[00:00:15] Speaker A: Hello. Welcome to the Roundhouse podcast with Paul Solentrop of Wichita State University strategic communications. Thanks for your time. We appreciate you listening. Today we're going to talk about Wichita State baseball. Our guests are Gavin Oswald. Gavin is a junior pitcher. He is from Lafayette, Missouri. He spent the past two seasons at Mineral Area College where he went twelve and three with a 4.21 era. Derek Williams is a junior first baseman outfielder. He's from St. Louis. He hit 322 with 18 doubles, 16 home runs at Florida Southwestern State College. They're going to get us ready for the opening of season. Shockers are in their first week of full team practices. They open up at Arkansas Little Rock on February 16. You can catch them at home first weekend of March against Utah Tech. So, Gavin, let's start with you. We'll start with some easy warm up questions. Favorite major league baseball team?
[00:01:05] Speaker B: St. Louis Cardinals. I grew up watching them with my dad. It's the easy one right there.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: That was kind of easy. Do you have a favorite athlete, professional?
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Oh, he's retired now, but probably Albert Pooholes. I mean, I grew up watching him. Sucks that he left and went to the Angels, but when I was a kid, watching him was pretty special.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: Excellent player. Derek, are we going to get similar answers from you also being from that part of the country?
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:28] Speaker C: So my favorite team is the St. Louis Cardinals, but my favorite baseball player was Derek Jeter because we had the same name. And I used to play with them and be the show a lot and he became my favorite player, so I liked him a lot.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: So shocker. Fans got used to going to St. Louis for the Missouri Valley Conference basketball tournament many years ago. Many of them would go to the hill to eat italian food. One of those nights, do you frequent the hill and do you have a favorite restaurant there?
[00:01:56] Speaker B: I go to the hill if I'm going to somewhere special. So we have a place called the Fox. They have plays there. They put on shows. So if I'm ever going there with my Family, my mom, my fiance, I'll go to the hill, eat something nice, but I stay away from it because it's a little pricey for a college student.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:12] Speaker C: Yeah, I haven't really been to the hill that much. I've been a few times. I can't really remember the restaurant that I went to eat at, but the food always, anywhere you go there is pretty good. It's really good. So it's always a good spot.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Are you more an emo's pizza kind of guy?
[00:02:26] Speaker C: Yeah, emo's pizza is for sure one of the favorites. They don't got the big crust, but it's really good pizza. It's the square kind, so it's awesome. I like it a lot.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: I do enjoy Emos. Yeah. When I would go over there now, I'm blanking on the name of the little hamburger, the drive through onions, maybe White Castle. White Castle.
[00:02:45] Speaker B: White Castle.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: You like White Castle?
[00:02:46] Speaker C: Oh, I don't really eat White Castle.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: No White Castle. Gavin. No.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: It normally doesn't go over well.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: Okay. All right. You know, that franchise started here in really?
[00:02:54] Speaker B: Really?
[00:02:55] Speaker A: Yeah. There's a little St. Louis Wichita dining trivia. Okay. We're about three weeks from the opening series, so describe where is the team at in the process? Kind of physically, mentally, where are you ramping up to the openers?
[00:03:09] Speaker B: I feel like we're in a good spot right now. It was really tough coming into the year because it's a whole new program is what it feels like. You got a new coaching staff, you got a bunch of new players. So the first couple of weeks of the fall especially was getting the chemistry there, getting the locker room dynamic down. Now coming back from winter break, it feels like everything is clicking, everything is firing on all cylinders. We look good. We feel good. We're playing as a team. You kind of have the prediction of what guy's going to be where because you have that chemistry down at this point. So I'm feeling pretty confident heading into Little Rock.
[00:03:41] Speaker A: Derek, how do you describe where the shockers are at at the beginning?
[00:03:45] Speaker C: Before we got here, a lot of people would look at it as like a little bit of a mess because everybody, we got all new players, all new coaches, and nobody really knew what was going to happen. But once we got here, coach Green, he's a great leader, great head coach, took control and brought everybody together pretty fast. And then we did a thing in the fall.
