Senior utility player Tyler Hill will be writing weekly articles on Shocker baseball. Check back every Monday afternoon for a new article.

June 2, 2008

When I was recruited by Oklahoma State out of high school, they showed me a video of their regional championship victory over Wichita State from 1999. That was an arrogant mistake. My brother was on that team.

Clint McKeever spent his freshman fall semester on the OSU baseball team – then he was cut. They didn’t want him. We did. He has spent the last two years proving his worth. Nothing has been more convincing of that than McKeever's two out extra-inning grand-slam Sunday night.

From the same hometown as the OSU head coach’s wife, Dusty Coleman wasn’t even spoken to by their program - until he had already signed with WSU. They were not interested. We were. Now Dusty is one of the best shortstops in the nation.

Oklahoma State said that we were weak offensively without sluggers Conor Gillaspie and Andy Dirks. They were wrong. In our two games against the Cowboys, we battled up and down the line-up and scored 19 runs as a team.

This rivalry is thick in tradition. Over the years, great players and teams have squared-off in many season ending games. This year belongs to us. A decade of bitterness from the black Sunday of 1999 is eased, and all who were slighted are looked over no longer. Shocker nation is back on top, and the ride isn’t over yet.

May 26, 2008

Like many times before, thousands stood cheering for their Shockers, players hugged in celebration, and Wichita State was the Missouri Valley Conference tournament champion. It seems to be a reoccurring theme for the baseball program. But, for several of us on the team, Saturday was more than just another title. It may have been our last time to enjoy the many things we will miss about playing baseball at Eck Stadium.

We will miss sprinting onto the field before the national anthem, looking up at the enormous American flag that is most likely blowing in from the north, and not moving until the last note is complete. Coming up to bat, we’ll miss hearing our intro song blare from the left field speakers, hearing a fan shout encouraging words, and then hearing that same fan tell us how to hit as we walk back to the dugout.

Hitters will miss watching hard choppers bounce off the turf and over an infielder’s head. Pitchers will miss the traditional slow clap before the third strike is thrown and another batter is sat down. Above all, we will miss the victorious smell of a postgame meal waiting for us in the locker room.

Eck Stadium has been host to unforgettable times. The memories are something we will keep with us forever and take with us throughout the rest of the postseason. Now, it’s time to make new memories elsewhere. We invite you to come along. See you in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

May 19, 2008

No game, no practice, no traveling, no weight training, no school, no meeting. For the first time since the season started, Sunday was truly a day of rest for the regular season champions of the Missouri Valley.

You might think that we wouldn’t know what to do with a legitimate off-day, but you couldn’t be more wrong. We knew exactly what to do. Relax. In many different ways, players found themselves enjoying the day.

Some went fishing for bass and crappie (pronounced kraepi, not crappy). Ryan Engrav caught an eight pound bass. Gillaspie caught a bucket full of crappie and a ferocious sunburn. Workman, being the outdoorsman that he is, didn’t stop with fish. He hunted a more dangerous game, the terrifying turkey.

Others enjoyed the day by going to church and hanging out with their families and fiancées. Perhaps a new Shocker record, five players are engaged to be married. Jacqueline and I make up one of the five couples. We spent much of the afternoon lost in the unbeaten trails of Wichita’s Nature Center where we ran into some shady characters. I don’t know why a man in a buisness suit would be in the back woods of a trail, but I doubt it was for something legal.

While the outdoors and family was relaxing for some, many players simply did nothing. Sometimes the best way to rejuvenate the body and mind is to wake up at noon, eat lunch, and watch Sunday television. It doesn’t seem like anything spectacular, but it is something that we rarely get to do during the season.
With the rest Sunday provided, you can count on us being physically and mentally ready to take on the tournaments ahead. It’s a good thing we got all the rest we could get, because we plan on it being a long postseason.

