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CLEARWATER, FLA.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0No. 7 seed Wichita State rallied in the ninth inning, scoring two runs to defeat No. 6 seed Florida Atlantic 3-2 in the opening game of the 2026 American Baseball Championship Wednesday at BayCare Ballpark.
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\nThe Shockers (29-27) advance to the double-elimination portion of the bracket, where they will face No. 3 seed Rice at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 21.
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\nFlorida Atlantic (28-28) struck first in the bottom of the second inning, loading the bases on two hit batters and a single through the left side by Brett Patten. Brando Leroux followed with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Marshall Lipsey to give the Owls a 1-0 lead.
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\nWichita State evened the score in the top of the fifth. After a walk and a hit batter, Jayson Jones lined a single through the right side to plate Zeb Henry.
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\nJohn Martinez put the Owls back in front in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to left field.
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\nThe Shockers rallied in the top of the ninth, beginning with a leadoff double from Kaleb Duncan. Two batters later, Jacob Gutierrez delivered an RBI single to score Duncan before Jaden Gustafson followed with a go-ahead RBI single through the left side to bring home Gutierrez with the eventual game-winning run.
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\nWichita State used a bullpen-by-committee effort on the mound, with Johnny Nuanez (6-2) earning the victory after tossing the final 2.0 hitless innings. Matthew Cuccias worked 2.2 innings, Caleb Reed added 1.1 innings and Brady Hamilton threw 3.0 innings in relief.
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\nJames Litman earned the start for Florida Atlantic, allowing one run on two hits in 4.2 innings. Kide Adetuyi (2-3) took the loss after surrendering two runs on four hits over the final 4.1 innings.
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