Evansville

Cale Elam moved his record to 5-1 on the season as Wichita State defeated Evansville 5-4 on Friday night at Eck Stadium Elam pitched 7.2 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out six. Garrett Bayliff went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI. Micah Green also knocked in two runs, going 1-for-4. Tyler Baker was 3-for-4 with a double and Erik Harbutz went a perfect 3-for-3. Shain Showers went 2-for-4 at the plate for Evansville with a RBI. Wichita State scored the first runs of the game in the third inning.

Despite giving up three home-runs, Wichita State was able to take advantage of miscues by Evansville and went on to beat the Purple Aces 6-5 on Sunday afternoon.  The win gives the Shockers the series victory, 2-1. Drew Palmer started strong for Wichita State but gave up two home-runs in the 3rd inning, one solo and one a 2-run home-run, to give Evansville a 3-0 advantage. Wichita State got on the board in the 5th inning with an RBI single by Garrett Bayliff.  Heads up base-running earned the Shockers their next run as Erik Harbutz reached on a throwing error and Tanner Dearman came home from third base.  Evansville added to its lead in the top of the 6th with another solo home-run to make it 4-2, but the Shockers once again pounced on the Aces' mistakes.

Ben Smith came off the bench and scored 17 points to help Wichita State hold off Evansville 80-74 on Tuesday night. The Shockers (22-5, 13-3), who registered their school-record eighth straight conference road victory, retained a share of the Missouri Valley lead with Missouri State. Joe Ragland scored 13 for the Shockers, Garrett Stutz 12 and Graham Hatch 10. J.T. Durley's 11 rebounds helped give Wichita State a 46-22 edge on the boards. Colt Ryan paced the Purple Aces (14-12, 8-8)

Colt Ryan lit up Wichita State for 29 points, but it was the shot he denied the Shockers that might have ruined their Senior Night on Wednesday. WSU's Malcolm Armstead tried to draw a foul on a 3-point attempt in the waning seconds. He didn't get it, and he didn't make the shot, but the ball went out on Evansville. That gave the Shockers possession, down 59-56 with 4.7 seconds remaining. "I thought we had just lost an opportunity to seal the deal," said Ryan, an all-Missouri Valley Conference senior guard for the Purple Aces.

Following their most troubling loss of the season, Wichita State must turn things around Wednesday against Evansville. The Shockers (10-3, 1-1 MVC) need a big game from Carl Hall and Garrett Stutz, the biggest of their big men, who had a bad game against Creighton last Saturday. Evansville is 2-0 in conference play after beating Northern Iowa Sunday night. Watch the game on Kansas 22 with Bruce Haertl bringing you the action and then joins us after the game on KWCH 12 Eyewitness Sports for reaction from Bruce in Evansville.

Charlie Lowell struck out four and gave up only one run as the Shockers hold on in the MVC Tournament, to beat Evansville, 2-1 and advance in Omaha. Kevin Hall hit an RBI double in the first inning and Johnny Coy matched with an RBI double in the fourth inning, giving the Shockers a 2-0 lead. Evansville cut the lead in half in the seventh with an RBI single but Cale Elam entered in the middle of the seventh to close out the Purple Aces for his fifth save of the season. #2 seed WSU will play #6 seed Indiana State who upset #3 seed Illinois State, 5-2 in the morning.

Colt Ryan had 24 points and eight assists and Evansville made seven free throws over the final last 1:25 to hold off No. 23 Wichita State for a 71-67 victory Sunday. The Aces (11-6, 4-1 Missouri Valley Conference) took advantage of a season-high 22 turnovers by Wichita State (15-2, 4-1) to win their fourth straight conference game. There were 16 lead changes and 13 ties in the game. The Shockers' biggest lead was five points, while the Aces' was six points. Evansville had a 27-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

A second half surge lifted the Wichita State women's basketball team to a 49-45 win at Evansville Sunday afternoon. The victory gave WSU a 7-0 start to Valley play for the second consecutive season and matches the best start in school history. The Shockers trailed for most of the game before Jessica Diamond broke a tie with a three-pointer to put WSU on top, 37-34 with 5:35 to play. Diamond finished with 11 points to match Chynna Turner for the team lead.  Michael Dapprich added 10 on 4-for-5 shooting off the bench.