May 12, 2008

Ten hour bus trips like the one we had from Evansville, Indiana on Sunday are great for catching up on school work. With finals this week, it was especially important to take advantage of the opportunity.

Unfortunately, bus trips are also a great time to escape from the week’s routine and jump into a flurry of card games. As tempting as it is to sit quietly and do school work, playing countless hours of cards usually trumps all. Spades, Hearts, Pitch, Scratch, Two’s, Eliminator, and Rummy are some of our favorites.

When it comes to card play, there are three different skill levels on our team. First, there is the Weak Sauce category. This group strictly plays the simple games like Two’s and Eliminator. Blind monkeys could play these games and win. Then, there is the Rookie category where Pitch, Rummy, and Scratch dominate the table. Lastly, there is the Big Boy category where Hearts and Spades are played to near perfection. Like surgeons in practice, Big Boys execute with intelligent precision. This group is usually made up of upperclassmen.

We would like to think that our card playing ability translates into good test scores. However, past results show that there is no correlation. When we step off the bus, we still don’t know the material discussed in chapter 16 and have no idea what the Theory of Communication covers. Perhaps the university will open up a card playing class for next semester’s courses. Until that day arrives, wish us luck as we head into finals week.

May 5, 2008

Chairs looked like step stools, desktops looked like coffee tables, and water fountains only went up to our knees. We were giants compared to the children of Wichita Collegiate School.

Friday, before our weekend opener against Northern Iowa, about 10 players visited the first grade class of Wichita Collegiate School for their Wichita State Shocker Day. The children greeted us enthusiastically while wearing their black and gold. Then, in no time at all, the teacher had them sitting quietly in attention.

After the formality of introductions, the children were asked, “Who is your favorite Shocker?” One by one they answered, “Dusty Coleman.” I don’t know if it was his charming looks or if he bribed them with candy, but they were all about “The Dusty.” We can’t blame them, because he’s our favorite Shocker too. Come on, the guy looks like an action figure.

When everyone was finally done boosting Dusty’s confidence, the players signed autographs and looked around the classroom. By the window sat a pretty golden brown guinea pig named Harmony and a tarantula that we didn’t get to know too well. He didn’t look too friendly, and by that I mean he looked like he wanted to eat somebody. However, we did learn that the tarantula sheds its exoskeleton about twice a year. It really is an amazing process. That’s the kind of neat things you learn in first grade.

Once our time was winding down, we said goodbye and took some pictures with the kids. On our way out we spotted a group of students selling 50¢ snow cones. Being big kids ourselves, we couldn’t pass up the bargain. Turns out, they were the best snow cones made by elementary students we have ever tasted.

As much as young fans like meeting us, we may enjoy meeting them more. With every child, we see a little bit of ourselves and remember what it was like to be that age. It helps us appreciate where we are, what we are doing, and where we are going. We only hope to be good role models in return.

April 28, 2008

Sometimes baseball is bittersweet. Sometimes the bitter bites down with teeth while the sweet plays a game of hide and seek. This week was not a total loss, but what was lost overshadowed all that was done well.

Our victory over the University of Kansas on Tuesday was a quality win. If you attended the game, I’m sure you were one of the nearly 7,000 fans who enjoyed 50¢ hotdog night. But, the satisfaction of victory was short lived. Oklahoma State University handed us a loss in Stillwater the next day.

The loss stung more than others. Our senior class has never won in Stillwater and we were looking forward to changing that with a big win against the #13 ranked opponent. However, the opportunity passed us by. Before we knew it we were headed to Indiana State University for a weekend conference series.

Looking to come away with three victories, we guaranteed our coaches that we would sweep the series. For the first 26 ½ innings, it looked like we were going to make good on our promise. We had won the first two games and were three outs away from another win when Indiana State rallied back in the ninth from a three run deficit to win 8-7.

The disappointing loss erased the entire weekend’s success and made for a long 10 hour bus ride home. The quiet ride did give us time to digest what happened, clear our heads, and start focusing on what we have ahead of us this week. Like in baseball and life, tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow is where the sweet is always waiting.

