice of his doctors. He would like to stay involved in the program in some way.
  • Award winners here.
By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball | Comments (0)

1989’s Road to Omaha

April 16, 20093:36 p.m.

A series of “This Day in History” posts from Wichita State’s 1989 College World Series championship team.

April 16, 1989

The game: WSU 26-4, Illinois State 3-6

The skinny: Illinois State’s Dave Wyss hit a grand slam off reliever Jim Newlin in the fifth inning of the second game. Wyss also caught a foul ball by Mike McDonald to end the game with the bases loaded. In the first game, WSU scored 10 runs in the first inning. P.J. Forbes and Eric Wedge homered.

The quote: “We’ve dug ourselves deeper in the hole in the first two weeks than we’ve ever been before. We can still win the league, but we’re going to have to believe and have to compete,” WSU coach Gene Stephenson.

WSU’s record: 38-7, 4-4 MVC

Big picture: WSU dropped into a four-way tie for second in the MVC and faced eight of its remaining 12 conference games on the road. Outfielder Jeff Bonacquista broke his left kneecap in the final inning of the seventh game and was lost for the season.

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under 1989 CWS, Baseball | Comments (0)

No. 21 Kansas State at WSU

April 15, 20096:24 p.m.

Lineups – Will Baez moves back to the leadoff spot after going 3 for 3 Tuesday. He is followed by Grimes, Jones, McKeever, O’Brien, Bascue, Rosecrans, Engrav and Gilmore. Engrav will play right. Gilmore is at third. O’Brien is catching.

This appears to be a move to get another bat or two in the lineup. Engrav has shown flashes of being a hitter. He is not experienced in right. Gilmore is starting his second game at third.

KSU 1, WSU o (bottom 2nd) – Wildcats go on top when WSU blows a double play. Tyler Grimes’ throw to first was high and McKeever couldn’t tag the runner. WSU blew a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first. WSU continues to fail to do the little things right and it is killing them against an experienced team. WSU wasted three hits in the first.

KSU 2, WSU o (bottom 3rd) – Gene has gathered the troops at the top of the dugout. I don’t know what he can say that hasn’t been said. The Shockers don’t look sharp, again. The lineup changes are an attempt to shake things up. What’s really worrisome is that when things start to go bad, the Shockers rarely have the juice to pull themselves up. Things get worse and you can see them back off.

KSU 3, WSU 0 (bottom 5th) – A two-out error by McKeever leads to an RBI single by Bloxom. It’s McKeever’s first error this season.

KSU 4, WSU 0 (bottom 6th) – WSU reliever Justin Kemp hits two batters and walks one to give the Wildcats a run.

KSU 4, WSU 3 (top 7th) – McKeever and Bascue drive in runs with singles. Now all those giveaways really hurt. With average defense, WSU is up 3-2.

Final: KSU 4, WSU 3

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Baseball | Comments (0)