Wichita State scored 33 points off of Evansville turnovers in a 69-43 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball win Sunday at Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers forced the visiting Purple Aces into 28 turnovers, including 18 in the first half, which propelled Wichita State's offense at the other end of the court. Junior Jessica Diamond and freshman Alex Harden paced Wichita State with 14 points each. Diamond added a team-leading three steals. The Shockers combined for 14 steals Sunday in front of a home crowd of 1,777.

Illinois State has to feel a little ripped off. Here they are hosting this event and they've been delayed an hour and a half in primetime for their game on Wednesday, then had 53 degree temperatures for their start last night. Crowds have been minimal at a time when a very good team should have been featured. What a day--- I'm not sure how many people are paying attention, but yesterday may have been one of the greatest ever for Wichita State baseball at the Valley Tournament, not so much in terms of what they accomplished - but how they accomplished it. Scoring 20 runs on 25 hits in two games is impressive enough - but throwing back to back shutouts is jaw dropping.

Despite giving up three home-runs, Wichita State was able to take advantage of miscues by Evansville and went on to beat the Purple Aces 6-5 on Sunday afternoon.  The win gives the Shockers the series victory, 2-1. Drew Palmer started strong for Wichita State but gave up two home-runs in the 3rd inning, one solo and one a 2-run home-run, to give Evansville a 3-0 advantage. Wichita State got on the board in the 5th inning with an RBI single by Garrett Bayliff.  Heads up base-running earned the Shockers their next run as Erik Harbutz reached on a throwing error and Tanner Dearman came home from third base.  Evansville added to its lead in the top of the 6th with another solo home-run to make it 4-2, but the Shockers once again pounced on the Aces' mistakes.

Cale Elam moved his record to 5-1 on the season as Wichita State defeated Evansville 5-4 on Friday night at Eck Stadium Elam pitched 7.2 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out six. Garrett Bayliff went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI. Micah Green also knocked in two runs, going 1-for-4. Tyler Baker was 3-for-4 with a double and Erik Harbutz went a perfect 3-for-3. Shain Showers went 2-for-4 at the plate for Evansville with a RBI. Wichita State scored the first runs of the game in the third inning.

To quote Bruce Haertl, "talk about a buzzkill.... "  Wichita State looked like the world beaters Shocker fans wanted them to be: winners of five in a row, coming off a blowout win over powerful Detroit, looking like all the problems in the world are fixed and then Evansville comes to town. Colt Ryan scored 29 points and Wichita State couldn't close as they lose 59-56 at Koch Arena, Wednesday night. WSU (24-6, 12-5) trailed almost the entire game until the second half and could not match Evansville's energy and enjoyment in playing the spoiler in enemy territory.

Colt Ryan lit up Wichita State for 29 points, but it was the shot he denied the Shockers that might have ruined their Senior Night on Wednesday. WSU's Malcolm Armstead tried to draw a foul on a 3-point attempt in the waning seconds. He didn't get it, and he didn't make the shot, but the ball went out on Evansville. That gave the Shockers possession, down 59-56 with 4.7 seconds remaining. "I thought we had just lost an opportunity to seal the deal," said Ryan, an all-Missouri Valley Conference senior guard for the Purple Aces.

For What it's Worth---February 27 - - How ecstatic are parents across the region that school is back in session, probably just a few more than the kids who're going back… although I do have one child who's tired of shoveling snow. Upon further review--- Without identifying the play and the complicit officials, the Big 12 announced today that 'measures would be taken' to punish two officials for calls, or no calls, at the end of the KU-Iowa State game on Monday. That punishment is expected to include a reduction of games-- in the Big 12 at least.

There are four seniors on Wichita State, and all of them have a different journey to their final year with the Shockers. Malcom Armstead walked on from Oregon and had to sit out last year only to thrive in 2013. 7-footer Ehimen Orupke went through every logistical hurdle with the NCAA to finally make an impact for Wichita State in his senior year. Carl Hall was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after a heart condition sidelined him for a stint in junior college. And Demetric Williams will leave school as the winningest player in Shocker history with 105 wins.  And all of them will be celebrated together on Senior Night against Evansville, Wednesday night.

Sophomore Alex Harden scored a career-high in points with 23 to lead the Wichita State women's basketball team past Evansville 68-49 on Thursday night at Charles Koch Arena. Harden shot a blistering 10-for-11 from the field and was one rebound away from a double-double. She also had four assists. Jessica Diamond, Michaela Dapprich and Darice Fountaine each added nine points in the winning effort. Samantha Heck led Evansville with 17 points, shooting 8-for-9 from the field. Laura Friday added 12 points.