It was like a team building chemistry thing, and it was really helpful for our team, brought everybody together and then kind of just took forward steps every single week. And then we went home for a break and then everybody kind of did their own thing, came back and kicked it off just like it was from the beginning. And it's been going great so far. I'm really excited for the season. I feel like it's going to be a big thing for soccer, baseball coming forward, and it's going to be a fun year for sure.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: So, Gavin, you mentioned building chemistry. What was your role? You're a little bit familiar with this transition, going to junior college. How did you kind of fit in and try to do your part to help this team blend.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: The biggest part was we had a lot of freshmen, so taking a couple of freshmen under my wing, showing them the ins and outs of college baseball, and it's nothing that they were scared of, per se. But, hey, how do I do this? What's the schedule here? Keeping constant communication and them not being scared of me, being able to ask me anything. That was a big thing for me because I got a couple that I'm definitely closer with and especially being one of the older guys, maintaining maturity. When practices get long, focus might get lost. Hey, guys, bring it together. Come on. Those kind of things that comes with being the mature, older one. So my first year playing division one, but not my first rodeo with college baseball and especially the fall.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: Derek, how did you approach that process of finding your role and helping this team get on the same page?
[00:05:26] Speaker C: Yeah. So since being an older guy now, it's a little bit of a different adjustment, but we got a lot of younger guys and a lot of new guys, and especially I've already been in the younger guys shoots before about how it felt to be a freshman and how it felt to be a sophomore underclassman and stuff, and I just try to be there for everybody and just trying to be a safe place for everybody. So if somebody's dealing with something, I'm there for them. Or I kind of just try to be the best person I can be for everybody on the team and then just try to get better as well and push the team in the right direction every single day. And then hopefully at the end of the year, we'll all be in a good spot to go make it regional, then keep going and make a little run at the end.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: So baseball is unique in college sports because you practice all fall, then you have this break of three or four weeks, and you go home, and then you got to come back and get right to it. Derek, what do you do over the holiday break to stay sharp?
[00:06:16] Speaker C: Yeah, the break sucks a little bit because it's nice to go home, but in the fall, we get going, we get ramped up, practicing every day, playing games, and you start thinking about the season, and you get really excited and antsy, and then when you go home, everything kind of slows down, and then you're in slow motion, you go do your baseball, you go work out, and then kind of just like you have the rest of the day to do whatever, and you're just looking forward to that. Coming up, February, where the games are going to come. But back home, kind of just practiced every single day, worked out as much as I can, got in the best shape possible for the season, and then made sure everything was tuned in the right way, made adjustments to what I needed to do for my swing, and then kind of just checked in with teammates, make sure they were doing the same thing and just honestly just focusing on that first day coming. When we play Little Rock Gavin, is.
[00:07:01] Speaker A: It challenging to get motivated when you're away from your teammates and you've got lots of time on your hands over.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: Break a little bit. There's times, especially when it's cold and it's raining outside, you don't really want to get out of your bed that you grew up in that's comfortable for you and go work out. But at the end of the day, you know it's what you're here to do. So you get up and once you get out the door, it's not hard because, you know, like Derek said, you have the rest of the day to yourself once you get through it. So even if it's a leg day, you don't want to do legs. You get through it pretty easily. You work hard, you have the end goal in mind, and you see February popping up over and over and over, just getting ready for that. And that pushes you to the end.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: Do you feel like the Albert Pooholz bobblehead or poster in your room is telling you to get out of bed and get working?
[00:07:46] Speaker B: A little bit. A little bit. I knew he would never lay in bed all day.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: Okay, the two of you met when you were eight. So you are longtime friends and you played together one year at mineral area and now you're back together as shockers. Tell us about the relationship.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: Well, growing up, it was club ball, and summer ball was always a big thing. And it was always Derek's prospects versus my tigers on a Sunday tournament game. And I knew who was batting four hole and he knew who was starting on Sundays. So we didn't start playing together until college, but we knew who each other were. We respected one another and there was always communication before, after the game. Joking, hey, you hit a home run off me today. I struck you out three times today. It was just who was going to win that day, who had each other's number that day. So there was always that respect and that friendship.
