Lineup switch works well for Shockers by Kirk Seminoff, The Wichita Eagle The Wichita Eagle:  Thursday, April 2, 1998-  Pages 1C & 3C

• Streaking Jeff Ryan drops to the No. 3 spot as WSU pounds Bethany.
• "It doesn't take a brilliant guy to figure out Ryan's been swinging the bat good all year.  It's good to move him to the three-hole if the one and two guy get on." Shockers coach Gene Stephenson on Jeff Ryan, who is hitting .381

    It's a small, almost unnoticeable difference in the Wichita State batting order.    Zach Sorensen second, Jeff Ryan third.  It's been flip-flopped almost the entire season, but Shocker coach Gene Stephenson did a little tinkering before his team's predictable 19-2 rout of Bethany on Wednesday  night.
    "It doesn't take a brilliant guy to figure out Ryan's been swinging the bat good all year," Stephenson said.  "It's good to move him to the three-hole if the one and two guy get on."
    Ryan's bat has been more consistent than anyone for WSU.  He's hitting .381, with nine more hits than the next Shocker.  He also has the team's highest slugging percentage, .962.
    Throw in the abilities of leadoff man Kevin Hooper and Sorensen to get on base, and it's a logical experiment.
    "I thought versus a left-hander tonight, it might be a good idea to see if they could get on for Jeff," Stephenson said.  "We're still experimenting with lineups versus left- and right-handed pitchers.
    "Bottom line is, you want a guy in the No. 3 hole who's producing, but you also want one and two guys who are getting on base."
    It's not much of an adjustment for Ryan, who also leads WSU in runs (40) and on-base percentage (.577).
    "The way this lineup is stacked, you're going to see pretty good pitches up and down the lineup," said Ryan, who was 2 for 4 Wednesday.  "Right now, it's no different at all."
    Hooper and Sorensen doubled to open up the floodgates, and Ryan tripled in WSU's three-run first inning.  The big damage came in a nine-run seventh inning, which included 14 batters.
    But at least the Swedes scored.
    Some accomplishment, you say.  But when you consider that Bethany had failed to score in its previous four games with the Shockers- losing by scores of 10-0, 15-0, 10-0, and 14-0 in games prior to 1981- two runs is something to be semi-proud of.
    Bethany didn't drive in any runs, though.  A second-inning run scored on an infield throwing error, while a seventh-inning run scored on a double steal.
    Other than that, seven Shocker pitchers held Bethany to four hits.  Trip Humphrey pitched the first three innings of a pre-determined split, giving up an unearned run for his second victory.  No other Shocker threw more than one inning.
    "Our plan was to do exactly what we did," Stephenson said.  "There were a few shaky moments where we had guys come in and walk people or give up hits and put themselves in a hole.
    "But pitching-wise, we got accomplished what we wanted to accomplish."
 

Wichita State's Jeff Ryan, bottom, slides safely into second base after Bethany's Chris Tusant loses the ball during the second inning of Wednesday night's game.- Randy Tobias, The Wichita Eagle

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