Dates: March 25-26, 2016
Location: Wichita, Kan.
Stadium: Wilkins Stadium
Live Audio: www.goshockers.com/watch
Talent: Steve Strain
Games 1 & 2 Live Video: Watch
Game 3 Live Video: Watch
Live Stats Game 1: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=129305
Live Stats Game 2: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=129306
Live Stats Game 3: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=129307
Series: Loyola leads, 6-5
 
Scouting Loyola:
To begin the 2016 season, Loyola has compiled an overall record of 15-9 and team batting average of .318. With Missouri Valley play beginning last weekend, the Ramblers lost two games to Southern Illinois by scores of 4-3 and 5-0 with the third game of the series being cancelled due to rain.
 
Offensively, the Ramblers have both Erica Nagel and Brooke Wyderski batting over .400 while both athletes have at least 70 at-bats. Nagel is coming into the weekend with a .538 average, starting all 24 games and hitting four doubles and three triples. Wyderski enters the weekend with an average of .443 with a team-high 26 RBI and eight home runs.
 
In the circle, Loyola has three of its four pitchers with at least 10 appearances. Ashley Rogers has the team's lowest ERA with 2.13 and a record of 5-1 in 12 appearances. Madison Hope has 10 appearances and an ERA of 2.23 and Kiley Jones has an ERA of 3.27 in 12 appearances. Jones also leads the team with 36 strikeouts.
 
Series History: Wichita State has played a total of 11 games against the Ramblers and has an overall record of 5-6 all-time. The Shockers are 4-4 under coach Bredbenner with the last meeting coming in 2015 when the Shockers won two of three games against the Ramblers.
 
Shockers News and Notes:
2016: In a mid-week game against Oklahoma State, the Shockers lost by a score of 8-2 to bring their overall record to 13-12. The Shockers lost two of three last weekend against Northern Iowa to begin Missouri Valley Conference play with a 1-2 record.
 
So far this season, the Shockers have been led by Paige Luellen who is hitting .369 with seven doubles, two home runs and a team-high 25 RBI. Luellen also leads the team with 25 walks, the next closest is Macklin Hitz with 11.
 
Wichita State has two pitchers with over 50 innings pitched with Jenni Brooks with 52.2 and Katie Malone with 78.1. Brooks has an ERA of 3.32 and an overall record of 6-3. Brooks also holds an opponent batting average of .266. Malone has a record of 5-5 and an ERA of 4.38 and leads the pitching staff with 40 strikeouts.
 
But does she get on base?
After 25 games into the 2016 season, redshirt-sophomore Paige Luellen has reached base in all 25 games, pushing her on-base streak to 30 games, dating back to 2014.
 
2015 In Review: Wichita State finished the 2015 season with an overall record of 34-23 and a 16-11 record in the Missouri Valley Conference giving the Shockers a fourth place finish.
 
Eight of Nine Starters Returning: Wichita State is returning every starter from the 2015 team except catcher Melanie Jaegers, who was a big contributor for the Shockers, hitting .282 and starting all 57 games. Among the position starters returning for Wichita State is Cacy Williams (first base/right field), Liz Broyles (second base), Kelli Spring (shortstop), Mackenzie Wright (third base), Brittany Fortner (left field), Ashley Johnson (center field) and Macklin Hitz (first base). Overall, these returners combined for a batting average of .328 while collecting 202 of the team's 272 RBIs and also hitting 35 of the team's 44 homeruns.
 
2015 All-MVC: The trio of returners, Fortner, Wright and Williams, along with Jaegers who graduated were all named 2015 First Team All-MVC, while Malone, Broyles and Spring were named Second Team All-MVC.
 
Fortner's Historic Season: Fortner finished her junior season with a .416 batting average (second in team history for a single season, tied for the Valley lead), 74 hits (tied the all-time hits record in a season in team history, led the Valley), 47 runs scored (led the Valley, third in team history for a single season), 45 RBIs (third in the Valley, third all-time in a single season in team history), 18 doubles (tied for second in the Valley, set the all-time team mark for doubles in a single season this season), 121 total bases (second in the Valley, second all-time in a single season in WSU SB history), a .502 OB% (second in the Valley) and 0.82 runs scored per game (led the Valley)
 
Climbing the ranks: After two doubles against Nebraska and a double against Oklahoma State and two doubles against Northern Iowa, Brittany Fortner is currently second all-time in the Shocker record book with 49 doubles, needing four more to take over first place.
 
Williams is also tied for ninth in doubles (33) and needs just one more to jump into seventh.
 
Williams is in sixth place with 110 runs scored needing just one more to jump into the top five.
 
Fortner is also tied for eighth in hits (187), ninth in homeruns (17), eighth in RBI (103), sixth in total bases (291) and tied for 11th in walks (68).
 
Williams is also second in homeruns (31) and tied for fifth in RBI (107).
 
Missouri Valley favorites: Wichita State was picked as the 2016 MVC preseason favorite, as voted on by the Valley coaches. The Shockers collected 84 points and three first-place votes to make this the second year in a row that the Shockers have been the Missouri Valley favorites.
 
2016 Preseason All-MVC: After being named to the All-MVC First Team a season ago, Fortner, Wright and Williams have all been selected for the preseason All-MVC First Team.