[00:08:29] Speaker C: Yeah, it was a super fun time, for sure. At the beginning, we never really knew each other, but we always seen each other. Every single tournament we were playing, eventually we would run into his team, or they would run into our team, and then I would see Gavin throwing or he would see me hitting, and then eventually the. We would come in and we keep going deeper in the tournament. They'd be like, oh, we're facing Gavin's team. Then he would be pitching or I'd be hidden, and we'd be playing against each other. And he was a two way back in the day, so he was hidden and pitching. We both were kind of two way. So it was a fun time. And then to see both of us grow throughout the years and go into high school, then to recombate together at Mac, it was really awesome. And then we played that year. It was a fun year. Then I left to go to another school, then he was still at Mac, and then to come redo it back at shockers and at Wishaw State. It's a really awesome feeling to know that you have one of your friends from a long time and just to see the growth from both of you guys, it's pretty awesome.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: Gavin, what was your highlight playing against Derek?
[00:09:27] Speaker B: Oh, man.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: Did you ever strike him out? Three times.
[00:09:30] Speaker B: I mean, I'm sure I did at some point, and I'm sure he took me yard at some point. There's nothing in my mind that really sticks out.
It was always 50 50.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: Derek, do you have a memorable moment against Gavin?
[00:09:43] Speaker C: We had some times. I remember this one tournament in Ellisville. We were playing each other, and he was on the Tigers team, and I was on the prospects team, and I remember he started pitching. It was like a good game, but it was like a back and forth game. I think we went into extras a little bit, but I can't remember, sir, but it was like a really good game.
Our team ended up winning, but it was like a big win for the tournament, and it was pool play, but it was still, like a really big game, and it was really fun.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: Derek, tell us how you got here to Wichita State.
[00:10:13] Speaker C: Yeah. So my freshman year, I was at mineral area with Gavin. I had a really good year. We both had really good years. And then I ended up getting a lucky opportunity to go play at the University of Missouri, and I went up there, and it was a good learning lesson for me, for sure. But at the end of the fall, talked it over with the coaching staff, and it was a better option for me to go back to a juco and develop more. So I went back and I wanted to go somewhere different, and it was always like a dream of me to go see what Florida was like. I got a lucky opportunity to go to Florida southwestern with Coach Cole. And he was a really good guy. Really good coaching staff. Brought me down there and I had a blast. It got a lot better. And then over the summertime, I had some options, and I kind of really didn't have that home that I really was interested in. And then it was crazy because I got a random call from Coach Green one time, talked to him on the phone, and then he was like, come down for a visit. I came down and I was like, this place is amazing. Coach green's a really good guy. Coach Miller is a great guy. Coach cash is good as well. And I was like, yeah, there's no better place that I could come. Unless it was Wichita State. And witness state was the perfect fit for me, and I decided to commit, and that's how I ended up here.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: So Anthony Miller and Clay overcast are the assistant coaches you referenced. Gavin, how about you tell us your story of winding up a shocker?
[00:11:31] Speaker B: So I actually have a connection to all of the coaches except for Tad and Miller, because after my freshman year, I was actually in communication with coach Claggett, the pitching coach, when he was at Washington state with coach Green.
After some pretty heavy interest after my freshman year, I decided that I was going to go back, had my buddies there had a good relationship with our coaches. So I decided to go back and I committed to oklahoma. Well, when coach overcash left there, he was the one I was close with. So I decided I was going to open up my options again. And then when I saw all the coaches came together, coach Green, coach overcast, and coach Claggett, I knew this was going to be the place for me.
And my dad was ecstatic. As soon as I came home and I said, I talked to Wichita state, he, holy cow, that's the mecca of college baseball when I was growing up. So to have my whole family on board like that right away was just, yeah, I knew I'm definitely going to be a shocker.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: So, Derek, when I asked the coaches about you, they said, you're very positive, good clubhouse guy.
And they were kind of waiting to see, is this positivity going to fade? And it never did. So, Gavin, tell us about Derek's positive attitude and his influence in the locker room.
[00:12:49] Speaker B: Every day I show up, I know I'm going to see a smile on Derek's face.
There's always going to be a joke made. And when times are tough, I know I can go talk to Derek and we're going to laugh. We're going to hang out, you're going to feel like you have no worries in the world. And it's different for me than anybody else because I know him. We have a closer relationship than most people. And even back in mineral area, I mean, you go in the locker room, you see Derek laughing, and then he doesn't seem focused, and then he locks it in and hits a 450 foot home run. And you just wonder how he does it. But inside the locker room, it's always joy, it's always happiness. So happy to have him here.
