2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference TournamentMay 22-26 - Hammons Field, Springfield, Mo.
#3 Wichita State (35-23) vs. #6 Southern Illinois (28-27)
Tue., May 22 - 4 p.m. - ESPN3 - Watch LiveWed., May 23 - 12:30 p.m. - ESPN3 - Watch Live
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Game Notes
Tournament Central
Date: May 22-26
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Stadium: Hammons Field
Radio: KNSS 1330 AM
Talent: Mike Kennedy & Shane Dennis
Probable Pitching Matchups
May 22 — Josh Smith (LHP, 6-3, 2.82) vs. Cody Forsythe (LHP, 4-4, 2.79)
May 23 — Kris Gardner (LHP, 5-1, 2.05) vs. Justin Ziegler (BU) or Cody Schumacher (MSU)
Quick Hits
• All of the WSU MVC Tourney games will be broadcast on 1330 KNSS AM and on www.shockerradio.com. They will also be televised on www.espn3.com.
• WSU is making its 35th-straight MVC Tourney appearance.
• WSU holds a 95-41-1 record in the tournament.
• WSU has won 17 Valley Tourney titles.
• WSU is 20-7 against SIU in MVC Tourney play.
• Gene Stephenson is two wins shy of 1,800 for his career.
• WSU is 44th in the RPI as of May 21 and has a strength of schedule of 42. WSU is 6-7 against the top-50.
• The Shockers have played just 14 games on grass this season. WSU is 7-7 in those games.
• Johnny Coy is this week's Valley Player of the Week.
• Johnny Coy is eighth nationally in RBI with 62.
• WSU is 7-3 in its last 10 games.
• WSU is 6-2 in extra inning games this season.
• The Shockers are 11-10 on the road this season , 0-2 on a neutral field and 24-11 at home.
• The Shocks are 16-5 in errorless games this season and 19-18 when they commit at least one error in a game.
• Casey Gillaspie's eight home runs are the most by a freshman since Eric Wedge had 11 in 1987.
• Albert Minnis is 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 26.1 innings out of the bullpen this season.
• In the last 10 games, WSU is batting .276 as a team with a 2.32 ERA and a .977 fielding percentage.
• In the last 10 games, Johnny Coy is hitting .421 with four doubles, one triple, three home runs and nine RBI. Micah Green is hitting .355 with four RBI and Josh Halbert is hitting .400 with four RBI.
• In the last 10 games, Josh Smith is 1-0 with a 1.25 ERA in 21.2 innings pitched, while Kris Gardner is 1-0 with a 0.42 ERA in 21.1 innings pitched.
• The Shocker bullpen has a 3.32 ERA in 235.2 innings this season.
• WSU is hitting .263 with a 3.27 ERA and a .968 fielding percentage in 23 road and neutral games this season.
• Johnny Coy is hitting .356 with six doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI in 22 road and neutral games this season.
• Micah Green is hitting .357 with four doubles, one home run and eight RBI in 17 road and neutral games this season.
• Cale Elam had his streak of 28.0 consecutive scoreless innings snapped on March 25. It dated back to May 10, 2011.
• WSU already has 21 errorless games in 2012. The Shockers only had 15 total in 2011.
• WSU had its school record streak of six-straight errorless games snapped on March 13.
• Gene Stephenson has used a different lineup in 48 of the 58 games this season. The only times he used the same one was game four against North Dakota and game one at Hawaii and then game three against Purdue, games one and three against Illinois State and game one against Kansas and game one against Dallas Baptist and game one against Indiana State and finally Nebraska and game one against Creighton.
• Coy leads WSU with 21 multiple-hit games and 14 multiple-RBI games.
• WSU is 24-5 this season when scoring first.
• WSU is 19th nationally in average attendance.
• Coy's nine RBI in game four of the North Dakota series was one shy of the school record. Drew Moffitt had 10 against Missouri State on May 28, 2004.
• The 26 runs scored against North Dakota on Feb. 25 were the most since the 2002 team scored 31 against Howard on April 27, 2002.
• The Shockers are 69-0 all-time at home (Eck and Lawrence-Dumont) in the month of February.
• Mikel Mucha and Taylor Doggett both collected hits in their first collegiate at bats.
• Casey Gillaspie became the first freshman to hit third on opening day since Dave Howard in 1978.
• Tyler Baker became the first freshman to start at catcher on opening day since Eric Wedge in 1987.
• WSU returns six starters and 19 letterwinners from the 2011 team.