April 21, 2008

With smooth moves and unnatural gyrations, Club Kemnitz made its grand opening during Thursday night’s game against Tabor. As we began to pull away to a 10-1 victory, some pitchers in the bullpen found a way to entertain themselves as well as everyone else in attendance.

Club Kemnitz, as named by its founders, all started when Tim Kelley, Anthony Capra, and Tyson Fugett moved their feet to the hip-hop beat of DJ Unk’s single “Walk It Out”. Not many people took notice until later in the evening when the trio was shown dancing on the stadium’s jumbo screen.

Friday night’s 10-0 rout against Southern Illinois created another opportunity to hit the bullpen dance floor. Kelley and Capra played to the large crowd and “walked it out” like they were competing on the television show “So You Think You Can Dance”. Capra credits Kelley for being the best dancer of the bunch, but they are all excellent showmen.

“It helps me and my homeboys get hyped,” said Fugett. Kelley guarantees a show at Tuesday night’s game against KU. After the top of the first inning, Club Kemnitz will open in hope of sparking some early Shocker offense.

The club is only open during night games when we have a lead, so check it out while you have the chance. We’ll even give you a V.I.P. pass. Just say you’re there with the Shockers and they should let you in.

April 14, 2008

Baseballs are white and easy to see. So is snow. Apart, they are beautiful. Together, they are absolutely senseless.

That was the case in Saturday night’s game against Creighton. Snow consistently fell throughout the game at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. Not hard, but just enough to irritate. Like a small splinter stuck in your sock.

Because the elements offered something unusual for baseball, the frozen white flakes were fun to play in for about an inning. Then, when the flakes started blending in with the ball, it was purely frustrating. For whatever reason, our play was also frustrating. We did not compete well enough offensively or defensively to win the game. Creighton seemed to want the game more than us and they took it.

We had disappointed each other and wanted to get rid of the bitter feeling with two wins in Sunday’s double header. It was nothing spectacular, but we pulled together as a team and won the series two games to one.

What was spectacular was our bus driver’s ridiculously brilliant driving skills. Longtime Shocker great, Gene Herrmann, has been safely taking us around the nation for years, but never has he demonstrated such precise steering abilities.

Stuck in our hotel parking lot, with cars lined inches from the front to the back of the bus, Gene Herrmann wiggled his way through the puzzle and into the street. The maneuver took several minutes, but you can’t rush greatness. After witnessing that, never again will I be proud of myself for parallel parking a four door car. It was so impressive; everyone on the bus couldn’t help but applaud out of amazement.

That’s our bus driver. He’s the best in the nation, and we wouldn’t trade him for anything. He genuinely cares about us as young men and is always a positive energy. This Monday he will be taking us to Lincoln, Nebraska to play the Cornhuskers on Tuesday. Hopefully, come June, he will take us on the road to Omaha one more time.

April 7, 2008

Missouri State stole a game from us on Friday and ended our winning streak. We responded by stealing a bike.

On Saturday mornings, our team meets at Spear’s Restaurant for breakfast. The meeting usually never leads to anything too eventful. However, this Saturday was different.

Pitcher Max Hutson made the mistake of riding his bike to Spear’s Restaurant and locking it to a handicap sign outside the entry doors. He went inside to eat thinking his precious investment was safe. Little did he know his roommate Rob Musgrave saw a golden opportunity to have some fun.

In approximately two seconds, Musgrave lifted the bike and its locked chain over the handicap sign. He then proceeded to put the bike in the back of Andy Dirks’ truck and headed in to join the team for breakfast.

Whispers of the theft circulated from table to table as Hutson remained oblivious. When people finished breakfast and started leaving for the field, Hutson followed. Through the restaurant windows, few of us watched for his reaction.

