Purple Aces

The Wichita State University women's basketball team withstood a late run by Evansville to stay unbeaten in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 57-51 victory over the Purple Aces at the Ford Center. Jessica Diamond delivered 16 points for WSU to lead all scorers. The Shockers led 41-31 after a Krystle Henderson three-pointer with 10:26 left in the game. Evansville responded with five straight points and eventually tied the game at 47 when Samantha Heck capped a three-point play with a free throw at the 2:55 mark.

The Wichita State baseball team fell 6-3 to Evansville on Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium. A.J. Ladwig took the loss for the Shockers, pitching eight innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits and striking out four. Tanner Dearman went 3-for-5 at the plate with a RBI and Garrett Bayliff went 3-for-4 with a RBI. Kyle Lloyde got the win for Evansville, pitching 8.1 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits and striking out eight. Chris Pearson went 2-for-5 at the plate with a double and two RBI. The Purple Aces jumped on the Shockers in the first inning with four runs.

The Wichita State Shockers are the #2 seed in this year's Missouri Valley baseball tournament.  The Shockers will play No. 7 Evansville in the 12:30 game next Tuesday in Omaha. The Creighton Blue Jays defeated Missouri State 3-1 this afternoon to earn the top seed in this year's Valley Tournament. Some good news for the Shockers is that Tim Kelley threw a full bull-pen session last week and will be available for a couple of innings during next week's tournament.

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.

Timely hitting and another solid starting pitching performance helped the Shockers (23-16, 3-3) take the rubber match against Evansville (19-14, 1-5), 9-2 on Sunday afternoon at Eck Stadium in front of 3,512 fans. Brian Flynn tossed seven innings, scattered six hits and allowed two runs with eight strikeouts and one walk to improve to 3-1 on the season. Cody Fick took the loss for the Purple Aces to drop his record to 5-2. The right-hander went seven innings and allowed five runs (four earned)

Behind a six-run sixth inning, Evansville beat Wichita State, 12-11 Friday night in game one of the three-game series. The Shockers mounted a rally in the ninth with three runs off two home runs but fell just short to drop their record to 21-16, 1-3. The Purple Aces improved to 18-13, 1-3. Chris O'Brien went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, a home run and three RBI for the Shockers. Preston Springer added two hits with a two-run home run. Grant Muncrief took the loss for the Shocks (1-1)

Wichita State fought back from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie the score midway through the second half, but Evansville went on to defeat the Shockers, 74-66, to open Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball play Friday at Charles Koch Arena. Senior guard Morgan Boyd scored 17 points to lead Wichita State. Sophomore center Jazimen Gordon pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds and blocked six shots for the Shockers. The rebound total matched her career high and her six blocks set a new career high for Gordon.

Garrett Stutz returned from his back injury in huge fashion. The 7-foot senior scored 23 points and led Wichita State to a 86-74 win over Evansville, Wednesday night. The win was Gregg Marshall's 100th as a coach with the Shockers. WSU (18-3, 9-1 MVC) Toure' Murry helped out with 14 points of his own. He and Stutz combined for 27 points at the break, more than half of the Shockers points at the break, 51-34. Evansville's Kenny Harris led his team with 18 points and Colt Ryan followed with 17. The Purple Aces were 5-14 from 3-point range tonight.

Wichita State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and didn't look back as they went on to beat Evansville 11-1 in 8 innings. Preston Springer got the scoring going in the first inning with a double to right center scoring Johnny Coy and Kevin Hall.  Tyler Grimes' single through the left side in the second inning scored Walker Davidson to give Wichita State a 3-0 lead. The Shocker defense held Evansville scoreless til the 4th inning and allowed just one run all game.  An error-free game only bolstered a very solid pitching performance by starter Charlie Lowell.  Lowell went all 8 innings of the run-rule game, striking out 8 and giving up just 6 hits.

The Wichita State Shockers look for their 8th straight win when they host Evansville on Wednesday night.  Wichita State (17-3, 8-1) beat Evansville (10-9. 5-4) at the Ford Center 67-66 earlier this season.  Garrett Stutz scored 29 points in that first game against the Purple Aces which is bad news for the Shockers considering the big man is a game-time decision for Wichita State.  Stutz is still battling a strained rhomboid muscle. Game-time is set for 7 pm at Charles Koch Arena.

The Wichita State baseball team fell 6-3 to Evansville on Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium. A.J. Ladwig took the loss for the Shockers, pitching eight innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits and striking out four. Tanner Dearman went 3-for-5 at the plate with a RBI and Garrett Bayliff went 3-for-4 with a RBI. Kyle Lloyde got the win for Evansville, pitching 8.1 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits and striking out eight. Chris Pearson went 2-for-5 at the plate with a double and two RBI. The Purple Aces jumped on the Shockers in the first inning with four runs.

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.

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.

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.

Garrett Stutz returned from his back injury in huge fashion. The 7-foot senior scored 23 points and led Wichita State to a 86-74 win over Evansville, Wednesday night. The win was Gregg Marshall's 100th as a coach with the Shockers. WSU (18-3, 9-1 MVC) Toure' Murry helped out with 14 points of his own. He and Stutz combined for 27 points at the break, more than half of the Shockers points at the break, 51-34. Evansville's Kenny Harris led his team with 18 points and Colt Ryan followed with 17. The Purple Aces were 5-14 from 3-point range tonight.

The Wichita State Shockers look for their 8th straight win when they host Evansville on Wednesday night.  Wichita State (17-3, 8-1) beat Evansville (10-9. 5-4) at the Ford Center 67-66 earlier this season.  Garrett Stutz scored 29 points in that first game against the Purple Aces which is bad news for the Shockers considering the big man is a game-time decision for Wichita State.  Stutz is still battling a strained rhomboid muscle. Game-time is set for 7 pm at Charles Koch Arena.

The Wichita State University women's basketball team withstood a late run by Evansville to stay unbeaten in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 57-51 victory over the Purple Aces at the Ford Center. Jessica Diamond delivered 16 points for WSU to lead all scorers. The Shockers led 41-31 after a Krystle Henderson three-pointer with 10:26 left in the game. Evansville responded with five straight points and eventually tied the game at 47 when Samantha Heck capped a three-point play with a free throw at the 2:55 mark.

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.

The Wichita State Shockers are the #2 seed in this year's Missouri Valley baseball tournament.  The Shockers will play No. 7 Evansville in the 12:30 game next Tuesday in Omaha. The Creighton Blue Jays defeated Missouri State 3-1 this afternoon to earn the top seed in this year's Valley Tournament. Some good news for the Shockers is that Tim Kelley threw a full bull-pen session last week and will be available for a couple of innings during next week's tournament.

Timely hitting and another solid starting pitching performance helped the Shockers (23-16, 3-3) take the rubber match against Evansville (19-14, 1-5), 9-2 on Sunday afternoon at Eck Stadium in front of 3,512 fans. Brian Flynn tossed seven innings, scattered six hits and allowed two runs with eight strikeouts and one walk to improve to 3-1 on the season. Cody Fick took the loss for the Purple Aces to drop his record to 5-2. The right-hander went seven innings and allowed five runs (four earned)