[00:13:26] Speaker A: Derek, is that attitude natural? Is it something you had to work at and develop over the years?
[00:13:33] Speaker C: It came pretty natural. I'm just like a really people friendly guy, and I like to just talk and have a lot of fun with people. And we're playing a game that most people don't get to play at this high of a level, and we're playing in big stadiums. And when you're with a lot of people who have the same goals, dreams, and desires as you, it puts you, me in a really happy place. And I'm just like, I get to do things that I wouldn't gotten to done if I didn't put the work in. And then it's just like a joyful place for me. I'm here with a lot of cool people. I got Gav here friend from back home all the time. So I'm with a lot of people that I like to be around, and it's just a good time. So I'm going to give everybody that positive energy back because I'm happy. And that's just myself. That's just who I am.
[00:14:30] Speaker D: Hi, this is Rick Muma, president at Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward together podcast. Each episode, I sit down with different guests from Shocker nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:15:00] Speaker A: Gavin, you played for the Savannah Bananas in the summer of 2022. Describe the bananas and your experience there.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: Yeah, so I got that opportunity after I got interest from Georgia Southern. My parents met the coaches while they were with my brother down in Atlanta, and they said, hey, we've actually been meaning to talk to Gavin. We have a spot on the bananas with him. So, obviously, as a baseball fan, I knew who they were and I jumped on that opportunity right away. But when I got down there, it was just magical, to say the least. I mean, you walk in and it's a bunch of guys that are just extremely grateful to be there. Everybody's happy. They know the opportunity that's been presented to them is once in a lifetime. So the chemistry in the locker room is great, even though you haven't really been friends with the guys for more than a couple of days, maybe a week, but you walk in and it's like there's a set list almost for a movie. And the coolest part about my experience was we were at the summer league, which was actually a bunch of college baseball players that did the antics in between innings. So we didn't have the stuff during pitches. We had the normal competition. Normal trying to beat the guy you're up against, but you had the fun in between innings. So that was a good mixture of both. And then being able to win the championship down there and actually being able to start in the championship series was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and one of the coolest things I've ever done.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: So for people who aren't familiar, describe the skits or the antics that go on in between the baseball.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: So there's one guy, David Meadows. I actually played with him when I was down there. He's now on the pro team, the banana ball team. He does a backflip when he's catching a ball. I don't think you would normally see that in a division I baseball game or an NCAA baseball game, but that's some of the stuff they do. And you have guys running through the stands, and you have one pitcher that's known for being on stilts, and you have one guy that's known for throwing pitches between his legs. So you have stuff like that, and they never stop with the creativity. There's always a new idea, there's always something to get the fans involved, and there's even crazy rules. Like if there's a foul ball hit and a fan catches it, it's an out, which is pretty cool until they catch one for the bananas. Then that guy gets scrutinized by the fans. But they have rules like that. They have skits, their players do, they have baby races in between innings. It's almost like a circus with a little bit of baseball mixed in.
[00:17:19] Speaker A: What was your role in all this?
[00:17:23] Speaker B: Are you talking?
[00:17:24] Speaker A: Yeah, the skits, the. And besides being a pitcher? Yeah. Okay.
[00:17:29] Speaker B: So my first time down there, they gave me the easy job. So I was only there for two and a half, three weeks. I had to run back and forth, get the fans involved, and throw a shirt. They were easing me in, put 1ft in the door, and next thing I know, I'm down there two weeks later, my parents have made the trip. My brother made the trip. So the three of them are down there, they're having a time of their lives, and they see their son get on the dugout and do a little dance, which involves taking my shirt off in front of my mom. So you can imagine. And anything in between. Nothing was off the table.
I did a weigh in with one of the opposing teams. They were arrival. They have a guy that comes in, acts like Bruce buffer, and nothing was off the table, like I said. And it was just wild.