First, he confusingly looked around as if he were lost. Then, a calm anger came over him. He made a few calls to help gather his thoughts then found a ride to the field. Riding to the field, Hutson dwelled on his frustration. When arriving, he saw his bike leaning up against another handicap sign in the Eck Stadium parking lot.

He was both relieved and incredibly flustered that his teammates would do this. Making his way to the locker room, things quickly went from fun spirited to intense as Hutson temporarily lost his composure as an innocent chair became a victim of brutality. After taking a long walk to cool down, he arrived with all smiles and a new appreciation for the joke that was played on him. He also learned not to lock his bike to short poles stuck in the ground.

After the morning comedy, we knew that the rest of the weekend was going to be a success. We went on to win the next two games easily and took the series. All is well. We got our wins and Hutson got his bike.

March 31, 2008

Playing six games in seven days can be exhausting. However, the grind is endurable when you play well, have fun and win. Having a good time and relaxing has been a big part of our 17 game winning streak.

Here to help us take our minds off baseball for an occasional 15 minutes is Rock Band. The popular video game simulates being part of an actual band and is kept in our locker room. It comes with one drum set, two guitars, and a microphone that we use for playing, or, as they would say in the business, “rock our faces off”. For extreme gameplay, we quickly flick the lights off and on to get a strobe light effect.

Freshman Remington Johnson has great potential to become a Rock Band Superstar. He has shown passion for the game and exhibits consistently impressive vocals. Tyler Weber is coming along nicely on the drums where he looks to be a natural. Through sheer determination, Conor Gillaspie dominates guitar solos on level medium, but is too scared to play on hard. If he wants to make it to the next level he will have to get over this fear. Scouts will be watching and taking note of his progress.

As this week begins, we are sure to find more ways to enjoy ourselves while continuing to be successful on the field. We are taking this Monday off to rest, but there will most likely be a large number of people at the field to take batting practice in the cages. Winning is no accident. Come Tuesday, we will travel to KU looking to extend the streak to 18. Rock on.

March 24, 2008

Manly mustaches, innocent pranks, and well-played baseball made this weekend’s road trip to Illinois State a blast. These are the little things that make a season memorable.

Before we left for Illinois State, a couple upper-classmen decided to play a prank on some of the first year freshmen. After practice on the day before we leave, we routinely head to the locker room to pack our equipment and uniforms. Our uniforms are folded and placed neatly on the chair in front of our lockers. If you are not making the trip, your uniforms are not on your chair.

With that in mind, a group of juniors and seniors took and hid the freshmen’s uniforms before the freshmen came into the locker room. When the amateurs finally made it to their lockers, a look of confusion and absolute disappointment swept across their faces. Some quietly sat in their chair while the others paced around looking for answers to why they didn’t make the trip. Only five minutes passed before the freshmen were in such bad shape mentally that we had to relieve their worries. We handed the uniforms to them and shared a lengthy laugh.

That prank was the beginning to the most successful mustache weekend in four years. Not only did we sweep the Redbirds, but almost every member of the team embarrassed himself with a ridiculously designed mustache. As I mentioned in last week’s article, Clint McKeever was the front runner for the “Best Mustache” award. The big red haired beast delivered with a thick mustache and handle bars that ran from the side of his mouth to his chin. To compliment were long wide sideburns and a fair amount of chest hair. Max Hutson also sported a mustache of similar fashion in order to compete with McKeever.

Even though we received strange looks from people in public, mustache weekend was well worth the effort. The mustaches helped continue our winning streak to 11 and helped filter the gas passed by guys on the nine hour bus trip. It’s always a pleasure to step off the bus and smell the fresh air of Wichita.

March 17, 2008

Eight straight, the phrase rolls right off the tongue. We picked up quality wins this week against Washington State and Texas Christian University.

The crowd at Wednesday night’s game against Washington State was full of life. The buzz of Eck Stadium is one of the reasons why the Shockers have one of the best home winning percentages in the nation. The weekend series against TCU went by quickly. We got the job done. We got in and got out. Our pitching was outstanding and our defense continued to impress.

