Next game:
at Utah Tech
02/25/2023 | 1:00 pm
Feb 25th (Sat) / 1pm
at Utah Tech
History
ST. GEORGE, Utah— Garrett Pennington hit a double in the top of the 10th inning and Caden Favors had a career best 4.2 innings of relief as Wichita State rallied for a 5-3 win against Utah Tech on Friday afternoon.
With the game stalled at 3-3 in the top of the tenth, Jordan Rogers led off the inning by walking off Utah Tech reliever Zach Thomas (0-1). Pennington followed up by slamming the first pitch he saw into the right field corner, which was then overrun by Trailblazers right fielder Tyson Fisher. The game error allowed Rogers to score from first and sent Pennington to third, giving the Shockers their first lead of the day at 4-3. Payton Tolle also singled off Thomas’s first pitch, grounding a sharp single through a tight infield to score Pennington with an important insurance run.
The Favors (1-0) did the rest, launching a one-off walk in the bottom of the tenth to seal the victory. He walked in with runners on second and third in the sixth inning and only one out, blocked both, then left the bases loaded in the seventh to preserve the tie. Each of Favors’ three strikeouts ended an inning with a runner on base.
Utah Tech (2-4) used an Ethan He sacrifice fly to claim a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but Sawyre Thornhill had a quick response with a solo home run in the top of the third that tied the score at 1-1.
A two-run double by Bryker Hurdsman in the bottom of the fifth put the Trailblazers back in front, but the Shockers (2-3) hit a pair of runs in the seventh on RBI groundouts by David Herring and Brock Rodden to tie the game in the 3-3.
Both teams had excellent opportunities to take the lead in the late inning. Wichita State put runners on first and second with none out in the eighth but failed to score, and Utah Tech did the same in the back of the ninth before a double play stymied the threat.
Pennington led the Shockers offensively with four hits, while Tolle, Thornhill, and Mauricio Millan each hit one two-hit play.
Clark Candiotti pitched well with no decisions, striking out four innings to 5.1 and allowing seven hits and three runs.
The two teams will conclude the series with a doubleheader on Saturday. The first pitch from Bruce Hurst Field is scheduled for 1:00 PM CT.
