Wichita State Shockers Final '07 Rank: 11 53-22

The Shockers ended their season at 53-22 after falling to red hot UC Irvine in a pair of one run contests in the Wichita Super Regional. WSU also had to settle for a second place Missouri Valley Tournament finish after losing a single run decided extra inning affair to Creighton. However the close-but-not-quite results could come to an end in ’08 as a number of talented players will be returning to the Sunflower State that could propel the team back to the next level. WSU has two of the premier pitchers in the Midwest (if not the nation) returning as well as two-thirds of last year’s starting lineup which boasted wins over talented teams such as Long Beach State, Oral Roberts, Creighton, Arizona, Penn State and New Orleans. The Wheatshockers are strong candidates to make it back to the College World Series for the first time since 1996 when they concluded a streak of making it to Omaha six out of nine years (1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996) with one national championship (‘89). The Shockers should certainly continue their streak of winning 40 games for the 31st consecutive year.

The WSU pitching staff will be without fourth-round draft choice Travis Banwart (2.68, 10-5), all-time Shocker ERA and appearance leader Noah Booth (1.23, 6-1) as well as closer Noah Krol (2.10, 12 SVs). However the Shocker pitching staff does return nine pitchers returning from the 2007 club which had the second best team ERA in the nation at 2.68 ERA. Starters Aaron Shafer and Rob Musgrave won a combined 18 games last season with only a pair of losses between them. Schafer, a junior righty, improved on his Valley Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year performance of 2006, going 8-2 with a 2.23 ERA (27th nationally) and struck out opposing batters 90 times in 84.2 innings his second season. Musgrave, a senior lefty, went 10-2 with a 2.59 ERA. He gave up three or fewer earned runs in 16 of 18 appearances and finished with 111.1 innings and 85 strikeouts. Also retuning is junior Anthony Capra who appeared in 24 games last season, starting eight. While on the hill the lefty compiled a 7-1 record with a 1.76 ERA and struck out a batter an inning, fanning 77 in 76.2 innings pitched. A similar effort could make the manufacture of runs against WSU’s starters a dire cause. Senior Andy Womack is slated to take over Krol’s role in the bullpen. Last year Womack (2.54, 3-2) appeared in 14 games and K’d 31 opposing batters in just 28.1 innings while issuing free passes to just eight batters.

The 2006 Missouri Valley Player of the Year Damon Sublett (.354, 5, 45) had another big season in ’07, but signed with the Yankees after being selected in the seventh round of the amateur draft. His presence in the Shocker lineup will be missed, as will the loss of first baseman Derek Schermerhorn (.347, 7 38) who parlayed his excellent senior season into a contract in the Cubs’ organization. Yet plenty of capable bats remain on campus. Looking to lead the Shockers back to the College World Series and his hometown of Omaha is third baseman Connor Gillaspie. The junior hit .325 with 34 extra base hits, 63 RBI and 12 stolen bases. While playing for the Falmouth Commodores in the Cape Cod summer league, Gillaspie led the league in batting (.345), tied for forth in homeruns (7) and was named his team’s MVP. Rejoining Gillaspie will be senior centerfielder Andy Dirks. Dirks batted .320 from the leadoff spot and paces the returning Shockers with 19 stolen bases. Catcher Tyler Webb led the team with 11 long balls and will once again be back behind the plate. The senior batted .297 and only made one error all season. With Sublett now a Yankee farmhand, junior Josh Workman will transition from DH back to the infield. Workman hit .289 with 15 extra base hits and added 18 stolen bases last year. Sophomore Dusty Coleman will be looking to build upon the solid foundation he laid as a freshman. His first year on campus Coleman hit an adequate .264 and has improved both offensively and defensively over the off season.