CLEARWATER, FLA. – No. 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.
 
The 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.
 
Florida 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.
 
Wichita 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.
 
John Martinez put the Owls back in front in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to left field.
 
The 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.
 
Wichita 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.
 
James 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.