I never knew when I came in the locker room what I had to do that day. Anything was open mind, willing to do anything, because for the first time in my life, you were actually the weird one if you didn't act like a buffoon.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: So when they're recruiting bananas, are they looking for people who can. All right, you can hit, you can field, but you also need to be able to dance. You also need to be able to have the kind of personality to do these kind of things.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: Yeah, the personality is the biggest thing. If you can't Dance, it's not that big of a deal, because they actually have a dance coach down there, the dancing first base coach, Mauricio, he was on America's got Talent twice, I believe, and before practice, you dance with him. But the main thing they look for is personality. I can't name a single guy on the team that was dull or bland or anything like that. Everybody was pretty sharp, because when things didn't go as planned, because that's how life happens. Sometimes you had to be able to think on your feet and adjust the plan in a way that still gets the fans involved. But everybody was loud, exciting, fun.
That's just the players they look for.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: And this is in Savannah, Georgia, right?
[00:19:33] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: Sure. Okay. So I've done thousands of baseball stories where players will tell me I wasn't having fun. You need to have fun in this game, or I need to be able to forget the bad at bat or the bad the pitch I threw the last inning. Does being a savannah banana help you with those kind of mental reset, mental side of the game?
[00:19:52] Speaker B: Absolutely. It was a reminder. I mean, I was 1819 years old, and I was out there playing a kids game, putting on a show for what was mostly little kids and their parents there, of course. But it was really a reminder of this is just a game.
The purpose of playing the game is more important than the result of the game. So even if I had a bad outing, you went outside and you had people that were happy to see you, people that were excited to get your autograph, and it really just shaped the whole thing into being, wow. It's not as bad as I may make it in my head, because people forget the bad outings. They want to see you as a person.
They want to see you succeed. They're not rooting for your failure. So you're not out there alone. You have the fan base behind you, and whatever happens, happens. As long as you prepare and as long as you work hard, you know, you gave it your all, and sometimes the game just doesn't go in your favor.
[00:20:47] Speaker A: Well, it sounds like a fantastic experience. So, Derek, coaches were very impressed with your approach to hitting over the fall and into the spring. Real professional, ask a lot of questions, which they were always coaches always like that when they get athletes that will ask questions because I guess it shows they're paying attention. Describe how your approach to hitting has evolved.
[00:21:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I think it has evolved tremendously to where I was at. One of my buddies actually just sent me a video before I came here of when I was hitting my freshman year, and I'm like, holy cow, that's a completely different kid because of how much I've grown over the years. And I've normally just been the guy just to get in the box and just look for a pitch and hit it. But once I got here, coach Green and coach Miller and coach Cass worked with me right away about finding an approach and what's working best and looking for pitches and just kind of just feeling the pitcher out and trying to get an advantage over them as easily as you can. And I feel like just looking at the small things and just paying attention will take you so much farther into the game instead of just hopping into the ab cold and not even looking. And Coach Green has taught me a ton of new things, what to look for in a pitcher, what to see and how to adjust to it and what are my strengths and weaknesses and what I should be focusing on. And it's made a big turn on my swing and my overall performance, and I feel really comfortable in the box, and I've been doing really good, so it's been really good for me.
[00:22:11] Speaker A: So, Gavin, new coaching staff, a lot of new players. So there'll be a lot of curiosity from shocker fans about how things look here. Describe working with pitching coach Anthony Claggett and this coaching staff. What's that like?
[00:22:23] Speaker B: One of the coolest things about Coach Claggett that you don't necessarily find everywhere is the experience that he's had. He's been through pro ball. So the system we run is you hear all the time is be a pro, be a pro, be a pro all the time because that's important. Your preparation, everything. The way you carry yourselves, it's important to be a pro, look good, feel good, play good, that type of thing. But you can set a tone with the other team. If you go out there, you carry yourself the right way. You hit your spots. You don't necessarily need to throw 99, 100. You just need to be a pro, work hard, hit your spots, you'll be good to go. And that's one of the things claggett works on is we have our five zones of locations and we really hit on locating your fastball. One of our big goals going into the year is gloveside fastball, and he's big on location, which makes, I would say, the rest of the pitching staff feel great because he's not out there constantly, hey, you need to throw harder. Oh, you hit your spot, you were smart. So that's just great as a staff to know you have that coach behind you who's always rooting for you and has the experience to help you along the way. So he's rooting for you and he's teaching. It's just a great feeling as a staff.
[00:23:44] Speaker A: I love talking about that with pitchers because I think that baseball worships velocity right up until the point you get into college, and then you learn that, oh, it's not everything. Location is also super important. How do you balance that as a pitcher and how do you get away from, like you talked about, the mindset that I got to throw hard, hard. But location is also very important.
