Hard Hitting Shockers
Wichita State scored 15 runs on 16 hits to eliminate the Southern Illinois Salukis from the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on May 22 at Eck Stadium with a 15-1 win.
The day before, the No. 4 seed Shockers (26-32) fell to the top seed and eighth-ranked Missouri State Bears. Wichita State, only hours after dispatching the Salukis, took the field against MSU with the game plan of handing the Bears their first loss of the double elmination tournament.
But Wichita State’s run in the MVC Tournament came to an end that chilly Friday night with a 6-4 loss to the Bears. The Shockers nearly came up with last inning heroics after Zach Reding came through with a huge pinch hit RBI double in the bottom of the ninth that closed the gap to 6-4. WSU still had runners on second and third with just one out, but couldn’t cash in.
Three WSU baseball student-athletes were named to the MVC all-tournament team: junior outfielder Mikel Mucha, junior first baseman Ryan Tinkham and freshman catcher Gunnar Troutwine. Mucha went 8-for-17 (.471) in the four tournament games with three runs, three doubles, three RBI and a sacrifice fly. Tinkham went 6-for-16 (.375) with four runs, one double, one triple, one home run and six RBI. Troutwine went 6-for-13 (.462) with one run, three RBI and three walks.
Earlier in May, six Shockers earned all-Missouri Valley Conference honors. Junior outfielder Sam Hilliard earned first team honors, while junior outfielder Daniel Kihle and first baseman Tinkham were named to the second team. Freshman shortstop Trey Vickers, freshman catcher Troutwine and junior relief pitcher John Hayes were named honorable mention.
— WSU Sports Information
Shocker Tennis Nets National Rankings
WSU men (No. 69) and women (No. 41) made the ITA’s final set of Division I tennis rankings. This is the first time in Shocker history that both men and women have ended with national rankings in the same season. The doubles team of Tomislav Gregurovic and Tin Ostojic was No. 39, while Ostojic was No. 49 on the singles chart.
— WSU Sports Information
Midwest Women’s Coach of the Year
Wichita State’s Steve Rainbolt was named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest Women’s Coach of the Year on June 6.
Rainbolt, who serves as director of track and field and cross country at WSU, is in his 15th season with the Shockers.
Since his arrival at Wichita State in 2000, he has been recognized as the Missouri Valley Conference’s men’s and women’s indoor and/or outdoor Coach of the Year no less than 23 times, and his teams have won 18 MVC championships and produced 51 NCAA All-Americans.
He also has earned eight USTCCA Regional Coach of the Year honors, and was head coach of the 2014 USA Track & Field Pan American Decathlon Team.
This track and field season, five Wichita State athletes competed in four events at the 2015 NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., held June 10-11, after competition in the West Preliminaries held in May in Austin, Texas.
Shanice Andres, Nikki Larch-Miller, Taylor Larch-Miller and Deja Young finished 16th in the 400-meter relay in a time of 44:89.
Weston Cottrell finished 21st in the hammer throw with a hurl of 204-6. Nikki Larch-Miller finished 17th in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.26 seconds; in the heptathlon, she finished in eighth-place overall; and she earned All-American honors with her second-place finish in the 800 meters.
— WSU Sports Information
WSU to Host Events
Wichita State will host three MVC events in 2015-16. The MVC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Team Championships will be April 29-May 1, 2016, at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex, and the MVC Men’s Golf Championship will take place at Hutchinson’s Prairie Dunes Country Club, April 25-26.
— WSU Sports Information
