In 1979, Wichita State baseball entered its second season after a seven-season hiatus. The Shockers won 43 games, which said good things without fully describing the ambition.
Coach Gene Stephenson wanted to show everybody the scope of his plans. In 1979, the best way to do that was to bring in Southern Cal, the dominant program of the era. On April 9, the Trojans played the Shockers at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium to mark one of the program's milestones.
How important was that game? The Shockers lost 13-1 and yet a picture of Stephenson and Dedeaux is part of the mural that hangs at Eck Stadium.