Series History vs. Tourney Field
vs. No. 1 Indiana State
93-40 overall & 20-8 in MVC Tourney
vs. No. 2 Missouri State
59-34 overall & 11-5 in MVC Tourney
vs. No. 4 Illinois State
90-20 overall & 9-3 in MVC Tourney
vs. No. 5 Evansville
49-24 overall & 7-4 in MVC Tourney
vs. No. 6 Southern Illinois
92-32 overall & 20-7 in MVC Tourney
vs. No. 7 Bradley
90-24 overall & 10-3 in MVC Tourney
vs. No. 8 Creighton
112-45-1 overall & 14-8-1 in MVC Tourney
Seven Shockers Named All-Valley
Seven Wichita State baseball student-athletes have been named to the 2012 All-Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Team, as voted on by the league coaches.
Junior designated hitter Johnny Coy was named to the first team, while sophomore relief pitcher Cale Elam was named to the second team.
Senior starting pitcher Josh Smith, sophomore shortstop Erik Harbutz, sophomore utility player Dayne Parker and sophomore outfielder Micah Green were all named to the honorable mention team, while senior outfielder Kevin Hall was named to the All-Defensive Team.
MVC Tourney History
Wichita State will be making its 35th-straight appearance in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Shockers have won 17 tournament titles and own a tournament record of 95-41-1. WSU last won the tournament championship in 2009 and has played in five-straight championship games.
Shockers vs. Salukis
Wichita State is the No. 3 seed in the MVC Tournament and will face No. 6 seed Southern Illinois in the first round. The Shockers are 20-7 all-time against the Salukis in the MVC Tournament and 3-0 in Springfield, Mo. WSU has not faced SIU in the MVC Tournament since 2008.
Five More Hits for Coy
Junior Johnny Coy went 5-for-5 with two runs, a double and a home run on May 15 at Nebraska. It was his second career five hit game and the second this month as he also went 5-for-5 against Kansas State on May 1. He is the first Shocker to have two five-hit games in a season sinceTravis Wyckoff had five hits against UNI and Friends in 1996. Along with Coy's two five-hit games, Casey Gillaspie also has a five-hit game this season. The last time the Shockers had three five-hit games in a season was 1997 when they had four.
Coy Named Valley Player of the Week
Wichita State baseball student-athlete Johnny Coy has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player-of-the-Week for the week of May 14-20.
Coy, a junior designated hitter from St. Joseph, Mo., led the Shockers to a 3-1 week including a road win at Nebraska and a road series win at Creighton.
He went 11-for-18 (.611) with five runs, three doubles, one home run and six RBI. He had a .944 slugging percentage for the week along with a .611 on base percentage.
At Nebraska, he went 5-for-5 with two runs, five RBI, a double and a home run in the Shockers 13-2 win. It was his second 5-for-5 game this month and the five hits tied his career-high. He is the first Shocker to have two five-hit games in a season since 1996. In game one against CU, he went 2-for-4 with an RBI and in game three against the Bluejays he went 4-for-5 with three runs and two doubles. On the season, he is now batting .352 with 17 doubles, nine home runs and 62 RBI.
It is his second Player-of-the-Week honor this season and the third of his career.
Harbutz Delivers
Erik Harbutz singled in the bottom of the 10th to drive in the winning run in the Shockers' 1-0 win on May 12. It was his first walk off hit of the season, but it was WSU's fourth of the year. It is the most walk off hits in a season since the 2005 team had four. Harbutz also ended the May 13 game with a hit and drove in the tying run, but the winning run scored on an error.
Free Baseball in 2012
Wichita State has played eight extra inning games this season and is 6-2 in those games. The Shockers won their sixth of the season on May 12 in 10 innings against Bradley. The six wins is a new school record for extra inning wins in a season. The 2000 and 1997 teams each won four extra inning games. The 2000 team went 4-1, while the 1997 team went 4-2.
Minnis Valuable Out of Bullpen
Sophomore Albert Minnis has started games and come out of the bullpen this season. He has proved to be very valuable out of the bullpen. In eight relief appearances, Minnis is 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 26.1 innings pitched.
MVC Stats
Wichita State is fourth in the Valley in batting average, third in ERA and fourth in fielding percentage. Johnny Coy is third in batting average, second in hits, second in total bases, and first in RBI. Kevin Hall is third in stolen bases, Taylor Doggett is third in stolen bases and Don Lambert is third in stolen bases. Kris Gardner is third in ERA, Josh Smith is 11th in ERA and A.J. Ladwig is 15th in ERA.
