Payton Tolle set new career highs with five hits, six RBI and ten strikeouts over six excellent innings, lifting Wichita State to a 17-5 win over Oakland on Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium.
Tolle (2-0) set the tone in the game's first inning, striking out the side looking on 13 pitches. He went on to fan seven more Golden Grizzlies over six frames, allowing just two hits and a single unearned run in the top of the third to go along with his offensive exploits. It's the second time in three starts this season that Tolle has allowed two or fewer hits.
The Wichita State offense gave Tolle plenty of support. Seth Stroh got the scoring started for the Shockers (5-4) in the bottom of the second with a solo home run to right field, his second long ball of the season. After Oakland (2-7) evened the score at 1-1 in the third, Tolle reestablished the lead himself in the home half of the inning with a three-run homer that made it 4-1 Wichita State.
David Herring kept the power surge going with a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth, and later in the inning Tolle doubled home two more runs before Mauricio Millan capped the scoring with an RBI groundout that ballooned the lead to 9-1.
Run-scoring singles from Pennington, Tolle and Millan in the fifth made it 13-1, and Tolle retired 11 of the last 12 that he faced before exiting following the sixth having thrown 85 pitches.
Jordan Rogers and Herring knocked in runs in a three-run bottom of the seventh for Wichita State's final runs of the day.
Pennington went 3-for-5 with four runs scored, while Herring drove in three runs for a second consecutive game. Chuck Ingram added a pair of doubles.
Brett Hagen (0-2) took the loss for Oakland, allowing seven runs over 3.1 innings.
Matt Boyer, Cameron Bye and Parker Dillhoff closed out the win for Wichita State out of the bullpen.
The Shockers and Golden Grizzlies wrap up the series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Eck Stadium is scheduled for 1:00 PM.