[00:24:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, velocity is fun. It's definitely fun to blow a fastball by a guy and know you beat him, but at the same time, we're not always going to get a strikeout. And if you try to rear back and throw, it's hard. Sometimes you muscle up and either doesn't go where you want or it's actually slower than most of your other pitches. So keeping it fluid, keeping your location where you want it, you can get a lot of outs by mixing your pitches and hitting your spot because there's places on the plate where it's hard for a hitter to hit. And hitting a baseball is not easy to begin with, so making your stuff move and putting it where it's difficult for a hitter to reach is an advantage that is insurmountable for hitters to overcome. An inside fastball is hard to hit no matter how hard you throw if the hitter's not expecting it. So that's a big thing for me, especially Derek.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: Hit the fans with a name or two who made a good impression on you in the fall. Who should fans be paying attention to? As we get started with baseball games.
[00:25:11] Speaker C: In a few weeks, I think that for a pitching perspective, we have a ton of good arms, but I would say a guy to look out for.
I would say, obviously you got to check out big gav. I mean, probably going to be one of the biggest pitchers in the league. And big old lefty, he's going to be doing his thing, and I would love to see him do good. Another St. Louis guy, but a guy that I feel like made a big stride in the fall was Ryan Garrity. The dude's just nasty. I mean, he throws like from the side a little bit. He has a ton of break and he's pretty good, and I feel like he's going to be a great pitcher in the future. And then for a hitter that I would say who to look out for?
I would say Gannon Snyder. Both of them are freshmen, but Gannon's made a lot of big strides. And another St. Louis guy, so he has a little bit of a favor. But Gannon's a good dude and he works hard, and I think he's going to be a really good player in the future as well.
[00:26:09] Speaker A: So Ryan Garrity, a right hander from Mundeline, Illinois, which I think is a Chicago area, and then Gannon, also a freshman from Parkway West High school in St. Louis, isn't he the one that had the mullet that I did the story on in the fall? He still had the mullet.
[00:26:24] Speaker C: He still has the mullet.
[00:26:25] Speaker A: All right. He was a big fan of the mullet. Gavin, before I ask you that question, I don't want to forget about your shoes. Tell us the story about your size 19ft and your baseball cleats.
[00:26:36] Speaker B: So growing up, I always knew I was one of the bigger people around, and it really hit me when I was in, I believe it was the fourth grade, and I wore my dad's size 13 shoes to school on accident. That's when I knew I was in for the long haul. But growing up, always tough to find cleats. Football and baseball and then getting to high school, I really couldn't find any cleats. So I had a connection with the Cardinals, and they were able to find size 19 cleats stuck with those bright red cleats on an orange team, a yellow team, and then finally I played for the mineral area Cardinals, so it finally fit. And then I got here, back to yellow. And you can't use red cleats and you can't use Nike. So the coaching staff and I had to come together and get creative. And luckily, guys on the basketball team had size, I believe it was 17, fit in under armour. So we got those size 17 shoes, and I will be the only one in college baseball wearing Stephen Curry cleats. So we had to send those to a company that puts cleats in the bottom of shoes. So hopefully those are here in time for us to head to Little Rock.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: Wow. I didn't know. So there's a company that does that?
[00:27:45] Speaker B: Yes. We had to send it in and they put the turf toe on it. They put the cleats on it. So hopefully it turns out well.
[00:27:51] Speaker A: Interesting. So, Steph Curry, model cleats, correct?
[00:27:54] Speaker B: Essentially.
[00:27:55] Speaker A: Wow, that's interesting. Okay, Gavin, who made a good impression with you? Who should fans be paying attention to?
[00:28:01] Speaker B: Well, I'll give you one hitter, one pitcher, one hitter. I hate facing is Jaden Gustafson. The guy knows the strike zone better than almost anybody I've ever seen. And you feel like you make a good pitch. You're up one, two, you're almost there. You make a great pitch and he just takes it and you almost think, what do I do from here? I gave him the pitch that every hitter is going to swing at and he took it like it was nothing. And then you finally put one in the zone. He puts a good barrel on it and you're just hoping he hits it at somebody. So I hated facing him when I was throwing. It was always a good matchup, always fun, but very frustrating at times. And then a pitch everybody should look out for. Oh, let's see. I like Derek's answer of Ryan, but I think one guy that goes under the radar a little bit is Caleb Anderson. He's a righty that I believe he's. What do you think? 510. So you wouldn't ever think he's this huge physical appearance. And yeah, I wouldn't put him as a division one baseball player, but the dude goes out there, he grinds, he wins, and he's nasty. He's going to work hard for you. He's going to give you everything he has. And if it doesn't work out for him, we're all rooting for him. And that would never wish that, but I think he will be a big piece of our bullpen this year.