These victories have us ready for spring break and the beginning of conference play. On Tuesday we head to Oral Roberts University. In my three years here, we have never left Tulsa with a win. We look to change that. With as many Oklahoma boys as we have on our team, it may even seem like another home game for us.

This weekend we travel to Illinois State University. As a Shocker baseball tradition, in honor of the first conference away series, we will be growing our boldest mustaches. The top candidates for best mustache are Clint McKeever and Khol Nanney. The sad part is most of us can’t even grow one thick enough to be noticed.

So, while the rest of Wichita State’s student body enjoys Spring Break, we will be hard at work continuing our winning streak. Wish us luck.

March 10, 2008

Candy from the heavens rained down on the turf of Tyler Field this week. Every time your Shockers score a run during a home game, a lovely lady throws handfuls of candy onto the field from her seat behind the first base dugout. It is a Shocker tradition as important as any.

Many times the tasty treats never even have a chance to hit the ground. Players perch themselves underneath the dugout ledge like vultures and catch anything that comes their direction. If the candies do happen to hit the turf, it’s almost certain that there will be a couple of players fighting for them.

Scoring 40 runs this weekend; we collected more candy than a fat kid on Halloween. It is amazing that our fans have so much dedication. We appreciate everything you do for us, and you bring joy to playing at WSU.

Speaking of joy, that is what we felt after mounting a five-run comeback in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday during our second game against Harvard. We never want to be in that position, but it was exciting to see us fight our way back for a win.

Before the game, I made a friendly wager with Harvard’s second baseman; loser does the winner’s homework. Apparently he didn’t want me doing his homework, because he made an error on a routine double play ball that allowed our ninth inning comeback to continue.

Aaron Shafer, who pitched outstanding Saturday, used his nonexistent psychic abilities to predict how we would tie the game up at 10 with two outs and a runner on first in the ninth inning. Proclaiming his hypothesis confidently he said, “Hill will hit a ball down the left field line while Workman steals second. Then, the ball will stop on the cut of the left field bullpen wall and Workman will score.”

Shafer’s vision became precisely accurate as I hit a double down the left field line and Workman scored to tie the game. Suddenly, Shafer was the hero. Andy Dirks hoisted him in the air to celebrate his omniscient magnificence. This is a great example of what we mean when we say, “This team’s got chemistry.”

March 3, 2008

There is no excuse for being swept. Long Beach State simply played better baseball than we did this weekend. The Dirtbags pitched and hit very well in clutch situations. When they had runners in scoring position, they drove them in. When we had runners in scoring position, Long Beach was able to come up with big outs.

Even though it was a rough weekend, we learned more about our team. We discovered that our defense is solid. At every position, we are capable of making game changing plays as well as routine plays on a consistent basis.

Offensively, we displayed that we are not where we need to be. We struggled to score runs when we had the opportunity, and we failed to put the ball in play in critical situations. Striking out 35 times and walking only once during a weekend series is not how you win games.

Losing three games straight is tough to deal with, but we turned this weekend into a learning experience. We would rather play every game against opponents like Long Beach than breeze through bad competition. That is how a team gets better. That’s how we get to where we want to be.

Feb. 25, 2008

Friday’s home opener was a positive start to the season, but not because we won. We’re expected to win. What’s not expected is for us to be wearing the best uniforms in baseball.

Our new sponsor, Under Armour supplied us with a top of the line white home uniform. Under Armour is only sponsoring 15 college baseball teams this year and we are proud to represent the company. The uniform makes us feel like baseball legends. Hopefully, they will help us become baseball legends as well.

