Eck Stadium is more museum than ballpark these days, a quiet place filled with empty seats and memories of the days when Wichita State baseball mattered.
It did not in 2016, continuing a decline that started in 2009, ended the mighty tenure of coach Gene Stephenson and picked up speed in coach Todd Butler’s three seasons. WSU hasn’t won a Missouri Valley Conference title since 2010, hasn’t played in an NCAA regional since 2013 and hasn’t won an NCAA game since 2008.
If that is going to change, it is up to a promising group of freshmen hitters who took over the top of the order for the Shockers during a season that ended with a 21-37 record and a tie for fifth-place in the MVC.