[00:29:20] Speaker A: Jaden Gustafson outfielder, sophomore from Mays high, and then Caleb Anderson, you mentioned he's a transfer from Johnson county to community college. Right handed pitcher, sophomore, originally from Springdale, Arkansas. Okay. Being a baseball player, you're going to have lots of long road trips, buses, planes, all that kind of stuff. Derek, do you have a go to show or a podcast that you would recommend to pass the the I like.
[00:29:46] Speaker C: Listening to the real AF podcast by Andy Frazella because he has a lot of good talks. But I need to find a Netflix show to watch. There was a new show. I can't remember what it is called, but everybody's talking about it on TikTok and stuff. But apparently it's, like, super good. So hopefully I can go into that one. But I kind of just like to binge watch anything I can. Just like something that's going to be knowledgeable and just give me some knowledge about life and teach me some things. So anything about that, I'll love to watch.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: Gavin, how do you take up your time on road trips?
[00:30:18] Speaker B: Oh, I probably shouldn't say this to the public, but every woman in my life, every important woman in my life is a nurse. So I, unfortunately, am currently binge watching Grey's Anatomy.
It sounds weird. I was reluctant to watch it for years and years and years, and finally I saw it on the tv one day when I went home and got sucked into it. So I'll be watching Grey's Anatomy on the bus this year.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: Nothing wrong with Grey's Anatomy. No problem at all. Derek, describe the time when you fell in love with the sport of baseball.
[00:30:49] Speaker C: It was a pretty long journey, actually. So I loved baseball as a kid, when I grew up, and then when I was in high school, I liked football a lot. Like, football was my favorite sport, and that was like, it started to take over baseball a little bit. But then once I got rid of football after high school and I had my first year of college, I fell in love with the game my freshman year. Just being around the guys and just like, the grind, the Juco grind every single day, playing baseball, getting better, having a fun time with the guys, celebrating the wins, getting better off the losses. I fell in love with the game really fast, and I got developed a lot faster when you fell in love with it, and there's, like, everything about it. I enjoy coming to the field, I enjoy working with it, and hopefully when I get older, I can become a coach and be around the game as long as I can.
[00:31:39] Speaker A: Gavin, how about you? What's your baseball journey?
[00:31:42] Speaker B: Oh, it started when I was super young. I just remember my dad played college baseball. So right when I was able to walk we had a ball in my hand and I just remember memories of being a kid and watching Cardinals games in the basement with my dad and us playing catch because I couldn't throw up more than 15ft. But that'll work when you're two, three years old. So fell in love with the game right away. I tried soccer, basketball, football, but baseball was always the one for me. I always knew it's been in my family for forever.
[00:32:12] Speaker A: Very good. The shockers. They are in their early stages of practices. They open the season February 16 with a series at Arkansas Little Rock. First home games are the first weekend of March against Utah Tech. Gavin Oswald, Derek Williams, thanks very much for your time.
[00:32:28] Speaker B: Thank you for having us.
[00:32:29] Speaker C: Thank you for having us on here.
[00:32:45] Speaker D: Great insight as always. Thanks for listening to the Roundhouse podcast courtesy of Wichita State University strategic communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can always find more roundhouse
[email protected]. Down to a three two pitch with two men on, two outs in the 9th, the stretch by Tyler Green. Here it comes. Suck him out. A no hitter for Tyler Green.
A spike three call on the outside corner. And Tyler Green has pitched the fourth no hitter in Wichita State history, the second in his many years, as he joins fellow classmate Charlie Gindrome as the author of a Wichita State no hitter and in the process struck out a career high 13, including all three outs in the 9th inning. Tyler Green completes a no hitter and Wichita State defeats New Mexico twelve to nothing.