The game on Friday was close. Fordham plays well against us, and it is a shame they had to leave with only one game in the books. We will be making up the two games we missed on the weekend by playing Northwestern (Iowa) this Monday and Emporia State on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Some of you may know that Gene Stephenson served in the army. If you missed the game on Friday, you missed Gene’s flashback from his army days. When a line-drive foul ball came from the bat of Conor Gillaspie, it headed in the vicinity of the most famous third base coach in the NCAA. Like a fish out of water, Gene gracefully threw himself onto the ground as if a grenade was thrown and the pin was pulled.

He escaped injury but not ridicule. Pitcher Aaron Shafer army crawled out of the dugout with a bat portrayed as a sniper rifle pointed in the direction of Gene. Players, coaches, and fans all got a laugh out of it before locking back into the game. Through the mockery, Gene was a good sport, probably because some of our own swings and at-bats can be much more embarrassing.

Feb. 18, 2008

Sometimes we can’t feel our fingers. Sometimes we can’t even feel our face. Regardless, it’s always 80° and balmy in our minds. This is a concept that Gene preaches on cold days like we had this week.

However, no matter how tough your mind is, your body never really gets used to it. If you would have been at our practices Thursday or Friday, you would have seen position players bundled up in four layers of clothing running around in circles between pitches; all in an attempt to stay warm. If you would have gone inside the team locker room, you would have most likely seen pitchers enjoying the warmth of the sauna. It is not that our pitchers are soft when it comes to toughness. They just know how to take advantage of a situation, whether it is on the mound or in the sauna.

When it’s not below 30° at Eck Stadium, the wind is blowing 40 mph from the north. Winds like these make it extremely difficult to take off a field tarp. We found that out on Sunday when a gust of wind swept under the tarp and took whoever was trying to hold it down off their feet and onto their back. It was like trying to wrestle an 186 sq.ft., 22,000-pound angry yellow monster. In the end, we gave up and just drug the tarp into foul territory.

Speaking of monsters, the four-storied Eck stadium casts one of its own - The Shadow Monster. He can be seen lurking across the infield during mid-afternoon. He paints the baseball black as it is thrown to the hitter, making it near impossible to hit a change-up. It’s like looking for your keys in the dark.

With all this whining I am doing, I should be handed a Whaaa Card (whaaa is pronounced like a baby’s cry). A Whaaa Card is a card that says whaaa on it. It’s not real complicated, but past shocker baseball teams used to hand them out to players who were griping. Coach Kemnitz brought the Whaaa Card back into play when he used it on himself during a pitcher’s meeting. He caught himself crying about the weather. The coaches seem to hate the weather more than the players do. After all, they have to sit in one spot and take what the elements dish out. The players at least have a chance to move around and get some blood flow going. One thing we have realized at Wichita State is that no matter how much you gripe at the weather, it’s not going to hear you.

Feb. 11, 2008

Collapsed bodies gasped for air inside Charles Koch Arena. What looked like the aftermath of a battlefield was actually the end of our annual conditioning test. It was another great start for Shocker baseball.

Surprisingly, there was only one player who lost his breakfast on the hardwood floor. It was speedster Kevin Hall. Kevin has been nicknamed Turbo by some, because he never slows down. Even when he sleeps he listens to the sound of hard rock.

On Friday the 8th, we had our first scrimmage of the year. It was one of the best days February has had to offer, and we took advantage of it. Many pitchers threw well as the hitters tried to get into the swing of things.

Saturday’s scrimmage went a little better for the hitters who shook off some of the winter’s rust. Pitcher Tyler Fleming added some twisted comedy by throwing on a vintage pair of Brent Kemnitz’s WSU baseball athletic shorts. The shorts looked more like today’s boxer briefs. I am sure Kemnitz could pull it off back in his prime, but judging by Fleming, men’s short shorts are not coming back into style anytime soon.

Sunday, more comedy came from the mind of Kemnitz. During the pitcher’s meeting held before practice, Brent decided to keep things fresh by having a farm animal impersonation contest. Logan Hoch was the winner with his imitation of a donkey. Fleming came in a close second with a good rooster call. What can I say? This team has talent.